My Year Among the Sunflowers (Month 9)
March’s Theme: They’re airborne and Irish again and again.
They fly! Of course they do - they put the bird in snowbird. The regional-style airplanes that circled overhead all of November are back this month. Are more landing or are they taking off? If the activity this month is any indication, I’d say more are coming. An added bonus for being the new city where everyone wants to be is overhead traffic. So, we have construction in new neighborhoods and construction on second homes in backyards, and all the investors are flying overhead surveying even more shit. Airplanes, helicopters, drones. So buzzing and whirring during the day, which actually helps to drown out the hammering and sawing and banging and trucking and yelling across the street, AND at night, which is sort of just weirdness.
I say it every month, but I really do think this might be the busiest month yet. At least for the clubs and games and St. Patrick’s Day parties. I think there were five?!
The week before St. Patrick’s Day, the newsletters encouraged everyone to bring their Irish “one-liners” to an Irish potluck and social. the week . Bring your Irish “one-liners” with you and perhaps share them with the group at our monthly potluck. MARCH POTLUCK, MARCH 9, 2023, 5:30 Social Time 6:00 PM Dinner. Please bring your own table service and beverages. We shall have water and lemonade available. We have serving cutlery available for all dishes.
There was a St. Patrick's Day Potluck the first Wednesday in March, followed by a Breakfast for Dinner themed get-together (is this Irish?) in Week 2 , then a St. Patrick's Day party so everyone could wear green and do the jig. The newsletter actually said that: "Be ready to do the jig!" Then, because it just couldn’t end on the 17th, there was an additional “Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration” with a Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner, with entertainment by the Tucson Academy of Irish Dance. There’s an Academy of Irish Dance here. This is news. I’d say the dancers are also good hiders.
Between all the parties and socials, there’s a Garden Tour, and it’s today. It would remind me of my mother’s country club or the Wilmington, North Carolina, annual “Garden Party”, where everyone dresses up in their Easter finest, but this is Tucson, so it’s flip-flops and wrinkled shorts and bra tops (if we’re lucky).
As I write this, it's 12:15, and about 100 female Sunflowers have arrived in a funeral procession of blue, maroon, or white SUVs to explore Don Ho's backyard. He and Festus or Fernando, I swear, will do anything for a party that’s mostly for the gals. Don Ho tied balloons to his mailbox and set himself up in his driveway with lawn chairs and a cooler. He’s obviously hoping some will stay for an impromptu Ho gathering. Supposedly, this whole thing ends at 1pm, when they all head to the Community Center for a 2-hour ice cream social. (This might explain the $15 ticket price.) The social MUST end promptly so Crazy Rhythm can set up for their (every) Friday night (5pm, night isn't entirely accurate) concert in the Fiesta Room. Tour. Party. Ice cream. Dance. Party. Gin and tonics. Somebody's bed by 9.
Not to be outmatched, there’s now a Single Gal’s Night Out Club. How long could it be before the Romeos “accidentally” end up at the same place?
Among some of the really nice things they do here (like the Safeway app training class and tour of the new library last month), there’s a Zoom Yoga class now for folks who can’t leave the house. A book and ping-pong club has been added to the club list and a Welcome Committee, Breast Cancer Survivors’ Group, Partners with Challenges Support Group, and Neighbor Volunteers that are just a phone call away to help anyone with just about any challenge they might have. There’s also an Al-Anon chapter for those who don’t quite understand the mania. Still no takers for a Karaoke club. I find this odd. I mean, why not?
They’re finally going to do something about all the tire tracks all over the median at the front entrance to the community. It’s a right turn that I guess is hard for some to make. There are black skid marks all over the curb, median, and road and someone in charge is deciding whether or not to replace the Palo Verde trees that have been knocked down.
Now, while one might think that the 37-page newsletter of events and 3-page monthly calendar would keep everyone pretty busy. But, this month, the Animal Control department has reached out begging the Sunflowers to stop calling. They’ve apparently been getting 20-30 phone calls a day reporting a large brown dog loose in the neighborhood. “Calling to report that he was sighted a couple of hours ago isn’t helpful.” They set up traps but have only caught javelina.
Pickleball has more players than ever, and they’ve had to divide into groups: social/beginners, competitive/advanced. I imagine the serious players complained about those just out to make friends. Competitions ended this month in a Mighty Pickle Award going to a dude named Dennis. This makes sense.
The lines have been flowing to the food trucks, so there are now more food trucks. And fiddle players while you eat on the grassy knoll next to the Community Center parking lot.
The Architectural Control Committee (ARC) reminded Sunflowers about plant rules, especially those in Article 12, Part 4, Clause 3b. “An interior, cul-de-sac and oversized lot must have a minimum of 10 plants, one must be 5ft tall or taller. A corner lot must have a minimum of 12 plants, one must be 5ft tall or taller, and a narrow front lot (45 ft or less of street frontage) must have a minimum of 6 plants, one must be 5ft tall or taller. The 5ft or taller plant can be a tree or a cactus.”
Are you serious? What about the freaking halogen floodlights in the midst of a Dark Sky Ordinance, ARC Committee? How about you do something about that instead of going around measuring people’s plants.
I’m in the midst of a Sunflower investigation at the close of March. I do believe the Lou and Margarita Freakshows across the street have set their house up for Airbnb'ing. Odd cars. Suitcases. Door codes. Groups. This would make sense of the manic construction that went on the last 5 months and then the radio silence. We'll continue to investigate, but the signs are there. This week, there’s a group of 4 women from Oregon who dig floodlights, so they'll fit right in. Don Ho put in a driveway appearance when they arrived. He was probably inviting them to his backyard garden Spring Break party.
Oh, and the new roof people are at the insulation part of their program. Festus or Fernando are boot-deep in car show season. The revving has returned and the tow truck has parked next to my living room four times thus far. I didn’t understand this, but my son filled me in that it’s probably not a street legal car, it’s a show car. Who knew. And Wilbur’s grilling out back now.
I thought fall and winter were a lot, but now I know a Sunflower spring. I talked to a lovely friend for the first time since her big move at the end of last year, and she was SHOCKED when I said I was in an active adult community. You’re WHERE!?!??!? YOU!?!?!?!? I can’t believe I’ve made it 9 months!