this morning i was sure that it was at LEAST 7:30 when I started to wake up, and when i looked at my clock, it was 6:40. ay yi yi! i hope this means that the trip home and fall back DST will be easy peasy.

nate, of course, had been awake since 4:30! talk about time zone trauma.

while i had coffee and debated going for a run in the 50º weather, nate took a nap. just as i was about to head out the door, he made some noise, so i held off on the run and we went to the university of arizona (go wildcats) to check out the art museums they had there. i was so super excited to check out the creative photography exhibit, but i was a little disappointed. i had read on the website they had ansel adams, but apparently you needed an appointment to view them? so weird. but it was something, and there was an andy warhol!

and this pretty cool polaroid piece.

after the disappointment, we headed over to the art museum to check out paintings, and that was at least a little more extensive than the photo exhibit. there was an original pollack and o’keefe, too!

this o’keefe is gorgeous.

but the winner of the exhibit was the woman-ochre, which had the WEIRDEST story. it was stolen from the UofA exhibit in the 80s – two people walked in, one of which distracted the person in charge and the other cut the painting from its setting, rolled it up, and got outta there. it’s assumed that they framed it and sold it to someone, and in 2017, someone found it at an estate sale! they did all this stuff to make sure it was in fact the real painting, and now it’s back to its home. so bizarre! there was a guard sitting in the room of this exhibit, which was all about the art heist and the piece of art, and it was hard not to crack a joke.

plus, i got in free because i happened to have my SCTCC ID with me LOL.

after the art, we went to check out architecture at the san xavier missionary, which i posit is about the only nice thing that happened with missionaries in the early americas.

it was a weird visit because there were people there to see the history, people there to see the architecture, and people there because they’re catholic and are praying. so you’re in there taking pics of the the building and there are people who are lighting candles and praying in the pews.

the church itself is actually pretty small, with solid wooden pews that are probably older than the cacti out front. this was a weird vibe, because it’s on native reservation land, so there was a gift shop that had native jewelry and clothing but also crosses and candles. the whole thing was just kind of depressing, so we headed out.

then….highlight of the day…i found a CHURRO TRUCK.

JUST CHURROS is right. i got a pack and some mexican caramel sauce. they were made right there in front of me and were delish. not as good as those churros i got in mexico, but definitely better than the taco bell churros. (not a surprise.)