Repeat after me, "Tucson, Tucson, Tucson". The easiest way to remember the spelling is to think of what the place was named for. "Took-shon", where "the waters meet" (confluence of the Santa Cruz River and Rillito Creek), according to the natives when the Spanish arrived.

The last time I checked, Janos is still around but many of the famous old places are gone. Mostly victims of urban sprawl. The Tack Room, Cliff's Hidden Valley Inn, Triple C Chuck wagon, Webb's Steak House and a lot of the local "watering holes" have all fallen victim to the city's growth.

We're still "a small town in a big city" but we're slowly fading away.

No longer can you go to the "Cow Pony" and smell horse sweat from the riders (not that that was such a good thing but it was Tucson) and ranch workers but instead the place is full of, gasp!, accountants, bankers and lawyers, riding their Harleys, acting like "bikers". Sad, really.