When stars die, sometimes after billions of years of creating energy and light in their cores, they can bloat up into swollen red giants, enormous and luminous objects. Silicon and carbon in their upper layers can blow out into the space around them, cooling and condensing into grains of material astronomers call
dust.
The galaxy is littered with dense clouds of dust, blocking our view of stars behind them due to their opacity. They can appear brown or black, like holes in space, dark and forbidding.
But dust also appears in clouds where stars are being born, and sometimes these infant stars are massive and blue, sending out vast amounts of energy into their birth nebula. And when they do the dust around them reflects that light, sending some of it Earthward, and we see those clouds not as voids but as lustrous, cerulean, even gossamer cosmic threads.
LAINE âLAINIEâ MARIE VAN HOOZEN
Lainie passed away on May 6, 2021 while recovering from heart valve replacement surgery. She was a full-time resident of Green Valley for five years and, the previous five winters, a âsnowbirdâ at Desert Trails RV Park in Tucson.
On May 23, 1953, Lainie was born in Seattle to Eloise Thomas (deceased) and raised in Redwood City, CA. After graduating from Cañada College, she became a Certified Medical Assistant. She worked in Stanford Hospitalâs NICU when she married Ronald âRonâ Guire in 1980. They lived in Stockton and later Santa Rosa, CA, where she was a phlebotomist at the county hospital. After moving to Maple Valley, WA, she worked at Virginia Mason Hospital. Ron passed away in 1999.
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Heidi and Zander Ault Photo: Courtesy the Aults
A few months ago, my colleague Ben Delaney and I traveled to Patagonia, Arizona to ride gravel bikes, relax at The Gravel House, and take in the local food and beverage culture around Tucson and the surrounds. Despite a slight mishap on Mount Lemmon, er, the Arizona Trail, we accomplished all of our goals and fell in love with the borderlands region of southern Arizona.
We chose Patagonia for our (mis)adventures because in 2019 I had gone to the Spirit World 100 gravel race and been blown away by the small town in the borderlands. The topography, the mix of indigenous, Mexican, and mining culture, and the endless opportunities for adventure it was all irresistible.
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Hacienda Del Sol Pop Up Drive Through Sculpture Show. Maybe you’ve gotten used to being able to quasi-interact with the world and view new parts of it without leaving your car. And, while you might not be able to make every part of your life work with that preference (for example, you usually still have to leave the car for things like surgery, or getting on a flight), with this event, you can have it the way you want it. This exhibit started last summer at Hacienda Del Sol, and now they’re making it annual! Just drive through the front entrance and follow the signage to view a lovely array of art pieces on display in the desert. On display through Sunday, June 13. Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, 5501 N. Hacienda Del Sol Road. Free.