Seasonal saurians

I'm happy to report that the Iron Springs menagerie were still sporting their Christmas attire when we drove west earlier this week. And I believe I saw a pair of new flying horses adorning the driveway to the manor house as we sped back into town. I wonder where the lady goes for her giant iron critters now that the Iron Corral has packed up and gone back to Baja.

We did get our own saurians once the Gdotter got to work. My favorite is the blue-striped pterodactyl.

Granddotter does the library

As I mentioned yesterday, the house is now full! Grandchild #3 is now here, tagging along after the teen-age pair. But this morning, the dotter and I took her over to the library to meet Tippy in person (she's had a letter with pictures of the various persona that Tippy has worn over the year). Doggone, she was disappointed. She expected Tippy to be much bigger! Maybe like the dinos she met out Iron Springs Road a couple of years ago. That's what comes of cropping in on one's pictures -- the subject looks bigger than life! Now I happened to like Rodeo Tippy, ready for a week of big doings.

On the other hand, the Blue Hair Challenge caught her imagination. The idea is that if 1000 kids/teens sign up to read 15 minutes per day every day until the end of July, the children's librarians will show up in blue hair at the final day celebration. She signed up, even though she won't be here for the finale. (FYI, the Challenge is already over-subscribed.)

And then proceeded to do her 15-minute read.

Next, I just had to show off the horney toad and the lion. I think the lion was a bigger hit with the dotter than with the GD.

On the other hand, the little bronze girl in the garden really scored. FYI, she reports that there were no words in that book, just lines running across the pages.

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.

Heroic figures

Or something like that. Anyhow, tada!

This huge eagle adorns the west side of Cortez Street, down near the old RR station. He's the emblem of the fraternal order of same (Eagles), so much a part of the scenery that usually I'm not aware that he's present in all his predatory glory.

As for Super-Tippy -- I found this picture in my email after I had posted my library pix. I quite like the idea of the library dinosaur as a masked super-heroine, complete with bright R.E.D. cape.

The dinosaur for all occasions

It must be a blast to be a children's librarian. Where else would one's job description include turning an everyday dinosaur into a mermaid? I forget on which occasion I found Tippy, as the saurian's name turns out to be, swathed in green, with a gorgeous blonde DO to complete the illusion. Snap, I took a picture at once. Found out that Tippy regularly changes his persona to suit the season, holiday or special program.

For instance, I stopped by the children's library on Friday as I was heading to the chamber music concert. A totally different dino -- he was, ARGHHH, a pirate. Note the details: a parrot to say "pieces of eight" and a miniature treasure chest, plus big boots, a sword and a skull and crossbones. The idea behind this costuming evolved because one of the librarians lent a family treasure -- an old sea chest -- to hold prizes for kids taking part in the month-long winter reading program. Naturally, the treasure chest said "pirates" and Tippy was outfitted accordingly.

The librarian showed me the picture (above) of Tippy meeting Santa during the Christmas season so I boldly asked if any other pictures existed. Just look at the wonderful images I got in the email that evening:

Tippy as Cupid for Valentine's Day (above) and as a goldfish (below).

Dinosaur-go-braugh for St. Pat's Day...

transformed into an Easter bunny-saur (above) and, with added ears and trunk, into an impressive elephant (below). Maybe he was promoting the book, Dumbo.

I'm curious what he'll be wearing the next time I stop by.

Jurassic Park 2

Little did we know as we set out yesterday -- me with my daughter and granddaughter, down for the day from Flagstaff -- that we had a proper adventure in store. Seemed exciting enough just to have a package of kiddie magic from Denny's that colored the milk pink!

But. Perhaps you recall the scene from your childhood, your nose pressed against the glass of the candy store or the Christmas toy display, wishing and wishing. Like that, there we were, at the fence of the estate with the dragons and dinosaurs because "you've got to see these," I had told the kids.

As we stood there wisting, the lady of the house spotted us and hiked over. She explained that often people stop with their children to look and she invites them in to have their pictures taken. And so we entered the magic realm.


Just to give you a real idea of the size of the T. Rex!


And the brontosaurus.


It's not often a little girl gets to ride a dragon unless she's in a novel by Anne McCaffrey or one of its imitators.


The iron donkey was of a more suitable size for one going on five...


... tho the smaller brontosaurus might have made a good ride in its time.


For some reason the rusty rhino was scary -- the granddaughter didn't last long atop the beast.


The cobra's coil is a fine place to do a final "Whee!"

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We learned that most of the critters are made in Mexico and shipped to an importer down in Anthem. Next additions to the zoo include a gargoyle and a unicorn; most recent was a spiky stegasaurus.

Aside from a goof in setting my camera for zoom shots, my only regret looking back is that Sunday was one of those gloriously brilliant fall days in the mountains; photography would have been easier had we had a gloomy overcast!

The splendid lady on Iron Springs Road not only enjoys her wonderful menagerie but enjoys sharing it with strangers. What a great way to live.

How About a Jurassic NeverNeverLand?

It's only been a couple of months since I was last out Iron Springs Road. In that short period, a window to Faerie or perhaps a time warp to the Jurassic has opened up. However you view it, there's a growing zoological wonderland in full sight at one of the big estates to the south of the highway near Willow Creek. Gossip says that the huge life-size (or bigger) scupts are created by the son of the house, who needs a place to store his output. It's a super gallery, too!


When I last photographed the scene, Old Triceratops was the lone dinosaur present. Now he's been joined by T. Rex #1 (top shot) and Brontosaurus (above with the Triceratops), not to mention T.Rex #2 below.



The bucking bronc was there previously -- but the dragon is a welcome new resident.


Also combining the imaginary menagerie with the real -- a bucking unicorn plus a mountain sheep.


Two life-size ostriches -- only one is visible here -- plus H.M. Cobra (Highly Magnified) complete my day's collection.


Honest, everybody -- this is simply an amazing sight to come across! There are other smaller animals I couldn't reach from the road with my current lens. I expect that the collection will grow in the months ahead; I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you want a dinosaur or two, how about something a little less imposing -- say, origami.

Further Note: my dinosaurs made it onto the Friday Ark (just barely)...go take a look, if you're into any kind of animal! Another link that might interest you: Angie included Walking Prescott in a neat list of Arizona links; she's a Prescott writer.

Iron Springs Road Trio

Drove out to Granite Basin today with my late husband's son and his family. In the past I hadn't noticed any special sights on this trip out to one of my favorite local spots in the forest.

However, today I caught sight of two notable mail boxes, above and below. As someone with more than a little touch of printer's ink in my veins, I particularly cotton to the receptacle attached to the old flat bed press. As my daughter would say, "Kewl!"


The third sight, however, was truly unexpected on this grey, rainy day. The huge, rusty, metallic saurian was the most outstanding of the many animal sculpts visible on this estate's grounds. We found ourselves wondering if the property owner and the creator were one and the same! If I had the room, I wouldn't mind owning this fellow!