Hard times at the mall

Our Thursday breakfast crew ate at Zeke's yesterday, which was a good occasion to update the economic situation at the Frontier Village Mall. You will note that the business headliners, as of this week, are the big American Home furnishings store and Basha's.

Unfortunately, the cherry picker machine was on hand to remove the Basha's sign, as the store is now official closed.

But then, it's been some months since Amerian Home closed out its big facility, which remains empty.

Another empty. That sign? The pop psychologists would call it denial. On the other hand, maybe it's been changed. I wouldn't count on it.

Loads of links: After a long hiatus, Steve Ayres is back with his curmudgeonly Courier Watch; if you want further local curmudgeonly comment, you might visit Tom Steele's The Truth Prescott Valley. The Yavapai Digital Foto Club is showing pictures from its recent PhotoWalk on its blog; if you're curious about that part of the Dells behind the community gates, try this Flickr set. How about some history: The News from 1930, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Fantasy, such as Sense & Sensibility & the Sea Monsters. Or absolutely awesome garage trompe d'oeil.

The view from the mall

That is, the view from The Boulders, which is the latest incarnation of the original Prescott mall, out Iron Springs Road. This is the mall I'm most likely to visit, thanks to the PTA bus which will drop me at the door of any of the stores, probably the WallyMart or Tuesday Morning, the latter for a high-end kitsch fix.

Presumably these are the Boulders, for which the mall is named. Don't know how long those scattered, forlorn fences have sat amongst the granites -- no doubt an expression of the dismay that residents, exclusive up at the top of the rocks, felt when the mall was first opened sometime in the 70s. To the northwest of the action, BTW.

Isn't it wonderful how a zoom lens will compact the distance between objects, such as cars in a parking lot or on a highway. That's a reason why I always wondered at the naive acceptance of photographs as evidence back in the pre-PhotoShop days; it was just more difficult to doctor an image back then.

Back to the subject, however. A prime view from the Boulders is the cemetery associated with the Pioneer's Home. One of the historic figures buried there is Big Nose Kate, lady friend of the Earps, if I'm not mistaken.

Then there's the cluster of strange-looking modern buildings to the northeast of the mall, up on a small rise. Hearsay: doctors' offices. Can anybody out there confirm? The mall is at a lower level and that rise was cut away, resulting in a fine example of erosion (below).

Looking to the south, one gets a good view of Mt. Union, the tallest peak in the Prescott region. (Major correction -- that's Mt. Tritle, folks, not the highest of the peaks, but close!) And, below, to the southwest, the tip of Thumb Butte's thumb shows behind nearby granites and that crowded mildew-colored apartment complex at the foot of the hill. (Yes, the buildings are really crowded together even when viewed by the naked eyeball.)

In closing, an excellent view of a set of muscles heading out from the shopping center toward that huge, decorative boulder across the way. As the picture suggests, yesterday was sunny and warm, despite the snow still evident on the north slope of Mt. Union.