...and a Very Merry Christmas to All!!!

We had our Christmas snowfall a day or two early; by December 25, all the white stuff in the neighborhood will be gone, though it remains on the mountains.

However, I'm simply too old (and don't bend easily enough) to be building my own snowman. Which is why I couldn't resist this sign when I wandered Whiskey Row with the DIL this afternoon.

This is Frosty, the popcorn man! Do read his vital statistics below -- impressive. You wouldn't want that 200 pound popcorn ball to fall over on you!

This being my last post before Christmas Day, I just want to wish everyone of you to enjoy a wonderful holiday. Eat, drink, be merry!

Ride 'em, cowgirl!

A small sculpt on display in the main entrance to the Sharlot Hall Museum. One has to wonder about that cactus problem that the horse is suffering.

Note: posting will be sporadic for the next few days. The Sson and his family -- all four of them -- arrive sometime tomorrow. They'll leave shortly before the New Year weekend. And, the day after Christmas, the dotter and her dotter arrive from Alaska. I expect to be busy, but pictures will definitely be taken...

The big Christmas bazaar

I don't know how many different non-profits were there today with their wares, but the Sparkes Activity Center was full of tables that were full of goodies, seasonal or suitable for gifting. To give an idea of the range of groups present: the snowmen above were made by members of the Gourd Patch, a club of gourd fanciers, while the gingerbread tree ornament below was on sale at the Heritage Park zoo's booth.

Other holiday wares that caught my eye: the Christmas clock (above) and the flurry of white handkerchiefs (below).
But there were also a handful of "paintings" made by elephants! Huh? Apparently kids from one of the local charters are raising money for a trip to Thailand (see below) and loaded up on exotic items from that SE Asian nation.

Above, just one of the tee shirts from the Highland Center collection -- very unfortunately, I had already bought a nature tee for the Sson (who collects), though I did find suitable tops for the SDIL and the grandson.

Miss Kitty has a new tee and a sweat shirt -- perhaps to celebrate the move of their cat house to a new location on South Alarcon. Also on display (and/or sale), two cat quilts. The fine example below was a prize in a drawing.

Other handmades for sale: quilted items above, and old-fashioned rag dolls, below.

Chris Hoy was there to promote his book, proceeds of which all go to the Elks Opera House renovation. The dressy ladies below were also promoting the Opera House -- seems to me we always have somebody in historic costume at civic events in Prescott, though I didn't see any cowboys today.

Other giftables -- a wooden panda and Indian jewelry, the latter on sale by the Smoki Museum.

Perhaps my favorite of all the items on the floor -- earrings made from feathers of the Heritage Park peacocks. Already I'm kicking myself for not buying the set! I'll be sure to make the big bazaar scene next year -- this was great fun!

Small lobby, neat pieces

The St. Michael Hotel lobby is not a place for gathering nor, really, for just sitting to watch the passing parade, unlike, say, the Hassayampa Inn. For that, you have to move next door into the hotel's bistro. However, the few pieces of period furniture populating the small area were certainly worth a picture or two.

Neat chairs, though they wouldn't stand up under regular use by the Sson or any of the other young men that used to visit us back in Chicago. Definitely not designed for hotel usage. (I don't remember just how many chairs we lost over the years to everyday wear and tear from young guys who just have to wiggle, lean back and do all those other things that loosen joints and otherwise destroy perfectly good furniture).

On the other hand, stop to admire this ornate credenza. I think that it would hold up well to a legion of youths climbing on it, kicking it and otherwise abusing it. All except for the drawers -- those handles would go in no time at all.

Undersea Volcano: New video from undersea exploration shows how a volcano burbles up at depths of 4000+ feet. Eerie stuff.

Boop-oop-a-doo???

'S funny -- though I remember Betty Boop from my childhood, I never considered her a Big Deal. In fact, I never thought too much about her cartoons. And so here I am, at 80+, seeing all these Betty Boop items around town. Geezers remembering their childhoods, maybe? But not if they're like me. What can I do but turn to The Google to find out, maybe.

What I discover, primarily, are sites selling 1300+ Betty Boop items. (Here, here and here). Plus the cartoons. Wikipedia, of course, has an extensive article, though I didn't really get an answer to: Why Betty Boop in the 2000s? However, it did note that marketers rediscovered Betty Boop in the 1980s, and "Betty Boop" merchandise has far outdistanced her exposure in films, with many not aware of her as a cinematic creation. Much of this current merchandise features the character in her popular, sexier form, and has become popular worldwide once again.

Aha -- so that's what it was; when I was a little girl, Betty Boop was a sex symbol, a cartoon for the grown-ups, not really for the kids. And that appears to be her current appeal, as well, tho my memory puts her in the same class as the dumb blonde with a cutsie, high-pitched voice. However, I still marvel at how such an iconic figure gets dredged up from the past to take on a new life. I guess all I can do is buy one of these bright R.E.D. fleece blankets and curl up with a ghost of yesterday.

Local Linkage: The folks at Love Field, our local airport, have instituted a blog, Prescott Aerospan, which, in turn, is promising a series of articles about Prescott area aviation history. Another local blogger, Jenny Williams, who writes as Geek Dad at Wired magazine, has posted a 3-part interview with local SF author Allen Dean Foster.

A pair of big boring bits

Last night's post reminded me that I did have, somewhere in my big iPhoto folder, good pictures, in focus pictures of those great big bits used to make great big holes in the ground. The pix date from a couple of years ago, about the time all that work was going on out Iron Springs Road. As I recall, the best of the shots were made by the Sson.

I'm sure that in the great scheme of things, these drill bits are ho hum -- no oil wells or sample cores from Antarctic ice, for instance. But I still find them impressive.

Caged borer

By this time, everybody should know the drill: whatever is first in line in front of the lens is where the camera will focus. Which results in pictures of twigs instead of birds in trees. Smushed bugs on the windshield instead of purple mountain majesties. And a chain link fence instead of earth moving equipment with a giant borer attachment. Nonetheless, the combination makes for an interesting picture as a placeholder while I go prep the house for the Merry Maids, arriving first thing in the morning. Getting ready for the much-anticipated Christmas invasion.

More storm aftermath

A crane looked out over Park Avenue this afternoon. A downed tree, my neighbor told me, urging friend Patty and me to cut the Scrabble game short and hie out to the car to go take a look. Which we did. The view from the alley showed 1) a lop-sided Arizona cypress that appeared to have lost most of its limbs on the left side and 2) another cypress whose upper trunk may have been broken off.

Here's the scene on the Park Avenue side of the historic mansion. As best we could tell, a huge trunk was squashing a car that's hiding behind the crane. If you peer past the crane (below), you might get a better view of the tree that lost the top of its trunk -- a side show to the main action.

This is the downed tree trunk -- and, below, the remaining stump.

Piles of slash all over the place -- and firewood for the taking (below). When did the tree topple? No idea, but I'm sure that the high winds earlier this week played a major role.

Those winds did a job on a shed at our cottage down in Wilhoit, as well. The roof blew into the lot next door, the former walls were all over the place...

And file cabinets that haven't been opened since the LH and I moved to Arizona were left standing, lonely, in the cold. Thanks to Chris for the photos.

Early Prescott

This curious representation of "historic" Prescott hangs near the entrance desk at the Sharlot Hall Museum and is called "Prescott -- 1864-1924". The title caught me up short, but then I spent a little time studying details to discover the painting is chockablock full of anachronisms.

For example, there is a handful of motor cars in the midst of horseback riders and pack mules. There is also a streetcar, marking this street (below) as Gurley.

The old Head Hotel shows up moved to the NE corner of Gurley and Cortez Streets.

Frontier Days plays out on Cortez Street, with the stand on the Courthouse Plaza. Whiskey Row is on the opposite side of the original Courthouse (below).

Yes, there was a railroad train evident at the north end of town, but the hydraulic gold mining (below) actually happened in Lynx Creek, quite a few miles distant from the Courthouse.

Ah, if only I had anticipated how that one picture (top) was to be used! I would have made a number of closer shots to maintain decent detail.

Winter Wonderland: The dotter was out with her new camera and has just posted the results -- beautiful pictures of hoar frost build up by Alaskan fog on the trees. Gorgeous.

Critter exotica

Lest you believe that Prescott's critter exotica is limited to javelina and ring-tailed cats, I've collected here other beasties I've seen while wandering our town. 'Frinstance, that's one fine toucan spotted at the Grayleaf Galleries last winter.

The gilt-encrusted rhino was for sale at the gift shop in the Prescott Resort, which had a rather grand collection of frogs, painted ponies and other goodies.

The camel (above) and the elephants (below) were photographed in one of our many collectible shops.

On the other hand, the life-size giraffes made their home down in Cordes Lakes. BTW, does anyone know what has happened to the outfit that was selling the giant made-in-Mexico giraffes and lions and saurians; I'm told that they have left their yard across I-17 from Anthem.

In my book, the critter above must certainly be a firebird, don't you think? It, too, resided at the Grayleaf.

As for the zebra, it happened soon after I handed the younger granddotter an empty toilet paper roll one day this past summer.

Linkage: If you don't read the comments, you may have missed the wonderful clock that Avus linked to. For a fun trip, you might follow the pair of Arkansas lads who rode west on their bikes; in the process they discovered the White Spar. Among new local bloggers is a woman with two Maine coon cats. And yet another article about Arcosanti, the Utopia that wasn't.

Storm finishes that broken oak

It was very recently I wrote of the broken tree down the street, noting that despite the crack spiraling up the trunk, there was still a substantial canopy (below) and that I wouldn't be surprised to see the same tree hanging in there 10 years from now. That's the way of many trees with a strong life force, especially tough little oaks.

Oh, how wrong I was! Our Monday night storm, which combined snow, hurricane force wind gusts, plus thunder and lightning was too much for big robust Ponderosa pines, that crashed into streets, power lines and porches around town. Why should we expect this crippled Emory oak to survive such an onslaught. It didn't, as the pictures taken by my neighbor make quite clear. It was simply too much of a storm.

Up the hill, I worried the wind might blow in my big picture windows; however, the only suffering at Chez GrannyJ (aside from cold feet) was the electric outage that lasted much of the night. Now another two El Nino storms are headed this way -- while my bro, in Perth on the west coast of Oz, reports that he's suffering from the back side of the same El Nino, which means drought.

Our share of the Big Storm

Yes, the big coast-to-coast storm earlier this week did pass over Prescott, bringing us our first moisture in over a month. As such, it was welcome. Not so the high winds. But the winds are another story. Later. Tonight, the subject is snow.

Usually the result of a snow storm is a load of of the white stuff on our pines and naked deciduous trees. At first, on Monday afternoon, the snow began to build up on the Ponderosa (above) and the Scotch pine (below). By the next morning, most had been blown off, which is too bad. As long as we're going to have a snow storm, that Christmas card look is one of the big payoffs. However, the start was pretty.

Though we had about six inches total, it didn't pile up very high on the juniper or tree branches.

My strawberry pot will be well watered; the snow is melting very gradually. Meaning that it is cold. As in BRRR!

Our street, being unpaved never sees the snow plow. That leaves a neat canvas for interesting tire patterns.

The embankment collects various critter tracks, primarily dogs and the occasional cat, whereas the road (below) collects people prints (left) together with dog meanderings (right).

Here's my neighbor with Toby, who's straining at his leash to catch the frisbee.

When I finally ventured out into greater Prescott, the major streets were reasonably well plowed, though there was still a covering of snow. That was on Wednesday. Today, Thursday, my street is still snow covered -- and we're expecting another storm this weekend. And another next week. All thanks to that El Nino dominating the Pacific this season.

All About the Storm: The Prescott Pines Camp suffered major damage from the winds, including a Ponderosa that crashed into its dining hall. For a round-up of news about the storm, check out the Courier story; I don't know if electric service has been restored in all the outlying areas or not. NASA's Earth Observatory has a great big picture of the Big Storm here.

Accidental skull?

Oh, the strange things one sees when out walking around Prescott. What could it be? Any of you who recall seeing shapes in the clouds as a child ought to be able to come up with possibilities.

Misc. Links: In case you haven't seen the mysterious spiral of lights in the Norwegian sky, Space Weather has a still image; the Berman post includes videos that show how the lights developed, giving a very different picture of what happened; the final two of the three videos are best. In a less serious moment, you might take a look at a huge domino run over at YouTube.

Timepieces: postscript

Inevitable, isn't it, that as soon as you hit the publish button and retire for the night you remember several excellent examples and ideas that should have been included? All right in your own house? Not that I could have changed a thing -- the power went down at about 10:30 p.m. in a windy snow storm last night and wasn't switched back on until several hours later in the dark of early morning.

However, today I opened a little used drawer and found two watches which should have been included in last night's post. You will note that Chairman Mao (above) presided over a clock face 1) with nary a number and 2) with a red star atop the second hand. One of these was given to every member of my tour group to China back in 19aught80. We arrived in China at a time when little blue uniforms were still worn by all citizens (silk or fine wool for the masters, wash cotton for the masses), all the shoes were black cotton Mary Janes and the country was just opening to tourists from the capitalist west.

Quite in contrast, the Lady Elgin was given me by my Phoenix grandmother when I graduated from Phoenix College back in the 40s. In those days, a good watch was a valued treasure and there was little competition from the dime stores. (To judge from my spam mail, I gather that there is still a market for snob watches.)

And then, on the mantelpiece there sits the xerox clock, a project of passing interest to my late husband. The works (below) are for real, the temporary face was a paper copy that was never replaced by the real thing. The eagle is removable, but lends an air of grandeur to the enterprise.

Bavarian Squirrels: Steve, who is a regular commenter here at Walking Prescott, has been providing nuts for and photographing the squirrels who abound in his village. They all are beautiful animals, with great tufted ears, but he has one (to me) rather remarkably colored critter he calls Coal. Coal is a black squirrel, what one might call a "tuxedo squirrel", which is totally new to me. Today's post gives a good series of pictures of all three of his current visitors.
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Tick-tock

Precision measurement of time and space is a major underpinning of Western civilization, though I'm sure that those who are aware of this are few. Clocks are so ubiquitous in our world that we take them quite for granted. I'm one of those who doesn't even bother to wear a time-piece. (I got out of the habit when young, back in the days when one had to remove a watch when washing dishes or your hair or when showering.)

They are ubiquitous here in Prescott, as well, as I discovered picking out selections from my huge iPhoto folder. They range from the classic (above, complete to two mice who ran up the clock) I photographed in a collectibles shop to a wide variety over at the Miller Valley True Value (below).

Many more are on the shelves at WallyMart West (above, below), including one that should be donated to Sue Ann's Apple Pan.

This is a much grander clock awaiting auction at Batterman's several months ago; I wonder how much it fetched.

Apparently public time pieces arrived after individual clocks and watches were well established, according to historian Bernard Lewis. I doubt if any public clocks in America compare to the the astronomical clock on the side of Prague's Old Town Hall Tower, which dates back to the 15th century. Back when I was employed, I was lucky enough to join the crowd in front of the tower to observe the procession of the twelve apostles: on the hour, every hour, a small trap door opens and Christ marches out ahead of his disciples, while the skeleton of death tolls the bell to a defiant statue of a Turk. And, according to Lewis, the Ottomans did not adopt such infidel mechanisms as the clock until much later in their history, when it was realized how far behind the West their empire had fallen.

In the West, on the other hand, the symbolism of the two hands and their positions is sufficiently ingrained that you will find clocks that eliminate even the four numbers above. Whenever I see such a clock abstraction, my immediate inclination is to give it a good 90 degree twist, either left or right, leaving it to the owner to figure out why his machine isn't telling the correct time.

I also disapprove of the type of digital timepiece above. Whereas the classic round dial puts the current time into a context of past, present and future, the digital time readout is one more version of modern instant gratification. It implies neither tomorrow or yesterday, dealing only with Right Now. Relegate such a devices to timing a race or cookies baking in the oven, a proper use.