Allophile

...another Sunday, another photo, another word...(from petroglyphs to hoplophobes)

...Sunday morning coffee with the paper...and there on the back page "Gallery All-stars" feature in the Vamos section:

...the editors did a spread of photos of pre-Columbian petroglyphs found in various parts of Arizona, and they chose a photo of mine! (another small 'published'-thrill...)
These are Hohokam petroglyphs on Signal Hill in Saguaro National Park, just west of Tucson...dating from anytime between 350 and 1450 A.D., rock-art being hard to date accurately...

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On a completely different note, also from today's paper, check out this column: Weapon-toting protesters hurt Arizona's image, reacting to this blog posting (Do Guns at Political Events Disturb You? Then Consider Skipping Arizona for Now) by travel-guru Arthur Frommer. I think it even made the national news...

Can't wait to come, right? How relaxing it would be, eh?, to see an AK-47 strapped on a fellow diner's back as you have margaritas and nachos...
And so, in reading the 'readers' comments' reacting to the column,
(you can imagine the range of opinions),
I learned this word:
hoplophobe, meaning a person with an inordinate fear of firearms and/or other weapons.
(Inordinate?)

New to me.
And that is today's mot du jour/palabra del dìa.

I don't think I'm a hoplophobe...I mean, running errands in Central America regularly involved saying Buenos Días to machine-gun-toting muchachos: at the bank, at the grocery-store, not to mention border-crossings...But, still...

(My wife and I still joke with each other, half-seriously, that living in Nicaragua was training-for-everything.)

And tomorrow is Monday, start of another week of educating the youth in this saguaro-studded state of second-amendment-worshippers, salsa, and Sonoran hot-dogs. (Incidentally, Bon Appétit magazine recently recommended a Tucson hole-in-the-wall as one of the ten best hot-dog experiences in America.)

But hey, we have prehistoric petroglyphs and abundant sunshine...
somehow it's all a good mix?

So, for your packing-for-AZ list, remember your sunscreen and don't forget the Kevlar...