It seems that color is a hot topic in Tucson right now.

First there’s the gaily hued La Placita Village downtown. I remember the first time I saw it. It was Thanksgiving Day 2000. I had just moved to Tucson. A friend was visiting, and I put a turkey in the oven and decided to explore the city. We drove downtown and she said, “Drive over THERE! Something is tall and purple.”  Since then, many of my touristy friends (which includes people who live in the foothills and never go south of River Road) who have had equal awe for the Placita peacock, even my neutrally prone brother. It fits with the purple mountains majesties and the intrinsically colored barrio. It’s a landmark that should not ever be painted beige or even some standard pastel desert colors. There’s already too much beige in this town.  

Another rainbow of sorts is that really bad idea—the proposed rainbow bridge at the UA Science Center. I think the science center could be a good idea, but the rainbow bridge is not for far too many reasons to mention here. Let’s just say that it ranks down there with the previous suggestion of an aquarium. There are rainbow bridges elsewhere, but if you Google “rainbow bridge,” the first definition is:

“Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable…”  You’ll have to read it for yourself; it brings tears to my eyes. The rainbow bridge is pet heaven.

Let’s ditch the name rainbow bridge. Even a golden arch is preferable.

This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2006.

One reply on “Double Rainbow”

  1. “Let’s just say that it ranks down there with the previous suggestion of an aquarium.”

    I must say I have always been baffled by the widespread and sometimes vicious opposition to the Sonoran Sea Aquarium. It was to be (and may still be) an aquarium in the desert in the manner that the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is a zoo in the desert.

    From the Sonoran Sea Aquarium website: “The Sonoran Sea Aquarium™
    is organized as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to bringing a world-class public aquarium to Tucson promoting education, conservation and preservation of Arizona’s rivers and the Gulf of California for future generations.”

    Just how is that a bad idea?

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