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1-26-04

When I pulled out on the road this morning to go to town, a roadrunner crossed it. That just has to be a good sign..

Town was busy and I stopped at the chamber and downloaded my mail (28) and went on to the PO and they had my mail. I spent the day trying to take care of business and writing a few emails back. I stopped in at the chamber on my way out of town and sent a bunch of emails off. The young gal at the desk is really nice to me and just lets me go in the back room, turn of the light, and hook up. She was on the phone when I left and I handed her a small hair clip I made yesterday. She has medium length hair and I knew a big clip wouldn’t work for her, but maybe she can use it for an accent. The clip was one of my chili pepper series. She is I think a ‘primo’ with light brown skin and hair. There are a lot of Primo’s around here. (Primos are Spanish descent and damn proud of it). One of the guys on the work crew was a Primo. Sometimes a Mexican would come up to us and they would always go over and talk to him in Mexican. He didn’t speak Mexican and didn’t like them AT ALL.

I was hungry and I saw a little Mexican restaurant across the street with a couple of low rider trucks parked outside. I figured this has got to be the real thing, so I went in and had a look. The place was an older store front that had been made into a nice little restaurant. There was a special menu on the wall and they guy came out of the back to wait on me. He worked the counter and cooked with a helper in the back. he didn’t speak much English but, I finally decided on a baked chicken something and it took about ten minutes for them to make it. There were three guys sitting at a table when I walked in and they were served before I was. You should have seen the bowl of soup that a couple of guy got! It looked like it was about a half gallon with several rolled tortillas and small salads on the side. These bowls were huge!! I have never seen anything that size to eat out of. They were something you would serve out of. I saw on the menu that soup of the day was five bucks. It was well worth it I could see, as I don’t think I could have eaten it. These were working guys and they had pretty good girth to them and it looks like they come in there everyday to eat.

Well my baked chicken handful finally came out and it was really something. It consisted of a very large tortilla stuffed with chicken and a lot of other stuff ( I should have had him hold the onions, how do I say that in Spanish/Mexican Anna??) and folded into a large paper wrapper type paper. Oh, was it good! This was a real baked chicken in there too and not mystery chicken reconstituted into mealy pressed pieces. This was the real thing with dark meat as well as the white meat and it was heavy. I gotta go back and try the other stuff on the special menu. The chicken thing cost $3.45 and any fancy restaurant would be very proud to serve something like that for $12 at least. When I came home I still wasn’t very hungry and only ate a little supper. I did come home with a pint of high grade icecream to top off with though…..

When I worked here before, there was a Mexican guy that would park his station wagon out on the edge of town, just on the other side of the city limits. I drove by there several times in the evening and saw him. Most times there would be several cars stopped there and Mexicans standing around. I finally asked one of the crew there. He said that the guy in the station wagon sold food to Mexicans. None of the crew had ever eaten any of it and they said he sold burro meat or jackrabbit. Well!! I had to drive out there and see for myself what was going down. I stopped and with some arm waving and pointing I ended up with a couple of plates covered with tin foil in a bag for I think it was $2.50 or maybe three bucks. He then asked if I wanted hot sauce. He had two kinds in large gallon jugs. I got the hot stuff and he poured out some in washed out and clean baby food jars. The plates turned out to be meals of enchiladas, beans, rice, tortillas and the other plate was something just a yummy. One plate was a real meal and I don’t think I have ever had any better. If it was burro and jackrabbit, it was better than cow meat for sure. After that experience, I would stop out there every chance I got and what was going on out he had a lot of different things. I guess he and his wife would cook all day and wrap everything up, keep it warm and he would go out and sell in the evening. He had a booming business and being outside of town, didn’t have the license, taxes, and overhead. In a way one of these mobile lunch trucks would have been just the ticket for him. Town has built up out there ( I looked) and I doubt he is still alive anyway. If I am near town around evening time, I will look around out there, on the edge, maybe his son or daughter are keeping the business going.

While I was eating my lunch, I happened to look out the window and saw across the street a young girl come out with a rifle! She walked to the end of the porch and took careful aim. Evidently she missed since she started pumping the gun again and actually took several shots. I couldn’t see just what she was shooting at, but I suspect it must have been a bird or maybe a cat. The house she came out of was really interesting. It had seen much better days, but I could see that in it’s day it was very high class. It was tan brick with a full length porch along the road side. It had very decorative ginger bread trim. I took a little cruise around town and found quite a few really nice houses and areas of really small cabins. This was a major mining district and in its day it was very rich.

Next door to the restaurant is a very large and old warehouse. The sign said that it was a Gallery/ Antiques and I wandered over to have a look see. The building was made with those old handmade cement blocks that are about two feet long. These were made out of a mixture of gravel and cement and they weigh probably 60 or so lbs each. Over the years the building has moved a little and I could see several cracks that indicate earthquakes? They are next to the rail road tracks and it could be the effects of the constant rail traffic. Inside the building was a large open room and I could see that there was another room open and on the other end, one that was blocked off. The open ceiling with exposed 3X16 rafters that had insulation and drywall between was really nicely done. I got to talking with one of the owners when I found a stamping on the floor that said something like;

J C Machon

Contractor

Globe A T

I had to ask if that meant that it was made when Arizona was a Teritory? Yes he told me that they were not sure when it was built but Arizona became a state in 1912 so it was made before that. That really puts history into perspective when this place was still a territory less than a hundred years ago. I don’t remember what the city limits says, but it was founded in 1870’s I think. The owners just recently (4 months ago) bought the place from someone who did quite a bit of the work on it but over the years had let it run down some. They were both teachers and administrators in the school system on the Hopi Reservation. They are probably in their early forties, and are really nice folks. He was telling me that the Globe / Miami area is starting to become somewhat of a artistic area. They say that it gets quite a bit of visitor traffic from the snowbirds and people that are escaping the ‘Valley’ as everyone calls Phoenix. Evidently there are a lot of people that have ‘cabins’ in the White Mountains or other high country that they go to in the summer. They do get the same monsoon effect but they say that it is much better in Globe because it cools off at night here, unlike the Valley.

1-28-04

I took a cruise into town to look around. I made a quick stop at the chamber office to down load my email and get town map and list of local realtors. I went down to the area called the historic part of town. This is the part of town that has all the old buildings. I got out and started walking just to get a feel of the town and check out the businesses that were there. I happened upon a nice older building that advertised a Java shop and Art Gallery. I went to check out the Gallery but it was closed. I did see on the bulletin board that there is an art theater that happens once a week/month and discussion groups. I headed on up the street and came to the old court house which is now an art center. I went up and even before I got to look around met a guy named Lowell who was extremely nice and when I told him I was looking around for land/ house/ whatever he said that he lived out of town about 17 miles and he stayed there for the winter. He is retired from Sears and was in administration as well as sales. He said he finally went into sales to make more money. when I asked him if there was anything for sale around his place he thought a moment and said that maybe there might be. A guy just had his trailer burn down and he would check. I made plans with him to come down and see him the next day.

I then had a good look at the art center and it was really jumping. They were just setting up a quilt show upstairs next to a remodeled court room that has been made into a stage. They have quite a following and have real community support. There were also several rooms in the basement part that were in use. There was a stained glass room with three ladies working. One was doing restoration work and the others were working on new stuff. There was a room that was holding class for little girls learning ballet or dance or gymnastics, it looked like they were having fun. There was a big room set up for craft projects with lots of materials. There was a weaving room with loom that was not in use but a guy said that it was going to be restarted soon. There was a drawing room with classes but no one was there then. There may have been more, but that is what I remember. I met one guy that helps around there and he was very excited to hear that I was in the movie as an extra. He said that soon they were going to have photos that they have of the movie being made on display. He actually ran and got the woman who is in charge of that project and introduced me. I must say that everyone was really nice and friendly. when I met Lowell he was working on a window and had some tools out. He volunteers as do a number of people in working on the old court house. The county kind of let it run down before they got their new digs built. It seems like the community really pitches in and is interested in the arts here. There are several art galleries and one guy told me that there are more historic buildings in Globe than anywhere in Az. In a way it is like Miles City with its old buildings still intact. There have been upgrades and a few new building for sure, but on the whole it still looks good. I am amazed at how vibrant downtown is with china mart just outside of town. I was directed to visit with the local jeweler that is semiretired. He was at a small jewelry store in the back where he comes once a week to pick up work and bring back what he has fixed. Fix it work is what he does mostly now along with some custom work. He had his own shop in globe for years and now just works mainly at home. He did do the northwest and southwest circuits for several years and was gone about half of the year. I brought in a small display of my work and he looked it over carefully. I asked him where my markets were and how to go about marketing them. He had some really good ideas and from a perspective of having been around and seen most everything. He said that probably the best show was the Pow Wow in Quartzite and it is only four or five days. That is the only time that quality work is shown in quartzite. I will have to look and see when that is. It might be over and I missed it. Oh well, next year. I asked him if my work was good enough for Pow Wow and he said it was. That made me feel pretty good for sure.

I took a walk up to the po and mailed a package and then drove around and up a road called icehouse canyon. I went past the old icehouse on the way and the road winds up a canyon until the road was all tore up with a pipeline project . on my way back down I saw a sign to a park andthought I would try and get some water there as I was almost out. I couldn’t find water but there were old Indian ruins next to the park and I went over to see. The Indians built rooms by stacking up large rocks and cementing them with mud. Some of the remains were still two stories high and they had done some work on restoration and stabilization. There wasn;t any water there so I headed back down the road and saw a pickup with a large tank on the back parked along a row of what looked like hose bibs. I stopped and talked with the old rancher and that is what it was. there must have been thirty or more hose connections of different types along a wall and each one had a locked on/off valve. I asked him if I could buy some water from him and he said that 10 gallons wasn’t going to break him an d I could have it, no charge. He has a ranch down south and is up the canyon taking care of his friends place. He said that soon thay would have the pipe line finished and he wouldn’t have to pack water. He did bitch a little about how much his wife used the washer. He will be VERY happy when the pipeline is done.

I stopped at the walmart and checked out the cameras. Of course nobody there knew anything about them.

1-29-04

I hooked up this morning and headed out for Lowell’s place. I just got started and pulled up about twenty feet and walked back to check the campsite for anything left or trash. That was all fine but my tire on the pod was really low. This is the other tire and I suppose I must have gotten a nail or cactus in it . I crept along slowly for six or so miles until I came to the rock house store near where the salt river comes into the lake. Oh, the lake is down a whole bunch and a lot of the boat ramps are dry. Same o, same o. drought.

Wow, the earth started shaking and there was a big rumbling noise…I am parked not far from a rail road track.

The old guy at the store had a really old homemade air compressor next to the store and he let me air it up. So far it seems to be holding, I will have to keep an eye on it.

I made it down to Lowell’s place and he happened to be out in the road talking with one of the hippies across the street from his place. They were talking about someone leaving and I guess the turnover there is always news. Some stay for a long time and others move on quickly. There are huts and small cabins all over and well hidden behind cane groves that they have woven and planted along the road. Lowell said that the county just looks the other way when they go by and leave them alone. Sounds good!!

We got in Lowell's truck and went up the road and along the way I got the story about all the people that live up there. Some are new and some like the big family of Mexicans have been there a long time. At the end of the small settlement, maybe ten places is the one we were going to. The guy who owns it had his trailer burn down a few weeks ago and he really didn’t know what he was going to do. We walked around the place and had a pretty good look at it. He is a serious collector of old cars and junkers with a few nice ones thrown in the mix. In the front yard was a Nash Metropolitan and he proudly said he had a parts one, over there… he has a Shelby mustang and a convertible mustang, harley hog, 49 ford coup, etc etc.

The trailer had burned and the place needs some serious cleaning up. In front of the trailer was a row of orange trees. I picked one and it was really good. My taster isn’t working really well but I think these are really good ones. He still had several trees to pick. Scattered around was a grapefruit with lemon grafted on and a tangerine and maybe more. Lowell has a date palm in his yard. The birds get most of them he says, but if he was here in the summer he could probably get them. The hippies may be helping themselves too…

This is the first place I have looked at, but it is really nice place once it is cleaned up. Only about maybe a third of the place is usable with the balance in pretty rough hills and washes. It is bounded on two sides by blm and has really nice south exposure. Oh, the price off the top of his head was 75K whch is probably a touch high. The really bad part is the taxes. He said that the taxes were $4,000 a year. they had just recently doubled and Lowell said his had gone from $350 to $700 . when you figure that you would have to pay out $40,000 in ten years for taxes, it really makes land expensive to own.

When we went back to Lowells place his wife came out and invited me in for lunch but I wanted to get going so I asked for a rain check. She insisted on giving me a bag of oranges and lemons that I guess their neighbor had given them. Later I thought that a person wouldn’t need to own a piece of property with citrus trees, only be friends with someone who does! I remember when I lived out by Cave Creek many years ago my land lady would bring me shopping bags of the best tangerines I have ever eaten. These were real tree ripened and she said that they would just go to waste if she didn’t give them away. She couldn’t get anyone to come pick them for free. She said that most of them just fell off the trees and she had to throw them away. She lived in Phoenix someplace.

I pulled out of there and looked at a couple of other small communities of trailer trash (kind of like that guy on the hill south of miles) until I came to a sign that said there was a college. I pulled in there and asked if I could use the computer. Sure! Use any one you want’ was the answer. I met a guy there who asked about the website on the truck. I gave him the short story and he pulled up the page and I see Susan has a neat photo of her crew planting a post. Good going guys. Tamp her tight!!! As I was leaving he stopped me and directed me to this new little campground next to a small lake that has just been built. This is were the train tracks are close by. Well, its free, what dah ya expect. There is one other camper at the far end in a huge fifth wheel.

E dog is coming in heat and she is always so needy then. She needs to be held and endless pets. She does like to sleep inside and could be a bed pup with out much work. The guy that turned me onto this place said to keep my food protected as the coyotes come around at night. Gee, I wonder what an Icelandic/coyote pup would be like?

1-30-04

flat tire this morning. I’m going to town and get fixed or new tires which I really need as these tires are old and getting thin. I should have re-tired when in MC.