The annual Gem and Jewelry Show in Tucson roared back to life this year after fear of Covid resulted in a significant slow-down in recent years. This is huge for the Tucson economy. It’s easy to understand why, as the pandemic was in full force, vendors from around the world and many states were unable to participate in the event; health and safety come first. The attendance this time around is still less than in years without a virus to contend with but is much more robust than in recent times. And our economy is happy; hotels are occupied and restaurants are busy.

This resurgence is big for my wife, an accomplished jewelry and glass artist (see photo for a sample of her work and feel free to visit her website http://www.louiselittle.com if curious to see more), uses the opportunity the show provides for two reasons. She takes advantage of participating jewelry artists to take specialized classes to learn new techniques to add to her repertoire. She also shops, both for new equipment required to begin to utilize the fresh methods and for stones and minerals to incorporate into her jewelry. I tag along to the shopping tours and boggle at the quantity and variety of jewels, precious and semiprecious, stones and related items. Also not to be missed are the shows that display minerals of all sizes and appearance; who knew the earth harbored such beauty and spectacular formations. Hopefully by next year the show will be back to previous healthy levels of attendance and participation.