WEBVTT

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Last night, after dinner,
Alison was driving me around,

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and I was pointing out some of
the locations of pain, grief,

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and longing which
Tucson represents to me.

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[LAUGHTER]

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Many of which are now
demolished, great loss.

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And we're talking about places
that aren't here anymore.

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And I said, well, one place
I remember so vividly,

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that I'm sure can
no longer exist,

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is the Valley of the Moon.

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Now, you know what the
Valley of the Moon is?

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A lot of you know what
the Valley of the Moon is.

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I don't know how to
explain what it is.

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It's a sort of work of eccentric
art that was built by this man

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in the '20s and '30s.

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He made a kind of
grottos assemblage out

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of cement and broken
china and pieces

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of metal and all this stuff.

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And he began to
give tours of it.

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It was a sort of fairyland park.

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And he had trained bunnies
that performed at the Bunnyland

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Theater.

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I first encountered this
place when I was 16.

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I was a volunteer in Head Start.

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And we took the kids on a field
trip to the Valley of the Moon.

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It was extraordinary.

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I've never forgotten it.

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And I was sure that this
was long since gone.

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So Alison and I stopped at
Circle K, looked in the phone

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book and, sure enough,
the Valley of the Moon

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is in the phone book.

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We drove to the Valley of
the Moon, and it was open.

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The old man is long since
dead, but a group of people

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have gotten together
and preserved it

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and are running tours.

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They're open now for Halloween.

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Alison and I were
sitting talking

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about-- we were having this
conversation as soon as we

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walked in about
loss and loneliness.

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And this figure strode up to
us and said, "Mortal pilgrims,

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I am Puss in Boots,"
and took us on a tour.

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Amazing.

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So I figured this meant that
God wanted me to read this poem,

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which is called "The
Garden of the Moon."

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It's an older poem.

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"The Garden of the Moon."

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"The school bus rattled around
more turns in the desert road

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than I'd ever be
able to trace again,

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the summer I worked
in Head Start

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and the lead teacher arranged
a field trip from the barrio

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to the Valley of the Moon.

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We parked at a high, ramshackle
fence straddling a swatch

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of creosote and mesquite.

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There was nothing to
the old man swinging

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open the gate but shape, black
clothes, black beekeeper's hat.

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And as his glove
smoothed the veil,

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he welcomed us in a sort of
stage whisper to the Valley

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of the Moon, 'built with the
love and spiritual assistance

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of many.'

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And he led us in.

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The children walked with
partners, the teacher watching

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for stragglers or hazard.

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I was assigned to Antonio,
the boy she mistrusted most.

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The path climbed to
shoulder-high Alps of cement

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encrusted with broken
crockery and bits of glass,

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junk mosaics capped
with figures.

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A chipped chalkware Snow White
gathered her glittered skirt,

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looking forward eagerly
from her high-collared cape

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as if everything were about
to be delivered to her.

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At the mouth of a little
cave, the children

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were instructed to
dig for treasure.

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They kicked till they
found pennies in the sand,

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and the teacher asked if
they were meant to keep them.

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The old man told us to
speak softly, if at all,

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because we were coming to
a place of great serenity.

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And he led us down
a curving stair

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into a two-story grotto
he'd hollowed out of earth.

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Weathered concrete seats
ringed a washtub pool.

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A myna bird whispered
in a metal cage.

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'Whenever you are
troubled,' the old man said,

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'send your thoughts here.'

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The bird spoke a
few phrases for us.

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Even Antonio concentrated
on its black sheen,

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the old man's gestures.

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Water dripped along
one wall, and I

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noticed how small his
battered black shoes

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were on the ground
he'd made himself.

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Everywhere around
the rim of this one

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were other unfinished
gardens, a world

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of things he might
use to build them.

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'Your astral body can travel
to the Garden of the Moon.'

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Later, in a leaning
circus tent filled

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with empty cages and Victorian
photographs of fairies,

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he performed a
little lame magic,

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which the children liked
best, along with the pennies.

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Bouquets pulled from sleeves,
a dove from a jiggling hat.

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The air would never lift the
veil enough to show his face.

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At the gate, he'd hand
us each a business card,

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stitched with a scarlet
sequin, printed with the motto,

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"The Key to the Fairy
Treasure House, Up,

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Up in the Valley of the Moon.'

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And we'd file onto the bus
where the driver waited,

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reading a magazine, and
flash our brilliant souvenirs

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in the windows all the way home.

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But in the magic tent, when
a real snake emerged from

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a basket, and a winged glimmer
slid down a wire and landed

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in a bloom of smoke and sparks,
Antonio forgot himself enough

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to hold my hand, and lean
forward like the statuette

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of Snow White, with that
same breathless look."

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[APPLAUSE]

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Thank you.

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