We are so fortunate in Tucson to be the site of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Over the Tucson Mountains, on 98 acres, you’ll find a zoo, botanical garden, art gallery, natural history museum, and aquarium all wrapped into one. It is one of the most unique collections of the plants and animals of our Sonoran Desert. Animal habitats have been recreated to mimic the wild and 85% of the experience is outdoors. 

Ranked by TripAdvisor.com as one of the Top 10 Museums in the country and the #1 Tucson attraction, The Desert Museum is my favorite place to take visitors.

You never know who you’ll bump into on a trip there. I was excited to see Gabby Giffords visiting on an outing with my granddaughters not long ago.

This week, however, our trip was inspired because my granddaughter, Julia Yellott had written a poem for Earth Day that was a winner for the 6th Grade. Each year since 1999 , The Desert Museum has sponsored a Kid’s Poetry Contest for Earth Day

Tucson kids from Kindergarten through Sixth Grade submit their poems about what is important to them in the desert. We enjoyed the readings we heard this year. Two were even about snow on the cacti-it’s been an interesting year, weatherwise. Julia wrote about a Sparrow.

Julia’s poem is here for you to read. She is 12 this year and enjoys reading and is creative with her writing. She won 3rd place in this contest as a 4th grader and honorable mention as a 5th grader. Everyone was proud of her first place designation this year. Thank you Desert Museum for sponsoring this great activity.

The mission of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert.