Lucky granddotter! In contrast, my depression-era childhood was deprived: my ever-practical mother refused to spend a single, hard-earned penny on cotton candy. Ever. All air, no substance, she would say. She was right, of course, but that's beside the point. Which is that cotton candy is the essence of a holiday fair: sweet, fluffy and insubstantial.
And oh so tempting.
You don't even mind the sticky, gooey aftermath. All that's required is a practical dose of water. Not even soap.
Come to think of it, I don't know quite what one is supposed to wish others on Cupid's day. Merry doesn't cut it ... best wishes for, well that's kinda awkward. So I'll settle for happy. And a Snoopy flag. You see, I haven't done Valentine's Day for years and years and years. For that matter, as merchants of all stripes have moved into the big and the minor celebrations Big Time, I tend to find all that commercial hoo-rah to be a big turnoff. I know, I know, it helps keep our economy rolling, but, oh, what a price! On the other hand, I just received a cool eCard for the occasion and an scheduled for a VDay luncheon tomorrow, so I retract any bahs and all humbugs.
For Your Linky Pleasure: Warren, of Touch the Wind, took his camera to the glass art exhibition at the Desert Botanical Gardens in the Valley. Wild and wonderful stuff! And Prescott. with its heroic bronzes, is mentioned along with Real Cities like Naples and SF at this week's Carnival of the Cities. A reader (Lola by name) sent me an unexpected link: it seems the Pomona Public Library over in SoCal has a collection of nearly 50 digitized 30s postcards of Prescott on line; thanks, Lola. If you follow the link, the next step is to enter a search on "Prescott" in the upper right hand corner of the page.
This is year two for a holiday sale of handcrafted items in one of Prescott's historic homes. Last year, it was the Brinkmeyer house at Park Avenue and Gurley; this year it is the Walter Hill home built in 1907 at 138 Park Avenue, just around the corner.
Here's the house.
And on the porch this afternoon were just some of the goodies waiting to be unpacked to go on sale Friday (noon to 6 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) Some 31 crafters will be taking part in the boutique, offering items as varied as bird feeders, primitive dolls, wooden toys, and knives. There will also be baked goodies. Unlike most such affairs, this sale is not run by a church or club or association; instead, it is the idea of local residents Cookie Brinkmeyer and Angel Burch. The website for the boutique is here; funds raised benefit Prescott Fire Department charities and the historic Citizens Cemetery.
All right, already. I can see the temptation. A quick prick of a needle -- and whoosh, a sumo wrestler no more. I admit to having such evil thoughts the other night along Mt. Vernon Street.
One reason is that I really don't like holiday inflatables. No way. They are gross and puffy to look at. The colors are primary plastic garish. I know that I should be less judgmental, that the blow-it-up figure substitutes air for stuff and thus could be considered less wasteful. But then few (if any) folk celebrated Xmas or Halloween with such huge monstrosities in years gone by.
On the other hand, seeing that deflationary impulse in action, reminds me that there's an anti-social streak of plain, old-fashioned destructive meanness in action when a string of inflatables are struck by darts well before the holiday arrives. How does this compare with overturning outhouses or laboring to move a Model-A to the top of a church, as in the G.O.D. (Good Old Days)? I'm not sure if I'm up to picking apart the threads of a possible argument pro or con.
Fry's featured Easter cookies at the same time as the St. Paddy's cookies.
I found this assortment of Easter-themed thingies at Big Lots. Note especially the Easter pinwheel...
...and Ms. Bunny, all dressed up in holiday finery.
In the meantime, over on Park Avenue, the scene was set for what looks like a visit from grandchildren.
Easter is an occasion for changing the decor at restaurants, of course. These shots were taken at Gizie MaGee's.
Easter decorations as art objects? That's the picture I didn't get, but you can find at Rowena's blog . Over at the Arts Prescott Coop Gallery on Whiskey Row.
As for special holiday events, they happen on next Saturday just in front of Easter. I'm scratching my head to figure out where the WallyMart is going to hold its grand Easter egg hunt. Surely not among the merchandise (oh my, what fun that would be!) ... if not, then in the parking lot in the midst of all those cars? Unfortunately, I have other places to be on Saturday so I'll never know. I'll be downtown for Georgene's beading book signing, to be exact. At the Arts Prescott Gallery. Which means I might catch a few photos of the big city sponsored Egg-Stravaganza 9 to 3 on the Square. Pay a $ fiver for a basket to decorate, then hop to businesses around the Courthouse to fill it with goodies. Plus inflatables, games, and a free egg hunt.
You might know it -- the much decorated house on Park Avenue is now a bright green at night and there's a leprechaun perched on the lawn. It must mean that the holiday beloved of big city political machines is soon with us. Yes, March 17, St. Patrick's Day. As my early life was spent in the South and the Southwest (and my Mom tended to be a dissident about these matters), St. Pat's was no big deal in my life until I settled in Chicago, where wearin' the green mattered mightily. (His Honor, Richard J. Daley, Mayor for Life, remember?)
Of course, merchants will grab any excuse for a promotion. At Fry's the other day, it was decorated cookies and Guiness stout. Can't complain about that combo.
At JB's, where I breakfast once a week with friends, there were Irish decorations galore, including these two flags...
...shamrocks supporting a charity...
...the goose was draped in shamrock bedecked ribbon...
...and there was a suitable mobile. There, now, I've done my duty by the Irish saint. My family all came from Scotland, England and Norway -- we don't get special days.
However, I certainly bear no grudge against green, especially in the desert in the spring. In fact, I groove on it. This map prepared by the US Geological Service for the Forest Service firefighting monitors, shows where Arizona is greener than average for this time of the year. The deeper the green, the more above average. Just look at the desert south and west of Phoenis and down into Mexico! Most of the yellow & orange to the north represents higher elevations where it hasn't warmed sufficiently to green, as yet. In fact, we've got another cold front coming in tomorrow and, for the record, the electric bill I just paid noted that we averaged 4 degrees F lower this February than a year ago. I presume they were talking about Prescott.
The big Victorian at the corner of Park and Gurley was open to the public for the first time since its 100th birthday nearly 10 years ago. The occasion: a bazaar to benefit the historic Citizens Cemetery. A lot of the visitors were just like me -- curious to visit the inside of a splendid old house the outside of which I see almost daily!
Greeters and some of the assistants were costumed appropriately for the event which continues tomorrow (go if you get a chance!)
And there were goodies galore! In fact, it was hard to admire the house itself there were so many items for sale, over 1000 of them made by the hostess, Cookie Brinkmeyer. The house was built by Henry Brinkmeyer, a prominent local businessman who arrived in 1884 from Germany, and has remained in the family ever since.
Gift items ranged from Victorian pillows...
...to quilts in various sizes and colors...
...to Christmas tree ornaments...
...and a grand cat, part of the Grunge Goddess Primitives collection on sale. I lusted for this animal, but it was a hair pricey so I settled for a much smaller pair of barn cats in the same series.
Now for a look at some of the historic house. Above, the mantlepiece and, below, the fireplace.
A china cabinet in the breakfast room...
...a truly antique phone...
...a lovely art deco light for the staircase...
...an old piano with family pictures...
...lovely old oak woodwork throughout the interior...
...pretty diagonally mullioned windows on the porch...
...and upstairs as well. What a fun way to spend a cool but sunny November afternoon.
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