Giant four-eyes

One byproduct of my new portable air conditioner now at home in the kitchen is that it was necessary to remove the window screen so the exhaust tube could do its job (see picture here). Not surprisingly, I've had some interesting visitors. By far the most glamorous was this giant antheraea oculea moth I discovered sitting on a hanging basket of geegaws last night. And I do mean very large: the wingspan is 5-6".

A glance at his/her battered wings says that the critter has been around for a while this summer; it proceeded to batter them further flying at the fluorescent ceiling fixtures periodically and then resting up. Thanks to The Google, I found pictures and a discussion at What's That Bug. Interesting -- this is very much a local southwestern special. The Bugman points out, The World’s Largest Saturniidae Site indicates: The Antheraea oculea moth (wing span 3 15/16 – 5 7/8 inches) closely resemble the widely distributed polyphemus, but oculea occur only in the Southwestern corner of New Mexico through the mountains of southern Arizona north to Flagstaff and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Aren't those eye spots super? The Bugman noted Exactly one year ago on 19 July 2008, when we received our first photo of the Oculea Moth, Antheraea oculea, we thought we were looking at a Polyphemus Moth with exaggerated markings. The eyespots looked heavily made up, as though they had added eye shadow. The three reports about this moth that were posted on What's That Bug were from the Verde Valley and the Payson area; I usually see one or two of these moths every few summers, but never had a chance to photograph one so intimately.

I was fortunate to get one picture of an antenna showing its feathery form.

Also quite interesting -- the silky "hairs" that not only covered the body of the moth (right) but spilled over onto the wing. The critter was resting when I turned out the lights to go to bed; this morning, he/she had disappeared. Now, if I am really, really, really lucky one of those pretty scarab beetles will land in front of my camera lens and it will deploy its delicate feathery antenae. Hah -- not very likely!

Yet another thrift

I'm a downtown person, not mall people. A major reason, of course, is that I don't drive. As a result, the closest I get to a department store fix is a visit to one of the larger resale shops, the Goodwill, Sal or Noah's, for example. And to speak the truth, I find a thrift to be quite as much fun as almost any Sears or Dillard's emporium. Now we have a new addition to the city's collection of larger second hand stores, over in the Goodwin Street Plaza.

The Stepping Stones store is slightly upscale, when compared to the Sal or Goodwill, and more attention is paid to the decor.

There is the usual collection of household knickknacks...

...but I'd say that women's wear is the major focus -- plenty of it and of better quality.

Not nearly as well stocked in the men's department, tho the Garfield shorts (below) would be a find for the right person (perhaps my Sson -- he's a Garfield fan).

The cowboy boots (for the ladies, I presume) were in the protected area behind the checkout counter.

There's a back room for guy-stuff.

Indicating just how ho-hum the computer has become, keyboards are stacked helter skelter (above); phones share a shelf with a couple of wheel covers (below).

Plenty of good hardware-type Stuff in the back room (above), including cheap golf balls, if you need some. In fact, the store will outfit you completely for golf (look in the corner above -- though I didn't see any plus-fours).

On the other hand, the telescope was seen by the store folk as being sufficiently upscale to merit a focal point in the front of the store. You can be sure I'll be back -- I scored a couple of neat sleeveless Ts, upscale, of course, on my first visit.

Linkage: Ronnie Hall, the Designing Fairy, dropped a note that she will lead a class in handmade book design this fall at Yavapai College; more info at Ronnie's blog.

Cowboys

Friend Bobbi recently sent me a couple of pictures taken over Skull Valley way.

I'm posting 'em as a reminder of Prescott's recent past, when we were a western town year round, not just the week of rodeo. Our small town has evolved into a more sophisticated city, but we lost somethig on the way. Thanks for the reminder, Bobbi, that there are still ranches, cattle, and cowboys out there in the hinterlands.

Linkables: Speaking of a more innocent past, the current Smithsonian Magazine has a fascinating article about Charles Atlas whose mission (and business) in life was turning 97-pound weaklings into real muscle-bound He-Men. And here's a comic just for me -- and other bloggers like me who are always on the lookout for new material.

Prescott's Historic Grave Sites

(Sorry to be late, but I wound up spending far too much time with PhotoShop, as there were over 25 pictures that needed processing, sizing, etc.! That's the problem with events or places where I keep clicking the shutter -- it always turns out that there are far more pics than suitable for a blog post. Followed by dithers, as to which to use and which to leave out. Which takes time. Etc.) In the meantime, back to the Citizens' Cemetery over on East Sheldon near Yavapai College. It was spring when friend Patty and I paid our visit to see the wildflowers. At that time, I promised a look at the grave markers.

A few facts about the graveyard, per the Yavapai Cemeteries website: The cemetery has more than 2,700 known (and many unknown) pioneers interred on 6.5 acres. Burials continued on a regular basis from 1864 to 1933. Following 1933, burials were held only for persons or family members who had already reserved a plot. In August 1994, Citizens Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and later included in the Prescott Armory Historic Preservation District. In order to protect the historic integrity of the cemetery, the Board of Supervisors has now closed the cemetery to all burials.

You might describe the shot above as then and now; the cemetery abuts the old Armory on the south, a mobile home court on the east and a handful of homes plus the Smoki on the west. The graveyard was neglected and weed grown when, in 1994, a group of local citizens formed an organization to restore this historic site. In spring, the plants, which include many local wildflowers, are allowed to flourish in the back half of the cemetery. One of the innovations of the Yavapai Cemetery Association is an old-fashioned Memorial Day service each year, honoring veterans of the Civil War and WWII, among others.

A handful of the monuments were of a red stone -- possibly sandstone. Do you suppose that part of the restoration effort has included removing lichen? Compare the upper stone with the cross below.

Another of the red stone monuments -- this in the form of a tree trunk. Yet another tree trunk is visible below, in the eastward view towards P-Mountain.

Natural granites and a shovel are among the other unusual markers at the cemetery. Is it likely that the man interred below was a miner?

A very very old wooden cross (above) and a pyramid (below).

Here are another pair of stones with a difference.

The occasional children's or infant's grave is a reminder that life was unforgiving in pioneer days. Particularly sad, above, is the marker for three children of the Day family.

This small stone for a dead infant is part of the Randall family plot (above, below).

Many of the more ornate grave monuments above and in the pictures that follow; I hope you enjoy your tour.

At the far end of the cemetery are a number of stones with current dates that appear to belie the statement that the Citizens Cemetery is closed to new burials. In fact, one stone for man and wife was as yet undated for the surviving partner. All of which has me curious, but then I'm always curious.

Festival of the Trees: The August edition of this monthly compilation of quite fascinating blog posts about trees is now on line at Trees, Plants and More. Subjects covered range from the Christmas tree farms of North Carolina to using shotguns to help reproduction of the American chestnut to a description of ten important tropical fruit trees. And I thank Arati for including my mash note about the Arizona sycamore.

But I was cool, man....

The problem is that I wasn't. Cool. We have been having a very hot summer here in the mountains. I finally decided to Do Something about it and bought a portable air conditioner, for the kitchen, which is where the heat likes to collect. Mind you, I'll only need to use the dang thing a couple of months of the year, at most. And not every day. Which is why the portable machine instead of a more or less permanent window unit. I like to save my windows for 1) light, 2) the view and 3) fresh air. Oh yes, and the occasional photograph.

Of course, it has thoroughly cluttered up the room, not to mention the giant worm breathing out my window. (But I am cool!) And not to mention my dithering while I tried to figure out the instructions. Oh, for a world in which one can buy a product and simply turn it on -- wasn't it like that once upon a time way back in the G.O.D. (Good Old Days)?

To top it all off, would you believe it's completely operated by a remote? Honest Injun -- no buttons, no dials, no switches. I am truly living in the 21st Century. I should have already become used to the magic wand approach with my bedroom radio (below), which, though it has a few buttons for a child-size finger, is primarily operated by a remote. Of course, I am not touching that dial, because there isn't one. What kind of radio is that? But it is pretty cool to be able to turn down the #2 Brandenburg just before I drop off to sleep, without getting out of bed.

Lots of Links: Speaking of media, nobody appears to have picked up the tale of the young public radio journo up in the Alaskan hinterlands who blogged her true feelings about the town where she works, but didn't have the common sense to hide her/the town's identities. How about an interesting blog that features great microscopic pictures of plant parts and critters; a particularly neat sequence follows the development of butterfly eggs. And another that collects dumb and dumber themes and tests from modern classrooms; a classic is the tale of how George Clooney saved the USA. Last, but by no means least, videos of the Cybraphon, an emotionally responsive automatic "orchestra" created by a bunch of Scotch artists. You know that they have to be Scotch because when the Cybraphon makes music, it includes a drone, just like bagpipes.

Handsome rug from ????

So: is this rug I so admire (from a recent arts/crafts show on the Square) a Zapotec jaguar from Mexico or possibly another beastie entirely from Thailand? I trust you, too, will admire it while you ponder your answer. I, in turn, am heading back to my kitchen to ponder the mysterious overseas Asian-English instructions which accompanied my new portable air conditioner. With any luck, I may be cooler tomorrow morning.