When people think of the desert they imagine bare, dry wastelands with no animals. While there are some deserts out there in the world that are like that, Tucson is not one of them. Tucson is a desert that is filled to the brim with life. From the colorful plants that never go out of season, to the many different species of wildlife that live right in your backyard. There is never a time that the desert does not look magnificent. Sunrises, sunsets, monsoons, and even snow change the landscape so that every time you look outside you see something different.
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I have grown up in Tucson, and yet I can do some of the same things and not grow bored. I cannot even count how many times I have been to the Sonora Desert Museum. Every time I go I learn something new, or see an animal I haven’t seen before. Just recently they added an aquarium, yes an aquarium, which includes fish from the Sea of Cortez. Not far from the Desert Museum you will find Old Tucson. Going there is stepping into the past, back when there were real cowboys and fights in saloons. There is more to Tucson than the desert, there is the food. Being so close to Mexico we are introduced to many traditional Mexican dishes, not just what is on the menu at taco bell. There are so many different restaurants where you can get authentic Mexican food, one of them being El Guero Canelo. The food is all fresh, and it gets customers from all parts of town. All of us, completely different, united by food, who would have thought.
So whenever people ask me if it is boring and lifeless in the desert I just explain to them all of the wonders of the so called lifeless desert. How after it rains all of the plants look green and the air smells fresh. How after it snowed and all of the cacti and trees and leaves were covered with white it looked like a wonderland. How you could look outside and see a bobcat, or a family of javelina. In my opinion there isn’t anywhere else quite as magical as the desert during a sunset when the whole sky turns different colors, and the mountains look purple. Other places may have their moments, but only the desert looks just as stunning in the summer as it does in the winter.
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