Tucson - First Impressions

I am in Arizona, and the sun is warm and there are saguaros (the green, tall, armed cactuses) everywhere. These giants keep watch over the nearby Sabino Canyon. There are lots of other types of cactuses as well and none are interested in being touched. Some look like inviting to the uninitiated, but these trees of the desert have very strong defences and it's wise to stay away from them.

Saguaro cactuses do not grow arms until they are at least 50 years old. When it rains, they cactuses suck in as much water as they can and store it for the long haul. It doesn't rain much often but it does rain heavy (Jan - Feb right now).

Lauren and I managed to find a small guest house to rent in a little suburban community here. Most things are at least a short drive, but there's a pool and tennis / pickle ball courts. Short term rentals were a little hard to come by because of a local event called The Gem Show that brings people into Tucson from all around the world.

Being close to the border seems to be an essential part of the Tucson identity. People love to gossip about how common it is to cross the border for some inexpensive dentistry or cheap medicines. It's pretty apparent what's going on if you take a look at the border town of Nogales on google maps - massive concentration of doctors, dentists, and vets.

After settling in, I searched for "Tucson Software" to see if anything came up. Most results were related to the Hyundai truck. Adding "startup" to my search terms led me to find The Forge and Startup Tucson, who were hosting a talk about growing and marketing Tucson area wine. I attended and it was very interesting. The city is known for being a UNESCO City of Gastronomy and their startup community focuses efforts on food and beverage related events every fourth week.

We have been hiking a lot and The Saguaro National Park. There is a large variety of cactuses there.