The Eyes Have It

Short subjects:  Over the next few days I'll be bringing you some photos from my Phoenix trip on a variety of different topics.  Here goes:

A rather eerie paint job on the rear of a car parked on a quiet Phoenix residential street.

Baseball Boy

I am sorry this is such a horrible, grainy picture.  I don't know what happened.  But just pretend it's perfect and we'll go from there.

I promise this will be the last photo of family that I will post from my recent trip to Phoenix.  Well, maybe I will digress a bit and say I still have a photo of the granddog Truman on the back burner.  I know, this is a photo blog, and I'm supposed to be showing you great photos, not of kids that you have no interest in.

But I just wanted to say that baseball is Em's favorite sport (and believe me, he's done them all - at least those that are available for eight-year-olds in his mom and dad's price range) and I wanted to show him here practicing his stance which he anticipates using for  his baseball card photos because he intends someday to be a major league player (his plan) and therefore, as his grandma, I expect him to buy me a beachside cottage in San Diego (my plan)!

Hayden Flour Mill Part 2

Constructed in 1918, the current Hayden Flour Mill building 

is the oldest cast-in-place concrete building in Tempe, AZ.  

The original mill was constructed in 1874 on the banks of the Salt River 

but it was destroyed by fire and replaced in 1895.  

That building was also lost to fire and the current structure was designed to be fire-proof.  

Techniques developed after the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 

were incorporated into the design.  

(The silos were not constructed until the 1950s.)

The mill processed and marketed grain, cotton, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products.  

It purchased most of the grains grown in Central Arizona and milled many of Arizona's best known flours:  Sifted Snow, Arizona Rose, and Family Kitchen.

Milling operations were stopped in 1998.  

The vacant and decaying building was eventually purchased by the City of Tempe.  

It sits a mere two blocks north of the giant ASU campus.

A public event space has been created on the grounds of the mill 

and a grand opening was held in early October.  

A stage and concert lawn accommodating up to 250 people have been constructed 

and there is a small grove of trees providing a shady place for picnics

in a park-like atmosphere near the building.  

The City continues searching for a development partner to preserve the historic structure.  

A decision was made not to repaint the silos and the building 

because the iconic Family Kitchen sign would have been destroyed.

Tempe's most famous ghost sign.

Visitors are permitted to look through ground floor windows 

to see some of the mill's historic equipment and other artifacts.  

This old safe, probably used to stash the payroll, is easily visible from one of the open windows.

In this photograph you can see an old bulletin board, the slots for time cards, 

and perhaps what is a suggestion box.

Maybe this was the employee lounge.

Hayden Flour Mill

As you travel from Phoenix to Tempe, home of Arizona State University, the first landmark you encounter after you cross over the Mill Avenue Bridge over the Salt River is the Hayden Flour Mill.  Over the next couple of days I hope to show you some pictures of this historic structure, but tonight I'm just too tired.  I've been going at breakneck speed since returning late Tuesday evening.  I've developed some kind of crud that if I'm not careful it could turn into something much worse so I'm just laying low for a few more days.  You, my blogger friends, are always so supportive and I can't put into words how much happiness you all bring to my days.  So hopefully by the end of the week I'll be on the mend and back full force.  I didn't take a lot of pictures on this visit, but there are a few good ones and I'll show them to you in the coming days.  Of course, I'm looking forward to the turning of the leaves here in Texas as we prepare for winter (although last year the autumn's peak was mid-December, so don't get excited too quickly), and such activities as the Syrup Festival in Henderson and, of course, now that the weather is cooler I'll be going to Canton Trade Days this weekend.  So hang on!

The City Goat

This is a very poor photo but perhaps the story will make up for it.

Earlier this year when I visited my daughter and grandson in Phoenix I noticed that one of her neighbors seemed to have a very strange looking dog; in fact, it looked very much like a goat.  Now, mind you, my eyesight is quite poor and I had only seen this creature from across the street but I'm pretty good at naming dog breeds and this was one for the books.  So that evening when she came home from work I mentioned my confusion about this strange "mixed breed."  She said, "It is a goat."  It seems that in the fifth (or sixth, depending on which website you look at) largest city in the country right near one of the metropolis' most popular shopping malls, there is indeed someone who keeps a domestic farm animal at their home, and on this latest trip, I did manage to catch a couple of furtive shots of said dog, aka pet goat, with my little point-and-shoot.  I don't think they milk him because with those horns I'm pretty sure it's a ram so it seems that his main mission in life is to keep the grass trimmed.  And in that regard, he does a bang-up job.  He may have butted the garage door a time or two but the grass is usually pretty evenly clipped, saving, in my estimation  somewhere between $100 to $150 a month in lawn fees.  You will notice that he wears a collar which is attached to a leash, which is, upon blow-up of the pics I took, attached to a cord which went to the outer perimeter of the photo, and I can only presume that it ends somewhere under a fence and in the back yard.  Further investigation reveals that the tips of his horns are encased with something very much like duct tape so I guess his owners are aware of a possible safety hazard in keeping a ram on their property.

Ain't life fun!

Helping Mom

Em is finally old enough to:

A.  Wake up and get up on his own (this will probably change by age 13)
B.  Pick appropriate clothes for school (most days)
C.  Brush his teeth without being told (most days)
D.  Spike his own hair with gel
E.  Fix his breakfast
F.  Fix his lunch
G.  Feed Truman (lurking and hoping for a crumb in the background)

All these activities are of tremendous help to his mom on schooldays!

My Arizona Kids

Let me introduce you to my Arizona kids, Lara and Em.  They're the reason I'm always so anxious to visit Arizona.  Other than when Lara was in college I was never separated from her and had never lived away from Em after he came on the scene almost nine years ago, until, of course, my return to Texas in late 2010.  I had a grand time on my desert visit and this pic was taken after my good walk with my good friends featured in the previous post.  While I was out having a little camera fun they were getting their faces painted at a picnic.  Em's cardinal (Phoenix Cardinals, you know) is a very showy piece of art and he got many envious stares while we were stuffing Red Devil pizza down our throats in celebration of Lara's birthday.

I hope to return to my usual blogging schedule in a few days.  A vacation means some extra work upon return and I'm preparing for a big family reunion this weekend, the first for our family in 11 years.  I'm planning on meeting a bunch of folks I've never seen before!

Good Friends, Good Walks

Greetings from Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun!  I've had a grand time on my trip but I must return to my mundane life in rural East Texas soon.  Tomorrow, no less!  As usual, one of my most memorable times on this semi-annual trip to my old hometown was a day with Tracy (Life is a Road Trip) and Magpie (In Over My Head), whose paths I crossed shortly before leaving Phoenix two years ago and who are always so gracious and fun to be with on my returns.  We met at a light rail station in Central Phoenix and took the train into downtown where there are so many fun things to see.  The weather, although a bit warm, was superb and the skies were perfect!  These girls have always been a little bit camera shy but I finally got them to pose for me, so may I introduce you all to Tracy and Magpie!






 In case you don't recognize them, Tracy is on the left and Magpie is on the right.  This was on the train ride back to our cars.

 One of the highlights our walk was bumping into several groups of fun-loving souls who were participating in a scavenger hunt.  We never did find out exactly what was going on and what the outcome would be.  We found Batgirl and Superchick in front of the historic Orpheum Theater.

These girls gathered around a car that had California license plates and begging passersby to please take their photo.  Of course the one we took had to include the license plate but then they posed for us.  The girl second from the left was dressed as a lion but I don't know about the others.  Maybe Wizard of Oz characters?

I don't remember where we found these dudes but I love their costumes, don't you?



Saturday was perfect tutu weather!



This group was outside the San Carlos Hotel, which is alleged to be haunted.  They may have been slightly tipsy.  At leas they were dressed for it.  They were looking for some historic landmark that I think might be found in Philadelphia.

 

These two characters were dressed as photographers and they were taking photos 

at St. Mary's Basilica.

 

Magpie and Tracy, thanks for one of the best days of my trip!

 

Phoenix Reflections

This country girl is returning to the big city for a little vacation in the dry Arizona desert.  I've been away for nine months and I can't wait to see how much my grandson has grown and go to a couple of his baseball games.  This shot was taken on my last trip when he and I and his mom took the light rail train into downtown Phoenix for a little sightseeing and a burger at Five Guys.  I may be absent but I'll post when I can and visit when I can and will be back home on the farm in a couple of weeks.  See you in Blogland!

Time for the Fair!

Our local fair, called the Pineywoods Fair, starts tomorrow but due to my upcoming trip to Arizona in a couple of days I won't be able to attend.  And that's really too bad because last year the Expo Center was being remodeled and there were few exhibits (like photography!).  I always enjoy watching the kids at a fair.  I took this photo of three little girls riding burlap bags down a slide.  Don't you just love the joy on their faces!

Rains County Courthouse - Texas No. 26

The Rains County Courthouse in Emory is not one of the spectacular beauties of the Texas courthouses but it deserves mention.  And it was on the path of my courthouses tour in August  in between two of the real beauties so I didn't want to bypass or ignore it.

I think it's interesting that both the county and the county seat were named for one person, Emory Rains, an early Texas settler who served as a senator in the government of the Republic of Texas before the state's admission to the union.  Senator Rains was the author of the Homestead Law of Texas which was later used as a model for the protection of homesteads throughout the United States.   

Two previous courthouses in Rains County were destroyed by fire and this building, when constructed in 1908, was built around the vault of the 1884 courthouse.  Almost all early day Texas courthouses were destroyed by fire and eventually county officials got wise and started building structures with steel vaults in order to protect county records from a fiery death.  The current building is designed in the shape of a Maltese cross.

Population of Rains County:  11,000
Population of Emory:  1,200
Emory is 70 miles east of Dallas

Linda Llama on Patrol

Adventures of Linda Llama

Linda presently has 1,357,983 hours of overtime accumulated 

while patiently patroling the property for the safety and protection of the herd.

Denizen of the Dark

Linking to the Weekend in Black and White

Rural Medicine

No fancy-schmancy photos today.  Just a little commentary.

I live in a rural area in what is known as Deep East Texas.  That's near but not the same as East Texas.  Only 65,000 people live in the whole county, over half of them in the county seat which is about 24 miles from my home out in the middle of nowhere on.  Modern medicine, however, has come to America's rural communities and since I arrived here almost two years ago I've been very impressed with the quality of our medical care.  Shortly after getting here I had to have surgery to decompress a nerve in my elbow and my surgeon was a board-certified orthopedist who graduated from Duke University.  My mother sees a cardiologist who has a very good reputation, even on a national scale, although I would never see him since we have clashing personalities.  Recently my internist, a young woman who is from India but who speaks perfect English, dresses like a Hollywood starlet, received her training in New York and is also board-certified, scheduled me for a nuclear stress test since I managed to miserably fail a treadmill stress test.  I was surprised when I was told the test would be conducted in her office.  When I arrived there this morning I saw this van in the parking lot.  In fact, I saw two!  The whole thing took three and a half hours and I and about nine others had the test in her office, with the technicians and all the necessary equipment being provided by a mobile unit.  We have two hospitals here, with about two-thirds of the county's population preferring one and wouldn't be caught alive in the other  and the last third who would opt to travel 80 miles to Tyler or 150 miles to Houston or Dallas.  My mother has been through colon cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, a stroke, several heart attacks, the placement of five cardiac stents, all treated locally and she's still ticking and kicking at age 91.  The wonderful thing about small town medicine?  Rapid diagnosis and treatment. One day five years ago my Mom found blood in her urine.  She called her primary doc, the cardiologist.  He got her in to see a urologist the next day.  By 2 p.m. she had a diagnosis.  She was admitted to the hospital the following day for surgery.  In a large city that scenario would literally take weeks!  So I give a hearty applause for the quality of today's medicine in rural America - at least the rural America where I live.

Third Place

At last month's photography club meeting when it was announced that the photo contest for this month would have a theme of geometric shapes, I immediately thought of this old fan on an exterior wall of a salvage shop over in Shelby County.  I had photographed it once before but our monthly contest entries must be taken within the previous month.  I found time to return to Center one Sunday when I knew the salvage yard would be closed so I wouldn't be hindering anyone by lurking around with my camera.  Still there just as I remembered it, with squares and circles and triangles, a big rectangle, and even some ovals (the links of the chain).  I wasn't sure the Chevy emblem down in the bottom right-hand corner would signify geometrics, but it was an added touch.  My photo garnered third place in the voting and I'm very pleased.  If I don't toot my own horn, who will!

An East Texas Foggy Morning

Linking to Barn Charm