Javelina vs. tulips

I've written previously of the neighbor, he of the 1000 tulip bulbs. His approach to tulips is to water them and fence them, otherwise treat them as wild flowers. And they in turn oblige, with a spectacular show every spring.

One year, his electric fence failed. You can guess what ensued. Javelina ensued, digging up big holes in his garden. But 1000 tulip bulbs is far, far more than our small neighborhood pack could eat in a few sessions of gorging; thus we continue to enjoy spectacular displays in the spring.

Here is the replacement fence. No, it's not electric, and I guess it should be, as somehow or other, the little pigs have invaded the garden again and we have, here and there....

...scenes of destruction. I've scanned the little fence and see no signs of how the critters got into the garden. Now, one friend with a small, newly fenced yard complete to a raised planting bed, was raided the other day. She lost her new strawberry and blueberry plants to the critters, who burrowed under the fence. All of which has me quite puzzled. I've had strawberry plants for years and the porkers have never touched them!

Of course, this is the point at which I share some of the many pictures that friend Bob takes of the large pack that haunts his neighborhood. Above is Mom & piglet; below, a couple of males face off (this appears to be rutting season, to judge from a couple of Bob's pictures.)

One fellow blogger, Boonie, asked if there weren't something better guaranteed to protect one's garden from the depredations of the Arizona javelina. As far as I can tell, the electric fence is about it. Yes, you can buy pricey cougar or wild cat urine, but reports say that it is iffy and, besides, the rain or watering will wash it away.

Tippy currently a horse?

Yep, that's what the library's Tippy the dinosaur has morphed into this month. That she's an equine critter is obvious from the horseshoes on her forearms and, of course, the long, shaggy mane.

The corner is naked

Do you recall the NW corner of Willis and Montezuma, back in, maybe, December 2006? There was a big yellow frame apartment building on the corner, then, heading north, an old brown house, next to Hugo's. How fast things can change. They are no more. In January, 2007, the apartment house burned; this April -- maybe a week ago -- the brown house was dozed to the ground.

I had no file picture of the original corner building -- but did capture images of it right after the fire. As for the brown house, again my photo library yielded only this sad little shot framed by a car window.

Sunday I was on my way to the chalk art scene, walking down Willis, when I noticed changes at the corner lot. And then became aware that I was seeing straight through to Hugo's outdoor dining sheds (below).

Turning the corner, there was this big dozer smack dab in the place of the brown house, surrounded by rubble. Thus far, only the one-sided trees remain standing.

The question, of course, is what is in store for this choice property? We already have two prime vacant corner lots in the middle of town, across from the Square; will this corner also remain empty as long as the market is down or are plans already afoot? Has anybody heard anything?

Blogger Meet-Up Link: Thanks to Tombo for an upbeat write-up about our very small get together Sunday. You'll have to scroll down because I wanted you to also see his report on a strange little art exhibit in the city drainage ways. Tom has a knack for locating totally unexpected sights in what everyone thinks of as a fairly staid little town. Way to go, Tom!

Chocolate bunny

Wow! A chocolate Easter bunny from the recent holiday meal at a friend's home. And not just any old chocolate, but a class act. Imported from Germany.

I'm certainly glad I didn't have a little one around. Wouldn't want him or her to get hurt.

But I am truly relieved to have all that nutritional information right at hand. You can bet I read every word. Good that there was enough room on the wrapper to provide it!

I checked out that dangerous ribbon before I devoured the bunny; I guess I'm big enough to survive. Happy to report that the chocolate was quite yummy -- and, most important of all, it was hollow. Don't know why that is important, but I recall an Easter chocolate from my childhood that was solid -- most disappointing.

Local Linkage: Yavapai Central is back with a report on the county board and the problem small unincorporated areas have submitting community plans. If you read about the local barn owls in the Courier Saturday, you'll want to see the bird living at Lowe's. Down in Tucson, Warren visited the butterfly garden with his camera; up in the Painted Desert, a phytosaur skull is being excavated, the subject of a new blog about the process. Finally, Rich stalks a heron at Watson Lake & gets a shot of a luncheon frog.

Epic trees

The pair of old, old cottonwoods at McCormick and Willis has been gone at least two years now. However, there remain a few wonderful trees in downtown Prescott. If I were to name them, I'd start with the pair of huge conifers that dwarf the Catholic Charities building on Gurley at Summit. I tried, but was not really able to catch the size (above and below)!

Next door down the hill is yet another, different conifer -- not bad, but not comparable.

However, to me the prize for the most remarkable tree in town will be found on Granite Street as you walk north from the Chase bank. Here are the leaves you'll almost touch as you pass underneath ... the Super, Giant Ivy Tree below.

Examine the picture carefully. You'll see that the real tree, which is supporting this immense vine, is just coming into leaf. Another week or two and it would not have been possible to picture the extent of the ivy. Adult ivy, of course. I've often wondered just how long this particular tree, with its heavy burden, will survive.

Chalk it up

Today's event might as well have been designed specifically to attract the photographer's eye. Who could resist all that color!

Sponsors, from the City to the Mountain Artists' Guild and the Prescott Area Arts & Humanities Council (plus a good assortment of local businesses), borrowed the Compass Bank parking lot for a weekend of free chalk art. We lucked out -- there was neither wind nor chill; it was a beautiful spring day for kids, genuine artists, and, in fact, anybody to create a temporary work of art on the asphalt. All for free, including the chalk.

The Mural Mouse was there, with a Hickory Dickery Dock illustration. I also liked the Big Cat emerging below.

One chalker (above) came equipped with a classic crib sheet. Wonder if the artist (below) ever returned to finish off the pizza or was it left for the ravens?

Curious if any of our local graffiti artists showed up.

Now for my own tale of woe; namely, I walked down to the event, taking the usual oodles of pix, and ran out of juice just as I arrived at the bank. No problem; I put in replacement batteries. Ooops -- they weren't charged, despite being in a baggie labeled "charged". So I had to detour over to Walgreen's for a supply of electricity. All of which meant that I missed the Troupe Salamant performance...

...and wasn't able to photograph this character at the fair, but only as he was headed for Starbucks or his car. One disappointment: the moment I spotted his outfit, my reaction was, "hey, that's the Shaggy Man, straight from the Land of Oz." But he merely saw himself as a tree.

Here's the best I could do to show the belly dancers. One circling the show to see the art, another (below) with her dog heading for her car in the Depot Place parking lot.

The event continues tomorrow (Sunday). A piece of me suspects this innocent introduction to creating public art is a mixed blessing for young kids. They're getting a taste of what fun it can be; the next time they may not wait for a sanctioned event but instead move on to graffiti. (I further wonder if any of the local graffiti artists might show up overnight to leave their mark at the site; I would if I were they! Attention, Tombo: you should check this out!)

Final Notice: If you're reading this on Sunday, don't forget that the blogger get together is today over at Flinn Park at 1 p.m.

On my way to the Thai take-out

Prescott is rapidly moving into walking season. I had a taste for a Thai take-out dinner and so set out shortly after four, hence the long shadows you will see in today's pictures. Number one is my white evening primrose, with at least three buds, one of which might possibly open tonight. That is, if the javelina don't show up; they're quite fond of evening primrose roots. Over by the school, there was an outstanding bit of civic graffiti (below).

I've never taken a picture of these granites; aren't they handsome? As are the gnarled limbs of a turbinella oak. The big knots most likely resulted from major mistletoe infestation once upon a time.

This particular walk takes me past two fine sets of digital fences, particularly the specimen below which races downhill, section by section.

The owners of the truck above were scouting a house; said house was on the market two years ago at over $600Gs; today it's a short sale at $325 thou. Fancy That, BTW, has long since moved here from the Valley -- it's located over on McCormick. The truck below? No idea what it was up to; however, the trailer boasted a mighty long bed.

Signs of gentrification...

vs. the down-home neighborhood that was...

At Tai Phoon, I was invited to join Nigel (above) and Tracy (below) for a beer with my curry. Not only is Prescott a friendly town -- but in what other small town will one casually meet a student from SE Asia who hopes to fly jets for Singapore Airlines or a young woman from Brooklyn who recently got her degree in global security and intelligence studies?

Blogger Meet-Up: a reminder of our picnic this Sunday at 1 p.m. over at Flinn Park, 280 Josephine. Hope to see you there.