Life’s ATreasure Hunt |
Although perhaps the smallest of Mensa’s local groups with a membership of 63, the people are vibrant and the programs packed with facts and fun.
How the West Was Fun, October 4-6, offered a cornucopia of events from the famous Mensa sidedish The Joke Off, to the scientifically specific compound of gluten. In between, there was wine tasting, charades, ancient Casas Grande history, taekwondo, detecting love, UFO’s, flood history, water issues and artifacts, and paganism. My favorite interactive sessions came with the trip to Bob and Mary Jo Cox’ hummingbird sanctuary and with John Ported’s live rattlesnakes and boa constrictors.
I came away with a couple of published prizes, autographed books by RG speaker-authors Sheri Williamson, Hummingbirds of North America, from the Peterson Field Guide series, and keynote David Eppele, Desert in Bloom from Arizona Cactus and Succulent Research. Since we had some errands to run in Mexico, we did a photo shoot at Eppele’s Arizona Cactus botanical garden, while the rest of the group toured Tombstone and were fed and entertained by the Vigilante Gunfighters, an event that was included in the registration fee.
My belly, brain, and spirit were always full and happy, but Borderline’s calling
card of imbibements is its beer offerings. Mood-smarting beer brands from bases
unheard of by the average Mensan in bottles of collectible worth filled the
tub, and members imbibing the blue beer could be sighted from fifty paces.
The guests arrived from all over the Southwest, and conversation, whether convincing or controversial, was a constant given. My first RG in Sierra Vista two years ago introduced me Peggy Dearden, who lived near me in the Washington DC area at the time, to Paul and Joanna Soper, who then lived in Illinois, as well as to GPM Mel Anderson. Within a year the Sopers and Dearden moved to Sierra Vista and I to Phoenix to marry Mel.
The math of miles mandates small numbers in Sierra Vista, but the exquisite quality of the souls there induce a worthy excursion. Life’s a treasure hunt, just keep looking.