Strange doors, tight quarters

Mysterious narrow passageways are not the stuff of the western scenery. No, it is a country based on openness and space. There are exceptions, of course, such as what happens when a mining town climbs a mountain and elbow room is at a premium; good examples include Jerome and Bisbee. Thus it is only natural that when I come across such arrangements here in Prescott that it's time for pictures and speculation.

The former sanctuary building at the United Methodist Church at Gurley and Summit now serves as HQ for a number of social services; apparently this staircase hidden away in the passage is the access to at least one such.

On the other hand, I am totally bewildered by this curious layout at the south end of Prescott College's one building on Summit Street. It looks as though the passageway ends in a door, reachable only by a ladder. Not really up to OSHA standards, I would guess. In fact, the structure between the buildings looks to be some sort of afterthought, a shed, for example.

Like I said at the beginning: a good topic for speculation.

Trends Note: The dotter writes about the hot new trend, urban chickens. Read about it here.

Golden sycamores

Suddenly our sycamores are golden. Though I have a quite large folder of sycamore pictures, my fingers would not rest until they had opened the shutter to these brilliant late afternoon trees next the Lincoln School.

The sun, low to the west, sent light through the leaves -- our final hurrah for a dry autumn; this year, these particular sycamores are outshining the earlier performance of the neighborhood aspens.

By Tuesday, we can expect a series of northwest storms lasting three or four days, at last prediction. The leaves will be gone when the storms move out. But the moisture will be very, very welcome. After talking with my Aussie bro this evening, I realized why we've had such a dry period -- he reports that Perth has enjoyed an unusually wet November. It's a seesaw; when bro has unseasonable moisture, he's taking it from us. Been that way for years.

Prescott's heroic bronzes

Premiere, of course, being the Rough Rider monument on the Square, at the front of the Courthouse. The creation of Solon Borglum, it is one of two local bronzes by the brother of Gutzon Borglum who designed Mt. Rushmore. The sculpture honors William "Bucky" O'Neill, one of the city's most famous sons, who led a local contingent of over 200 men to Cuba in the Spanish-American War, where he died. The statue was commissioned by the city for a fee of ten thousand dollars and unveiled in 1907, according to the Sharlot Hall Museum web site, which also gives data on four other major monumental bronzes in downtown Prescott.

Cowboy at Rest is the other Borglum work at the Courthouse. An upscaled version of a miniature original, it was dedicated in 1990.

The third Courthouse bronze is the All Veterans Memorial by Neil Logan, dedicated in 1989, to honor Prescott area veterans of the Vietnam War.

Now here is a lively monument to the rodeo cowboy that far too many people are unaware of. In fact, I was among them until a few months back when my friend Patty insisted that I take a look. The sculpture is at the entrance of Prescott City Hall, kittycornered from the Square at Goodwin and Cortez. Named Early Rodeo, it is the work of Richard Terry. 1988.

The fifth monumental work is dedicated to the city's Early Settlers, depicting a cowboy, a mule skinner, a gold prospector and pioneer woman. Created by Bill Nebeker, it was dedicated in 1985. Location: the little park at the east end of town where SR69 divides into Gurley on the south and Sheldon on the north.

Not covered in the Sharlot Hall note is the last of the Prescott area bronzes, to be found at the entrance to the Frontier Village shopping center. And, I might add, facing north making it a difficult shot for detail. If the mall were a bit closer, I might be able to walk there and spend some time on the project, so I've had to be satisfied with a drive-by shooting.

FYI, the public library has a miniature of the Early Settlers on display near its coffee shop, as well as the miniature of an Indian woman and child (below). I'm curious -- does this second piece also exist as a monumental bronze somewhere in the area?

Downtown, 1864

Here's a fun project for you. March into Porky's, the BBQ place on Gurley, buy yourself a sandwich and a beverage and seat yourself in front of the huge map of old, old Prescott. Pick your favorite street corner and compare what's there today with roughly 150 years ago.

Gurley and Cortez appear to have been the major business streets at that time. For some reason the map maker chose to play down Montezuma; was it Whiskey Row back then or not?

Granite Creek, from Gurley to the big bend. Farms and orchards lining the creek. One bridge. No pines showing except at the periphery. Below, the Square, already the focal point for Prescott.

In case the thought had not already occurred to you, I am a certified map freak. Old maps, new maps. Topographic quads. Google Earth. National Geographic maps. Whatever. They convey just a tremendous amount of information in such a compact and accessible format. My LH used to be amused at how I would stare at, say, the Mt. Union topo for long minutes, but I was learning about historic sites, old mines, where the roads went (and their likely condition), the course of the upper Hassayampa River, trails. A wonderful way to get to know the territory.

Prime time for pansies

Aside from the five or six plants lost to hungry javelina, most of my recently purchased pansies have settled in and are beginning to blossom. As they will over-winter in our reasonably mild climate, they form the centerpiece of autumn/early winter gardens and as a rule will be ready to flower again in early spring if I 1) don't forget to water and 2) deadhead the plants. In case you weren't aware of it, pansies absolutely fry when June heats up, making it a real bummer to buy them in the spring.

One school of thought about pansies is that the faces are what it's all about. The white/purple and yellows above are classic faces. However, I was struck by these two wildly colored pansies (immediately above and below). They remind me ever so slightly of the electric cats painted by Louis Wain, the artist, as he was going mad.

I tend to prefer single-color pansies, but my absolute favorites remain the purple/apricot two-tones which, this year, have only been available as violas, with the one advantage that they do bloom in profusion. Don't miss the little purple goatee at the bottom of the flower.

The preceding pansies are all from Watters; the apricot viola above was bought at WalMart.

Alien Eyes: As if schizoid cats and pansies weren't enough, Hoarded Ordinaries has posted a fine new photographic set of alien eyes.

The rest of the birds

Back a few weeks, Blogger was misbehaving and cut me off in the midst of loading a group of bird pictures. Here are the pictures that did not make the post on October 28.

What could be more obvious in a portfolio pix than sparrows and their ilk (LBBs). Such as the perching fellow (more likely, a lady) above from friend Bob, as is the little guy about to take a drink below. The image at the very top of the page is from a nesting box at the antique store out in the Dells.

In the western states, the house finch is said to take the place of the English sparrow back east. You'll find these pretty little birds nesting in among the display signs at tourist shops and bars on Whiskey Row.

I don't know the species of this little guy; he was on the roadway in front of the house one morning looking quite lost. Probably a youngster fresh from the nest.

I've no idea where the hummer up there is finding nectar in a sunflower; maybe what he's really after is insect life, his big source of protein -- necessary if he is going to perch on a stick, beady-eyed, and ready to chase off any interlopers in his very own turf.

Usually the rufous (i.e., rusty colored) towhee is busy on the ground, like the dove below. The towhee kicks backwards as he rummages amongst the leaves for goodies, which habit earned this bird the name of rummage in our household. The towhee is one of the major inhabitants at Chez GrannyJ. Thanks to Bob for the tohee and the perched hummer above.

Another very major inhabitant is the western blue jay. You wouldn't know it from this picture, which is one of only two I've been able to catch, as the officious jays hop nervously about while you try to focus and, only too often, hide behind a shrub as you're about to click the shutter.It took an extreme zoom to catch this image.

Cat Link: This video is great fun! Calico cat vs. printer.

The lone horse property

Can anyone give me the official zoning for an in-city horse property? One or is it two acres per horse? And how many such properties remain in November of 2008? Whatever the answer, I'm quite certain that the spread over by the rodeo grounds is most likely grandfathered. I'm sure I've seen more than one horse over where Gail Gardner swerves around a corner to nestle up against the old fairgrounds.

Here is the one inhabitant I was able to photograph the day friend Patty drove me round and round about in that neighborhood which is, what, about a mile or so from the Courthouse? I've often wondered just what the story of this remnant from an earlier era might be.