SAN XAVIER MISSION-The White Dove of the Desert

When we have visitors, as you well know, the first place in Tucson that I take them is De Grazia’s Gallery In the Sun.


Next on the list is this very special place, San Xavier Mission-the White Dove of the Desert.

We went there on Valentine’s Day. It was a lovely day of brilliant sunshine and perfect temperatures.

The place was jam-packed with both tourists and worshipers. First ,on our agenda, was food. Of course!

All these ramadas are sheltering Tohono O'Odham people who are making and selling frybread with various toppings and fillings..and they’re doing a brisk business!

There is the scintillating aroma of many mesquite fires. Wood smoke is my favorite perfume! I am drawn like a bee to honey.

We stop at the ramada of Jennifer Juan and her father, Frank. They generously allow me to make a pest of myself taking one picture after another while they are busy cooking up these scrumptious offerings.

Beginning with these dough balls, Jennifer quickly, efficiently and expertly produces a tortilla.

Look how perfectly round it is!  How paper thin, it is!!

She has done this a time or two, ya think?

I have tried doing this. It is very hard to do. My Navajo friends gave up on me as my tortillas all turned out grossly misshapen. I claim that I was only trying to pay tribute to Australia as all mine turned out looking like that continent.

Into the very hot fat it goes………

Before you know it, it begins to blossom into a thing of beauty!

To pop up, moments later, looking like this.

A quick flip with a fork and....

Next, the fillings or toppings of your choice go on. Today, we were hungry for more than a snack, so we missed out on the lovely delicacy of hot fry bread drizzled generously with honey.

I’m drooling over the memory of that tasty concoction. Perhaps next time.

But for now...this will surely do!

When I first came to Tucson, I heard about a pageant to be held at the mission and I went to it. Jennifer and I got to talking and I mentioned that event. She told me that she had been one of the participants in what turned out to be the last one held. She had been one of the “Indian” children who followed Father Kino into the village. I distinctly remember that part of the pageant and it was really fun to connect with someone who shared this memory from so many years ago.   It was a beautiful event and I’m sorry to say that the lack of finances stopped it. I am so grateful that I got to witness it. 

After we ate, we took a stroll up Grotto Hill.

The grotto was built in this black lava rock in 1908 and is still a place of prayer for many. It’s also just a fun place for kids of all ages to do some rock hopping!

On our way toward the hill, look what we saw!

Road Runners are just so darn cute!

I can't help myself.  I have to tell a grandma story.

My youngest grandchild, Skye, once informed us that the job of a roadrunner is to run around all over everywhere and tell everybody how the roads are.  The reason he knows that, he says, is because he, Skye, is the president of all the animals.

So, now, you know.

These beautiful animals guard the entrance to Grotto Hill.  They are cast iron...built in 1908.

The hill provides different views.  Looking to the west, you see the Tucson Mountains.

Those green fields are the alfalfa grown by the Tohono O'odham people.

Looking to the North, you see the Santa Catalinas...with some snow left on them.

Just beneath the hill we saw this.  I can imagine the kids having a wonderful time writing words with rocks.  I'd love to do that myself again.

But this is the heart of Grotto Hill.

We walked the path around Grotto Hill to the other side....and look who we found!

Perhaps it is a sacred space to him, too.

I did not intend to take a picture of this gentleman praying.  I would never do that purposely.  But, sometimes, my camera catches something beautiful...too beautiful not to share.

I am so grateful for this place.  I am grateful to Jennifer and Frank for their graciousness.  And I am grateful for Frank's service in Viet Nam.  I am grateful to the Tohono O'Odham for sharing with us all, this beautiful White Dove of the Desert.

Tomorrow's blog will be about the mission itself.  But for me, the 'place' includes so much more than the church.  It is the totality.  It is the memory of the pagaent I attended so long ago....dancing with local historian, Jim Griffith....to the music of a chicken scratch band.  Seeing Jennifer and the other 'actors' portraying the history of this spot on the map...from the earliest native people to the conquistadores to the arrival of the Catholic priests.  A huge circle of bonfires, lighting the night, as the statue of Mary was carried, followed by Yaqui and ToHono O'Odham dancers, mariachis playing and singing and priests praying and burning incense...all followed by an enormous display of fireworks behind that white dove on a dark desert night.

It inspired Ted De Grazia, too.

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