Wicker critters

As a young girl, I wrapped myself up in the Oz books. Read and reread them. Even so, I did not really understand about the amoral sorcerer who lived in a wickerwork castle, surrounded with everything wickerwork. I guess I was too shy to ask what was this stuff, wickerwork. Certainly mysterious. No Google for a quick look-up, either.

However, I'm happy to note that I'm older, wiser -- and fond of wickerwork! On my first visit to The Periodot, I was quite taken with this dog. Since that day, I've met an excellent wicker collection of critters.

Not only are there similar dogs lurking about the public spaces, but also several rabbits.

At one staircase landing, a wicker monkey rides the back of a wicker dog.

This bird sits in the midst of a geranium plant at the entry way...

...in the company of this monkey.

And, why not! That geranium is in full bloom. It's spring, after all!

Linkage: Derek, who charts all the local trails, is now posting pictures as he checks out the routes; he reports that a new beaver dam has appeared up at the Verde headwaters. And, if you're into cats, take a look at all the videos at Simon's Cat. Another video, a spectacular animation of the ashes spreading from that Icelandic volcano.

The view from Bradshaw Drive

You would think that with all the wandering and exploring my husband and I did over our years in this area, we might have taken a look at the southeast quadrant of Prescott -- that turf south of Gurley, east of the Senator Highway. The reality is that we were not particularly interested in housing developments -- in fact, tended to sniff at them. So, it was a new experience when one of my friends and I followed up the IOOF cemetery/Acker Park visit by checking out the hilly neighborhoods. Bradshaw Drive is the major route, but be sure to enjoy it driving downhill to see the sites:

For instance, a great view of The Peaks 90 miles north.

Or the cropped hilltop next the Senator Highway. Is that a sled run going straight downhill there?

Prescott opens up to the north.
One of two facilities for the aged located on Bradshaw -- the crenelations of The Peridot. A recently built subsidized rental complex is just around the corner; it will soon have additional buildings.

Houses clinging to the hillsides are a feature -- neither lawn nor garden friendly real estate.

Unexpectedly, in the middle of this upscale modernity, we turned a curve to see this remnant of earlier days. The old Tenney homestead, I am told. A nostalgic reminder of a nearly buried past.

Art out at Acker

The Mural Mice are at it again. This time the object of their attention is the lonely loo building out at Acker Park over at the foot of Virginia Street. The little structure is getting painted on all four sides, as a matter of fact.

Subject matter: local flora and fauna found in the 80-acre park. Including, of course, a mouse.

Here is one of the two key Mural Mice; the other was busy at the corner of the building (below).

Even though we were there on a week day, folks were gathering to see what was going on. We stopped for pictures after friend and I had recorded the nearby IOOF Cemetery.

As I noted earlier, all four sides of the building will be decorated.

As for the little bannerettes you may have noticed, here's what they look like close up.

Linkage: An interesting demo of text to speech here. And, millions of miles away, an avalanche -- on Mars, to be specific. Desert Cat takes a short hike near his Tucson area hideaway and discovers lots of desert wildflowers, Tombo hikes the Grand Canyon and Book Journey, a new Prescott area blog, discovers the alligator juniper.

The last of that lion!

Remember those fine lion pictures, claiming to be from Prescott? Guess what! The dotter came across this LOL Cats item, which suggests that those pictures could be from any place in North America with aspen and pine trees. Too bad -- I did so want the pix to be local! And we definitely have cougars in our area, unlike many places where such emails have circulated.

However, here's an image guaranteed to be local because I know the photographer. Let it serve as a warning about how high to locate your bird feeders!

Cemetery project: Del Rio

Actually, this is by way of introduction to a project that I and a buddy are considering. The picture was lent to me by another friend who's part of a project to locate the bounds of the small graveyard on private land just north of Chino Valley. According to Bobbi, the CV Historical Society is going to Del Rio Ranch, site of the first provisional capitol of the AZ Territory. We are going to try to find the perimeter of the graveyard and mark it so we can eventually fence it and keep the cows off it. There are only 3 graves marked and there are 67 names on record. (Perhaps cows will be the least of their worries, as I understand that the town of CV has reached an agreement that will allow development of at least some of the Del Rio property.) But back to the subject matter: friend Andy and I are going to locate and photograph a few of the Prescott area cemeteries, starting with the IOOF grounds.

Sunshine yellow

Tomorrow, so I am told, will be dreary with a chance for yet another snow. Reason enough for a yellow post. Already fellow bloggers are posting their own yellows -- predominantly daffodils, but also wild poppies and desert primrose, not to mention early-blooming forsythia.

When I moved, the yellow upholstered furniture was a pleasant surprise, located in a day room in the middle of a long hallway at my new apartment building. Usually, such furniture is covered in rust colors or perhaps plum -- dark and gloomy, but certainly easier to maintain. But I much prefer the yellow; gives my spirits a lift every time I see it.

End of an era

This bleak sight is from my Christmas trip down Tucson way. Not really much to say about the graffiti-covered portable sales office out in the midst of a one-time cotton field whose owners thought to cash in on the big real estate boom. That's why they turned off the irrigation -- hence the acreage of dust.

Otherwise, there'd be a covering of desert scrub. Sad.

Linking for Your Pleasure: Geology has produced all kinds of remarkable eye candy, but Rich has a favorite location up near Page that has to be seen to be believed. Also difficult to believe is what can be done, sculpture-wise with the plain old paper plate. Now I know that we have all kinds of folks here in Prescott, but this one really grabbed me: a new local Meet-Up group has been formed to practice the tango, that smouldering Argentinian dance form.

Local lion; unknown provenance

If the subject were Barry's birthplace or did that UFO really, really land atop the Washington Monument, I could check in with Snopes. Not so when the email subject is so very local; I can't imagine how the intertubes' resident truth seekers would ever get involved in such a parochial email subject as a mountain lion appearing on someone's doorstoop in Prescott.

In any event, I was among many receiving an email with these excellent pictures. It explained, this big cat's picture was taken a few weeks back right outside of a home in Prescott, Arizona. Our two labs had been barking and doing all sorts of unusual things so we had just opened the door and let them inside. Now we know why they were going crazy. We were about to call someone when the animal disappeared. It took about 24 hrs. for our dogs to get relaxed.

Hoping to get 1) permission to use the photos and 2) possible info about the neighborhood where the cat visited, I did a follow-up email to my source. Turns out I am at the end of a long line of forwards, with no way of knowing the truth.

All I can say is that sightings of pumas happen regularly hereabouts and that the house and surround look as though they might well be in Prescott. And, hey, it's a cool set of pictures!

Where there's smoke...

The other morning, I looked out my window on the side of the hill to this sight, part way up the hills to the north of the bowl that holds Prescott. Living in the dry Southwest, smoke is scary. Living where the skies are clear, smoke is very evident, from miles away.

The smoke had already drifted well to the east of its origin. Fortunately, within maybe 20 minutes, the fire was completely out and the air was clearing. A closer shot suggests that whatever was burning was just up the hill from the old officers' houses at Whipple (below).


The Arizona Snow Pack: What an El Nino we've had! Take a look at them purple mountain majesties on this map, representing as they do a big winter for snow in our fair state. I'm told that Flag has had about 10 feet this year, not quite an all time high but almost. See what you've missed by moving to Alaska, dotter?

Design on 89

These days, a highway project is not a completed project without the art work. Our new SR69/89 overpass is a good example. According to the Courier, members of the local Yavapai Indian tribe were among those consulted about the designs. "The tribe wanted to show its cultural heritage and the city wanted pine trees," an ADOT spokesman told the paper.

The big circular designs are based upon Yavapai basketwork; I would guess that the frieze along the top represents the pine trees favored by the city fathers.

The deer is the one member of a chase scene on the side of the overpass that I've been able to photograph. The entire lot, best seen driving in from the north, consists of a mountain lion trailing behind the deer, who is following a coyote with a roadrunner out front. Unfortunately, all the designs are on the outside of the structure; if one is motoring into the city from Phoenix on SR 69, none of the artwork is visible!

Siesta

There I was, thinking it might be time for a critter blog ... when what should come my way but an email titled Nap Time, complete with pictures (above, below). Pix from friend Bob. Where were they, I ask. Oh, in our front yard, friend Bob answers. Regular readers already recognize the four as young adult javelina, western hemisphere first (or second) cousin to Eurasia's wild boar. If your property happens to be on a regular route used by a small pack, you might discover a cozy napping spot hollowed out in the ground and, with real luck, occupants.

Back in the outback2: Kirkland

The trouble with photojournalism is that sometimes the pictures force the direction of the story. In this case, literally. Simply put, I can't think of a better entrance to the village of Kirkland than this curve in the road heading back to Prescott from Bagdad and the west country of Yavapai County. So be it. If you decide to visit one of the last cowboy bars in these parts, no doubt you'd be coming from the other direction, down from Skull Valley via Iron Springs Road.

Kirkland is important enough as the site of an elementary school serving territory as far away as Walnut Grove and Wilhoit; student population, 59 kids. In fact, as a sometime property owner in that turf, I can tell you that the school district property taxes are higher than in Prescott! An aside: that distinctive mountain in the background of the picture below is, you guessed it, Kirkland Peak.

The Phoenix-Ash Fork railroad line runs through Kirkland, where some maintenance materials are stored alongside the spur tracks.

A pair of small tufa buildings at the intersection of Iron Springs Road and the highway from SR89 is a distinctive sight in Kirkland. The building to the right served as the post office for many years; I've no idea what might be the story of the building to the left. (To any geologists reading this post, I want you to know that I am aware that tufa properly refers to a particular type of limestone deposit, whereas the Kirkland area tufa is actually volcanic tuff. However, locally it is called tufa. There's even a one-time tufa mine up the road a piece.)

My guess would be that most of Kirkland's actual resident population lives in the trailer court; there is only a handful of small houses in town (one of which we almost bought before moving to Arizona).

Focal point of the town -- and an important institution for the entire surrounding area -- the Kirkland bar, cafe, and hotel. It's been some years since I was last in the saloon, but at that time, it was definitely a boondocks cowboy bar, with a dance every Saturday night. The for-sale sign is, I am told, a permanent fixture.

When we moved into Wilhoit back in aught81, there was an arena back of the Kirkland Bar. Periodically, it was used by local cowboys who would get together for an afternoon of roping followed by beer. And, about once a month, parents from nearby ranches held a gymkhana for local kids to show off their horsemanship.

No more. The former arena now serves as one more enclosure for livestock and horseflesh (above, below.)

I'm sure it had to have been during the reign of Ronald Reagan that we landed two new post offices out west of Prescott -- in Skull Valley and in Kirkland (above). After all, our congressional district had faithfully elected and re-elected Republican Bob Stump to the House of Representatives forever and a day.

And here's the road heading back into the hills alongside the Skull Valley Wash and the railroad tracks. First stop, Skull Valley and then Prescott. As I said at the beginning, my pictures dictated the beginning and the end points.