Spring in the Desert

It's been a really wet winter here in the Southwest and that results a color we don't often see - green.

If you are in the Midwest (or anyplace else but the desert), this probably looks a bit stark, but for us this is absolutely lush.

Our green is different than the green of grass or oak trees or hydrangea bushes.  It is verde.  The exceptional rain we have had this year has made this cactus fat and happy.

Looks can be deceiving, though.  These are Teddy Bear Cholla (choy ya).  Don't you just want to reach out and stoke that fluffiness?  That would be a serious mistake as it has needles so small they can't be seen, but will bury under your skin.  Ouch!  Beauty here is meant to be observed, not touched or cultivated in another environment.

Sometimes I miss tulips, daffodils and lilies in the summer, but Mexican poppies are also perennial and have the brightest oranges and yellows.

We also have beautiful wildflowers in the brittle bush.  You may know recognize some of them in the heat of the summer or fall as tumbleweed.

It's not for everyone, but after 20 years, I can't imagine Spring any other way.

cindy

Comfortably Catholic

I've been writing "Straddling the Gap" for over two years now and I enjoy writing about crafts, family life and recipes.  As much as I enjoy writing this blog, there is an important part of my life that I don't write about much - my faith.  It's not that I'm hiding it - it permeates my family life - but I don't want to change the focus of Straddling the Gap.  So in 2014, I'm introducing "Comfortably Catholic."

Comfortably Catholic is a blog about my life as a cradle Catholic, and my thoughts on faith, hope and love.  I'm really excited about the new blog and have lots of ideas for things I want to say.  I would love if you would check it out - www.comfortablycatholic.com.

I am a mom, though.  As much as I'm crazy about my new baby, I still fiercely love my older child.  For those of you who don't read code, that means "Straddling the Gap" isn't going anywhere.  I will continue to write about life and my struggle to straddle the gaps between being a working attorney, wife and mother.  I love my crafts and can't wait to show more soon - especially the ones that will be in my Etsy store, Pretty Pretty Cindy.  I'm also testing a few of those internet recipes and cleaning tips, so stay tuned!  If you stick around, I will show you more about my favorite places in my favorite state - Arizona.

Thanks for reading out there - hopefully you've now added another blog to your reading list!

cindy

All About Arizona - National Park Shutdown

Probably one of the best parts of Arizona (as in most Western states) is the vastness of its natural beauty.  Historically, the federal government had enough foresight to preserve these national treasures and Arizona has 22 of these.  Unfortunately, with the government shutdown (as of this posting), the national parks, monuments and recreation areas are closed (including the roads into them if you're thinking about driving in).  It's sad that national parks (and their employees and local businesses) are out of business, especially since most of the money to operate them comes from private donations with limited federal funding.  Please come to visit when the government gets back to work, but in the meantime, here's a small sample of what you're missing:

The Grand Canyon - Governor Brewer offered to operate the Grand Canyon a few days ago, but that offer was rejected by the Park Service.  This gorgeous picture from the Sierra Club shows what is now hidden from view.

Petrified Forest National Park - During our recent vacation we stamped our passport in the Arizona Painted Desert where quartz dazzles in giant trees.  It's closed.  In fact, nearly all of the places we visited on our vacation - Bryce Canyon (and nearby Zion National Park), Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Devil's Tower, Battle of Little Bighorn Battlefield, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Fort Laramie, Rocky Mountain National Park, Pecos National Historic Park and Minuteman Missile National Historic Site - are closed.

Saguaro National Park - Located near Tuscon, this is a great park for driving or riding a bicycle.  Although we live in the Sonoran Desert and see saguaro cactus all around us, I must say the Saguaro National Park was still visually stunning for me.

Lee's Ferry - This was another one of our stops during our vacation before we left Arizona.  It's the place where the Colorado River comes into Arizona and it is a stunning view north of the Grand Canyon.

Canyon de Chelly - Pronounced "Canyon du Shay"  This is a place on my bucket list.  You need some hiking boots for this place to see the optimal sites.  Gorgeous slot canyons, hieroglyphics and ancient ruins are hidden from view until the federal government opens for business.

As I mentioned previously, there are 17 more sites owned by us that are closed.  Let's hope we can visit our national treasures soon.

cindy

All About Arizona - Naco on the Border

Naco is a tiny little town that straddles the U.S./Mexico border just south of Bisbee, Arizona.  I first visited in 1997.  I had gone to Mexico to shop in Nogales before that, but wanted to see another view of Mexico.  It was so quaint.  Here's what it basically looked like in 1997.  The only different is as you look to the right of the picture, there is a permanent block across the road I traveled in 1997.

Funny story I love to tell about Naco.  In 1997 I was driving through the little village on the U.S. side when I came to what looked like a broken down toll booth.  I drove through and realized I had just crossed the border.  I didn't see anyone and thought: This must be the way they do the border in small towns. 

I kept driving down the charming street with little pushcarts and a town square.  Suddenly, a large red Dodge truck drove up next to me with a big guy in shades at the wheel.  He was motioning me back toward the border.  Realizing he was a federale, I went back.  OOPs.  I had passed the border station, which was a couple of Mexican officers sitting in front of a little store to the side of the "toll booth."  Wow, did I get scolded in Spanish (which I don't speak)!  They also searched my car - thoroughly!

I drove back down the street, stopping in a little liquor store.  I bought a six pack of Pacifico in mini bottles and drove back to the border.  Wow, there was a huge building at the U.S. side and I drove up to a new inspection lane.  I didn't realize you could only take 2 liters of alcohol back to the U.S. and the border control agent made me turn around and go back into Mexico to get rid of the alcohol.  This time, the federales REALLY searched my vehicle!  I gave the alcohol away to some guy down the street and headed back to the U.S.

It's a funny story, but one of the past.  Here's the border in Naco today:

Yeah, I guess I know why we've done this, but to see that black line undulating over the little hills in either direction as far as the eye can see is a little depressing.  Notice how the area immediately in front of the border wall is graded for driving and those poles aren't for electricity, they are high tech cameras with infrared sensors.

It used to be such a quaint place . . .

cindy

All About Arizona - Blue Skies and Sunsets

One of the best parts of Arizona living as monsoon season ends:

Big fluffy puffy thunderheads near the eastern horizon at sunset.  They actually reflect the sun in the west as it is sinking to sunset.  Here's the other direction:

Hard to take a bad picture.  'Nuf said.

cindy

All About Arizona - Scorpion Season

O.K., I know that most of my "All About Arizona" posts are about the beauty and advantages of living in the Sonoran Desert.  Today's post is not one of those posts.

It's scorpion season.  Actually, in my neighborhood, most of the year is scorpion season.  We live near the open desert so they are part of deal, including the ones living in your house.  This summer has been particularly bad, probably because of the recent heavy rains we have experienced.

Here's a perfect specimen.  Small, light brown with nasty front claws and the all-important curved tail.  That little stinger over its back is what gets you.  I've been fortunate - no "tags" (I prefer my term to "stings") in the 17 years we've been here.  Unfortunately, that's not the case for my family.  My husband was tagged on the hand last summer and my daughter has been tagged three times, most recently last week as she put on her shoe (it was inside the shoe).  I'm told the feeling is like stepping on a cactus needle or shard of broken glass, but that's just the beginning.  The next 4-6 hours is pretty excruciating pain which can spread over the extremity.  After that, it's about 24 hours before the numbness goes away.  Luckily no medical attention is necessary, unless there is an allergic reaction, which is rare.

In the last 12 hours I have killed three scorpions in my home.  Two were tiny, about the size of a dime. (The one below is dead.)  The tiny ones are supposedly the worst ones.

By now you're wondering why we haven't called an exterminator.  I'm not a big fan of pesticides in the house, and frankly, they have limited effect on scorpions.  As the weather cools off, we're waiting them out because they aren't around much in the fall/winter.  Also, this year I have a secret weapon:

Those stories you hear about cats being immune to scorpions - that's pretty much true.  Actually, the theory is that cats are very fast in striking and their pads are a little too thick for a stinger to penetrate.  Whatever the reason, Lulu is an awesome scorpion hunter.  She found two of the three I've seen in the last 12 hours.  Unfortunately, she's not great at killing them, mostly because she likes to play with them too much.

So it's not all perfection here in the Sonoran Desert.  There are a few pests to deal with, but I have my cat and a little time to wait them out until the most perfect time of the year rolls around.

Hopefully no one else gets tagged before then.

cindy

All About Arizona - Bisbee

Ahh, Bisbee.  This is probably the most fascinating but overlooked town in Arizona.  Located in the far southeast corner of the state, it's less than 15 miles from the Mexico border, but that's not what defines the town.  It's mining.  Bisbee mining yielded 8 billion pounds of copper (that's $26 trillion in today's dollars), nearly 3 million ounces of gold ($4 trillion today), 77 million ounces of silver ($1.8 trillion), 304 million pounds of lead and nearly 380 million pounds of zinc.

Here's the Queen Mine, the underground way copper was mined at the turn of the last century.

 This is the Lavender Pit, a more "modern" open pit mining:

As impressive as all this wealth is from a little town, if this was all there was to say about Bisbee, it wouldn't be worth a visit.  But Bisbee is so much more than mining, especially today:

Bisbee  is an adorable little town with so much history and charm!  In the early 1900's it was the largest town between St. Louis and San Francisco.  Mining executives, laborers, gamblers and prostitutes all flooded Bisbee and claimed a little part of it as their own.  This is the famous Brewery Gulch, where the saloons, brothels and gambling halls could be found.  It's still a cool place today with restaurants and bars.  Like so much of Bisbee, it was rebuilt by an eclectic crowd of artists who moved into Bisbee in the early 1970s after the mines closed.  These are the people who made Bisbee vibrant so it didn't become a ghost town.  

Even though Bisbee isn't a ghost town, that doesn't mean there aren't ghosts.  There are daily tours to show you the places in town where people have encountered spirits of times gone by.  Some of the tours take you up through Brewery Gulch and through hillside haunts.  One of the favorite haunts from Bisbee's heyday is the Copper Queen Hotel.

It is a jewel and if you stay in Bisbee, this is the place to stay.  If you're expecting a modern full service hotel, this isn't it.  However, it has original wood floors, transoms over the room doors and vintage bathrooms.  Once reserved for the most important mining executives visiting Bisbee, today it's open to the public.  

There are also plenty of small galleries and jewelry makers (using local gems and minerals) in town, but the thing that brought the original visitors to Bisbee is the one thing that should attract you to Bisbee.  We've come full circle - the Queen Mine.  During a visit to the Queen Mine, you will don a yellow slicker and miner's helmet (equipped with a head lamp) and hop on a little rail car (you straddle it).  When you're all ready to go, you will descend about a mile into the mountain to see the actual mine.  There's nothing I've found quite like it.

While it may not make the list of places to visit in Arizona during a one-time trip to the state, it is a must see for people who frequent Arizona or who call it home.  I've been there a number of times and I never get tired of seeing the special little town in the Mule Mountains.

cindy

All About Arizona - Monsoon Season

Summer in Arizona - thunderstorms, dust, humidity and hopefully, rain.  Monsoon season adds humidity to already sizzling temperatures, which in turns causes nasty dust and thunderstorms.  It's probably the worst time of year to visit.  105 degrees can be bearable in early June, but in monsoon season it's downright miserable.

Most of Arizona's precipitation comes during monsoon season, which is officially between June 15 and September 30.  Sudden heavy precipitation results in our dry "washes" (think creek bed) running like raging rivers in less than a half hour.  If you are fooling enough to enter one of these in your car, you can violate Arizona's Stupid Motorist Law, which requires a person to pay for the costs of rescue assuming you aren't drowned in the meantime.  This recently became national news when a bus driver near Kingman decided to cross a running wash.

During monsoon season Arizona also experiences haboubs.  What's a haboub?  It's pronounced "ha-boob" and it's a sand storm.  If you want to see lots of video, you can easily find it on YouTube, but these are pictures from my backyard:

To the west - extending nearly 60 miles

A haboub looks like a large, slow moving cloud that rolls in a blanket of dust and turns dusk to pitch black in less than five minutes.  It leaves an annoying layer of dust on everything outside.  

Yes, monsoon season (when the "dry heat" isn't so dry) can be brutal to endure, but for someone who loves the desert, it's just another example of the enigmatic beauty of the southwest.  I love the smell of creosote on the desert floor, the beautiful purple Texas sage that blooms after a storm and of course, the rainbows after the rain.

cindy

Day 19 - Great American Family Vacation - Back to Arizona!

If you've been following this travelogue for the last 19 days, thank you.  It's been an awesome odyssey, the best family vacation ever!

Our last day began in a rush to get out of Santa Fe.  We loved our long vacation, but we are all ready to get home.  Our one stop was the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest near Holbrook, Arizona.  (Please consider this the weekly "All About Arizona" because I am writing on a Saturday even if you won't see it until Sunday.)

Places all over the West are breathtaking, but Arizona will not be outdone in beauty.

At the Petrified Forest (where giant trees have turned into gorgeous quartz), we had our last hike of the trip.  Based on a deal the kids had with Kent, they have each now earned a Camelback water bottle.

After the Painted Desert, we headed downstate through the White Mountains and its gorgeous thick pines.  Weekend RV camping is sounding better and better to this family, who would never have considered staying outside of a hotel.  A typical summer monsoon thunderstorm chased us down the mountains, but it was still oh so beautiful, maybe more so because we are on the way home.

At about 6:00 p.m. we drove up to our home in the Sonoran Desert, smelly and exhausted, but happy to be home.  Tomorrow we will clean out the RV so it can be returned on Monday, Kent will go to work at church and I will get back to my job at the City of Phoenix on Monday morning.

Whew, what a trip!

cindy

All About Arizona - State Capitol

State capitols are largely overlooked when visiting a new state.  That's too bad because most state capitols have some amazing history.  Of course I'm a history nerd so I love that stuff.  Before school ended Mackenzie's class visited the Arizona State Capitol, the Arizona House and the Arizona Senate in Phoenix.

The original Capitol was built in 1901 when it was the territorial capitol.  It proved to be too small for a new state, so additions were built in the back of the building in 1919 and 1938.  Behind that is the tall modern executive tower that was built in 1974.  If you enter the Capitol from the oldest end and walk straight through to the Executive Tower, it's funny because the hallway width and flooring changes as you walk though into each addition.

On the top of the Capitol is a copper dome with the beautiful white Winged Victory:

She is a weather vane, turning with the wind.  The story is that when the cowboys would come riding in, they would shoot Winged Victory to see her spin.

One of the advantages of living in such a young state (Arizona just celebrated its centennial), is that things don't change much:

Then . . .

And now . . .

The kids especially liked their access to the Senate floor (which only happened because one of her classmates is the child of a senator).  Here's the state seal with the 5 Cs of Arizona - cattle, climate, citrus, cotton and copper.  Tourism doesn't begin with a C.

Maybe I'll get my own senator someday:

cindy

All About Arizona - Tombstone

O.K., my first installment of "All About Arizona" is already a day late, but if you read my previous post about Father's Day, you'll understand why.  BTW, the crafts we did for Father's Day will be featured soon because they can be used for a number of different occasions.

Now, on to Tombstone.  This is one place many non-Arizonans are familiar with, even if it's only a reference to the O.K. Corral or the movie with Kurt Russell.  Tombstone is everything you would expect from a scene right out of a movie:

 You might notice a few "modern" items in the picture - the garbage bin and fire hydrant in the foreground, but that's because this isn't a movie set, it's the real thing.

It's called "The Town Too Tough To Die" and it more than lives up to that reputation.  It was built on a rush for silver and then mostly abandoned when the next silver rush popped up nearby.  It has survived two devastating fires back in the day and countless acts of violence.  This is definitely the heart of the Old West.

If you're looking to see what it was really like, here it is, much like the way it was in the late 1800's.  Ed Schieffelin founded it in 1877 while he was prospecting for "stones" deep into Apache territory.  People told him "Ed, the only stone you're going to find out there is your tombstone," so when he struck silver, he named the prospecting town Tombstone.  True story.

So much of Tombstone is straight out of a dime-store novel.  By the mid 1880's, it was the fastest growing town between St. Louis and San Francisco.  There were prospectors, lawyers, bankers, Chinese, Mexicans and a thriving brothel area with "ladies of the evening."  Tombstone has the oldest standing adobe structure in the United States, the infamous Bird Cage Theater.

The Bird Cage theater was a combination saloon, theater, gambling hall and brothel.  Today visitors come to the Bird Cage and can see the original stage and reserved boxes on the upper level overlooking the theater.  Those were favorite areas for rich gentlemen who were not only entertained by the act on the stage, but also by the prostitutes who shared the "private box" with them.  It is said that girls entertained the patrons by swinging from ropes strung from the ceiling, inspiration for the song "Bird in a Gilded Cage."  There are over 140 bullet holes you can see in the walls.  In the basement of the Bird Cage Theater there is a museum of sorts - the former brothel where you can see actual relics and insight into the small, cramped and dirty rooms where infamous prostitutes worked.

If you go to the other end of Allen Street, you'll find the O.K. Corral, the place where the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday clashed with the McLaury boys and Billy Clanton.  The gunfight wasn't actually in the O.K. Corral, but on a side street.  It is still a subject of debate who shot first and the descendants of the McLaurys and Billy Clanton insist the Earps were the lawless ones, even if Wyatt Earp was the lawman.  Typical of Tombstone, Wyatt Earp didn't escape until after two of his brothers were ambushed and shot down in revenge for the O.K. Corral.

Lawlessness was a common theme in Tombstone, and probably the reason it still survives as a place for tourists.  While it sounds somewhat romantic in a western kind of way, you can't hang around Tombstone very long before you feel the pall of the horrible stories of killings, assassinations and senseless violence that still scars the buildings and businesses that remain, despite the fires in the 1880s which twice destroyed the town.  Just in case you aren't sensitive to the many crimes that occurred in the streets and the buildings you are walking through, today there is a show that depicts most of the most horrific ones (probably not for younger children).

One of the more famous buildings where some semblance of justice occurred is the Tombstone Courthouse.  Built in 1882, it was the county seat for Cochise County (which has since relocated to Bisbee).  It's a beautiful structure, with original courtrooms and offices that offer a bit of a respite to the crime that plagued the rest of town.

After the mining industry pulled out over $37 million in silver in the hills surrounding Tombstone, the mines flooded and the prospectors moved on, taking with them the other people who supported the town.  In the 1930s the population sunk to about 150.  Today it stands at about 1500.

If you visit Arizona and get a chance to venture to the southeastern part of the state, you must see Tombstone.  It is the real West, in its original glory and stark evidence of what that "glory" actually means. Please don't take my comments about the history of Tombstone suggest it is not worthy of a visit, whether you live in Arizona or not.  In fact, every Arizonan should visit to get a better idea of how the state was built.  History isn't always pretty, it just is.

cindy

Historical Credits:  Tombstoneweb.com

All About Arizona

I've lived in Arizona now for 17 years and I love it here.  It's a great state, full of interesting places, climate, plants and animals you can't find anywhere else.  I have frequently written about those things, but now I want to make it a regular feature.  Every Saturday you can read a blog post about Arizona.  It might be an experience, place or general view on life here in the Valley of the Sun.  I love writing and learning more about my adopted home state and I hope you enjoy reading.

Join me all (out and) about Arizona.

cindy

Riding in the Wild Wild West

There are so many ways to enjoy Arizona.  You can hike, bike, climb or just stroll around.  But if you want to see the essential West, you must do it on a horse.

I don't own a horse, but I love a good trail ride.  Last weekend I ventured out with my favorite cowpoke (Mackenzie) to Fort McDowell Adventures for a 90 minute trail ride.  It was hot, it was dusty, but boy, we had a good time!

 Fort McDowell Adventures is located on the Fort McDowell/Yavapai Indian Reservation just outside of Fountain Hills, Arizona.  It's a little more than 40 miles outside of downtown Phoenix, but it is the middle of the Sonoran Desert.  Mackenzie was traveling with "Sugar" and I enjoyed my ride with "Max," who was a little naughty sauntering along, eating whenever he found anything remotely green.

We saw some awesome things in the unspoiled desert, mostly courtesy of the guide's two Australian cattle dogs.  They found free range cattle and wild mustangs and barked wildly at both.  We found the nest of a bald eagle (without the dogs), towering in a tall tree near the Verde River.

Ahhh, the Verde.  Water is scarce in the desert and rivers even more so.  The Verde River is one of the few exceptions of a "wet" river, at least the part of it that runs through the Fort McDowell Reservation.

The riverbanks of the Verde provided a stark contrast to the dry desert we just rode through.  Green, with lush trees and evidence of beavers amid the river rocks.  I don't think I've ever crossed a river (twice) on a horse.  Very cool.

Mackenzie LOVED it.  She would go everyday if she could.  Me, I dismounted the horse and walked slowly like Popeye the Sailor Man back to the car.  I was lucky that the "bow-legged sailor" didn't stick around too long.  I was dusty, sore and smelly, but gosh, I had an awesome time and saw the desert the way it was meant to be seen - from a horse.

cindy

A Death in the Family

I hope I didn't scare anyone with the title, but this death sure hit close to home:

This giant saguaro was in our front yard when we bought our house 11 years ago and it was standing for well over 100 years in the same spot before the house was built.  It was about 35 feet tall and defined our front yard.

It was the background for Christmas cards and Easter egg hunts and the foreground for many, many pictures of rainbows and blue skies.

It is survived by its smaller twin, but it's just not the same.  It doesn't really matter what brought it down, but evidently it was an internal infection.  These giant saguaros live for hundreds of years, but when a cactus wren (think woodpecker) makes a hole in them for bird condos, it opens a wound that can never heal.  For our giant silhouette, it came down without anyone here noticing.  Kent just looked outside during the day and it was stretched out on the ground.

I know it was a plant, but it sure felt like part of our Arizona story.  RIP old friend.

cindy