Back in the days when I taught Arizona social studies as well as French, students often asked me how I liked living in Tucson.
My answer was always the same: Tucson is a very livable city, with eight months of heaven and four months of "H E double hockey sticks" (no profanity allowed in the classroom).
And that's just about how I feel today. Heat- and photosensitive as I am, I mostly just tough it out indoors as I check off days on the calendar until October.
A tour I took to the Northwest this summer was not among my most memorable. True, I did escape the Tucson heat for a week, but during several days during our trip, temps soared into the mid-90s, with high humidity. So I felt right at home - not exactly what I was hoping for.
Another tour planned for Cape Cod was canceled. Even a one-day getaway to escape the heat fizzled.
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And then it happened …
I found out about Music on the Mountain. Each Sunday afternoon through Sept. 5, a different band performs under a big tent in Summerhaven on cool Mount Lemmon. Admission is free. When I heard that The Retro Rockets would be playing oldies on July 25, I just had to go.
My friend Jan and I got there just as the music was about to begin. The Retro Rockets rock! I got to tap my toes and even do a little dancing to the sounds of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and many more.
Maybe 500 people of all ages were out there, shaking it up on a carefree Sunday afternoon. But the best was yet to come.
During one of the band's breaks, tickets were sold at $5 apiece for a 50/50 drawing, to take place at the end of the concert. All money collected would be divided in half - half would go to the band and one lucky winner would get the second half.
I gave Jan $5, asked her to buy a ticket for me and decided to take a short hike and do some reading. Jan stayed until the end. After the concert, Jan found me and said, "I have something for you." Assuming it was a cold drink, I thought, well I'm not really thirsty, but I do appreciate the thought.
What she had for me was an envelope filled with cash. A little boy had picked the winning ticket out of a box, and that ticket was mine! I had just won half the pot - $370.
After almost two months of hot, humid, dull and disappointing, eureka! My ticket had been picked from around l50 that had been bought. Counting that cold cash lowered my inner thermostat a few degrees; at the same time I was as high as if I'd just won the lottery.
The first thought was what I was going to do with the money. Not that it was so much, but I was worth exactly $370 more than when I started up Mount Lemmon.
With a little calculation, I figured I could give a few non-food treats to myself, take some friends out for lunch or dinner and still have enough left for those in need. And that is exactly how things worked out.
I gave Jan, who drove, a chunk from the pot. Thanks to her, I had gotten to Mount Lemon in the first place. She also picked up the money for me when I was on my mini-hike.
Next, I took my good friend Beth out to dinner. For myself, I bought a cute scarf on sale and also some yarn for knitting a new shawl.
The last treat for myself was a one-hour massage at a high-end spa.
I felt profoundly grateful for the random good luck that brought these little luxuries to me. When my friend Mimi gets home from her vacation, I'm going to take her out to lunch. Ditto for another friend. Some money went to nonprofits.
From that $370, I am now officially busted.
The best part of the whole experience wasn't the meals eaten out with friends, the yarn or even the massage. It was my renewed spirit of optimism. Even during the dullest of summer doldrums, something wonderful can happen - and I didn't even have to wait until October.
Barbara Russek is a Tucson freelance writer. She welcomes comments at tea4w7@comcast.net
