Temper, temper!

As everybody knows, among my collections is a fine batch of bumper stickers. But I especially liked this one. A true bah! humbug! for the Christmas season. Of course, the dotter had to tailgate in order for me to get any kind of a picture. But we refused to the follow orders of this particular white Toyota. We just went scumming along.

Wallpapered Vehicles

A year ago this summer, when my famous Niece from Memphis was visiting, she made a run up I-17 to Flagstaff. Reporting back, she mentioned spotting a van that was thoroughly plastered with with decals and bumper stickers. (She was aware that I was a collector and connoisseur of same.) Unfortunately, neither she nor her passenger caught a picture.

I did see this slightly covered car down near the Sharlot Hall grounds. But it surely didn't fit the description given by the niece.

However, the day I came across this green vehicle over by Sacred Heart School, I just knew I had the niece's van in sight. Read and enjoy!

But covering the trailing edge of the car with posters is not limited to the green van. Take a look below:

Of course, I do wonder if it isn't just a tad dangerous inviting the driver behind you to read and agree (or disagree) instead of paying attention to the road ahead. As a non-driver, I can enjoy the texts and imagining the sort of person who's into tattoos, killing TV, saving the wolf and Tibet, as well.

Even a biker, if his equipment furnishes the billboard space, can get into the act, tho this owner seems to have gotten tired of the game. His stickers need refreshing. And, yes, I do have a fine photo collection of cars and the causes they espouse. Too many, in fact. It's hard to make a selection! One of these days.

It's Spring...Another Neighborhood Walk!

And who better to welcome everyone along for the walk than the frog king! Frogs/toads are standard yard ornaments, along with snails, little heads, cupids, butterflies, even dinosaurs and scorpions. Among the missing: cats, dogs and horses. Don't understand why.

This property recently changed hands; the new owners made sure that these pleasant steps and little rock wall are now visible for passers-by.

On a more untouched street, I found this patch revealed when someone removed a rather large stone. Somebody's home stands naked! Ants? Beetles?

The first iris of the season, poking through a chain link fence. Guess you'd call this "ordinary cultivated iris"; whatever the name, it is well adapted to our climate and spotty rainfall. I've seen happy clumps of iris blooming on properties where the house must have burned down 50 or so years ago. Our native iris grow in seasonal streambeds and lakes at higher elevations.

Hard to photograph: the delicate little lavender mustard flowers that are among the earliest plants to blossom. In a big patch, the scent is almost too heady to bear.

Another spring herald -- one of several locally growing fleabanes, this plant with more of a lavender tinge than most.

Yet another bright harbringer of spring, the ubiquitous dandelion.

It wasn't all Nature on my walk. Here's a somewhat strange version of the "my kid is superior/above average at XYZ school" bumper sticker that almost every parent's car bears in this town (and I suppose most towns these days of self-esteem at all costs.)

Finally... I really do admire this bike for its excellent collection of stickers!

Wearing Your Heart On Your Guitar Case

The automotive bumper and the Tshirt are the usual spots where people declare themselves, whether their passion is politics (left, right, libertarian), a hobby, a profession or some other affiliation. But it looks to me like guitar cases offer another place to make personal pronouncements. For example, the chap who belongs to the case above was a folk singer at the recent Acker Showcase.

Not surprisingly, the white case above and below makes statements on behalf of a singer of cowboy ballads who appeared at a house concert I enjoyed this fall.

We're living in a wonderful world of self-publishing, whether the medium is an auto or paper or clothing or a blog on the internet. Or the container for a musical instrument. (My own opinion is that it was the Xerox machine that brought down the USSR -- it really opened the possibility for personal expression without the intercession of an editor or other censor.) Me? I'm cool. Tend to keep my strong opinions to myself -- mostly. Largely because I find that I wind up spluttering when I try to write with passion. That's why bumperstickers were invented!

Cars Speak Up

A lifetime ago, at the very least, automobiles wore not one but two license plates, one front and the other rear. Then, on an economy kick, the various states phased out the front plates, probably because motorcycle cops usually crept up on one from the rear.

But for some strange reason, manufacturers continue to furnish plate holders at the front of cars. This has created a splendid opportunity for an owner to make a comment. Herewith, three examples I've seen around town.

It's hard to decide which is my favorite, but I think I'd have to settle for the plate below. It acknowledges the sort of face made by the car's grille.

Auto Activism: Water

Back when I first started this blogging business, I thought it would be mighty clever to take pictures of bumper stickers at, say, Prescott College -- vs. a shooting range. Nice contrast of causes, I imagined. Perhaps a bumper sticker war, hey?

Having looked into the reality of local bumper stickers, I find that there is too much variety. My original thinking was stupendously simplistic.


So here are bumper stickers on just one subject: water. And no war, either. At least not in the open. Not a single "use lots of water today," for example. Or "Relax! Big Chino Has Lots of Water".


On the other hand, what doesn't get stated on bumper stickers is why I should let my flowers wilt in order to save water for some developer out in the Dells. Or why the guy I talked to the other day, who has a well plus city water, should be required to shut down the well (which he uses for exclusively for landscaping) and substitute what will be expensively de-arsenicked city water for his trees.

And in the meantime, the city has nearly TWENTY YEARS to get its act together and achieve "safe yield." That's mighty kind of a long past state legislature! By me, the whole water situation is as tangled up as spaghetti.

If you have strong feelings about the local water situation or merely want to learn more, you might visit the web pages of the state water resources department or the Citizens Water Advocacy Group. One link at the CWAGAZ site I found especially pertinent was an article about the Salt River Project and its interests in the Verde River system (of which every creek running through Prescott is a part.)