The Ghost of Jim Harrison Led Us to Patagonia

“The world that used to nurse us
now keeps shouting inane instructions.
That's why I ran to the woods.” ~ Jim Harrison

The fire is especially comforting on this chilly night. While Samwise and Emily clean their teeth on marrow bones, Aaron Copland is playing, and while I write and sip a mug of tea. I admit to a certain coziness I was not expecting to find in Tucson. 

It snowed this morning. Not where we are, but up in the Sabino Canyon area of the city. Meanwhile, down here, it rained and rained enough to leave puddles in the yard, and it did not stop until 10:00 am. By then, it was too late to visit our dawn-hour trails, which are empty early in the day but busy later. 

This being the weekend, they are even more crowded, which isn't any fun for us. Instead, we drove south to visit the town of Patagonia. It's one of the reasons we are in southern Arizona for March.  

The late poet and writer Jim Harrison, famous for several brilliant works, but especially Legends of the Fall, lived the best…