The view from Coco's

No doubt my breakfast companions wondered what I was up to this morning. We were at Coco's and I had an enticing view to the west, so I would periodically pop up to take a picture or two.

'Twas a good opportunity to examine the twin scars running down from the hilltop that houses the Prescott Resort/Casino. I've long been curious: were these trails already present when the structure was built in the 80s -- or are they more recent? Who (or what) made them? Perhaps javelina (or, more likely, quads)? I do notice that nothing appears to have started growing, which suggests that the paths are still in use. Of course, scars like that can last for centuries in the arid West.

My other view was of the cut into the hillside made where the shopping center was built, when -- the late 80s, early 90s? It's a steep cut, primarily into granite -- yet a surprising number of plants have taken root. Nonetheless, the contrast between the hilltop and the cut is quite telling.

The light green to the left is a deciduous tree, likely cottonwood, rooted at the bottom of the cut. The seams in the granite caught my eyes, as did the dead tree (below).

Here the granite does not display any seams. At the top of this picture and below, a big layer of granitic soil between the rock and the hilltop. It looks as though a pathway was cut just below the very top. At the lower left below, a cliff rose is still in bloom, but the Apache plume (upper right) is now in full furl.

Plus a note re: Coco's. Very good, reasonably priced breakfasts -- and a applause-worthy refill policy. Not just bottomless coffee or tea, but ditto for OJ or milk. (FYI: I had boysenberry pie.)

A Plethora of Links: So how does the current economic situation compare to the GD (Great Depression)? A cool idea for a new (to me) blog summarizes daily news from the papers in 1930. Cool Clear Water is sojourning in Mexico; almost every day she posts gorgeous pictures from San Miguel. Ron walks Ft. Bragg, California, and he had a very bright idea that I will try: photograph all the cats that he sees. Speaking of animals: here's an interesting angle on pet rescue -- Operation Roger, a collection of long-haul semi drivers that volunteer room in their cabs to move rescued critters from one point to another. Were you watching that mysterious object in the sky a couple of weeks ago: GeekMom has the full story in her Courier blog. In closing, Frogtown has a bitter-sweet take on the closing of a primary school.