On Halloween everyone can find love - even a witch and a ghoul. The pirate/fortune teller bartender is happy to provide bloody drinks & love potions of all types. A nice skull mural behind the bar sets the tone for Halloween romance.... 
Who says marriage is hell? This dapper skeleton groom is obviously enchanted with his corpse bride. "'Til death do us part" doesn't seem like quite the right vow, though. What do you think?
I attended a groundbreaking ceremony that was held on the Kino Campus of University Physicians Hospital for a new behaviorial health pavilion and crisis response center. Now the citizens of South Tucson will have a state of the art facility close to home. This collaboration involved Pima County, the voters (who approved the funding bond), the hospital's parent entity (UPH), the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, and the U of A.
Got tarantulas? I can assure you that we definitely grow 'em big here in Tucson. Here you can see two giant arthropods planning an attack. Oddly, tarantulas of this extraordinary size only seem to come out around Halloween time...
So yes, it's true ~ in America you can pretty much buy anything in a "drug store" ~ even a scary thing to hang somewhere around your house to celebrate Halloween. But what particularly struck me about THIS scary thing is its selling label. It is marked "48" Hanging Creature." Has our collective retail vocabulary shrunk so much that we don't use words like "ghoul," "goblin," "skeleton," "corpse," "cadaver," or even "monster" any more? This creepy spectre with its ghastly grin has been reduced to just a... Hanging Creature. Boo.
For an elegant touch at your Halloween dinner party, why not serve your drink of choice in this molded plastic spiderweb goblet? It features a lifesize tarantula crawling up the side. Quite a conversation piece!
Tucson is famous for its fabulous sunsets and this one is particularly striking with its fiery pumpkin orange hues. Very Halloween-like, don't you think?
I am lucky to have neighbors who put a LOT of energy into decorating for the holidays! This spooky ghost guards their driveway. For most of the year it's just an average round globe street light but in October it's a menacing floating ghost. Trick or treat, anyone?
Every Friday night car enthusiasts gather at Harrison & Golf Links (in the Safeway parking lot) to show off their hard work & restorations of classic cars of all vintages. Check out this MINT beauty! Everyone is really friendly and very happy to talk cars.
This vivid parrot green, sky blue, and red painted door captures the spirit of Mexico. That open door entryway is so inviting ~ enjoy the sunshine and have a cool drink!
We have finally (hurray!) put the intense heat behind us for the next few months. The temperatures now are in the 70's and 80's ~ just old fashioned beautiful weather. Blue skies, sunshine, and cactus - what Tucson is famous for!
Whoa! This fun trompe l'oeil mural depicts a whole wild herd of animals breaking free of the OK Feed & Supply store on Ft Lowell at Dodge. Careful or you'll be run over by a long horned steer, a horse, a white bull, a dog, an ostrich.... wow what a menagerie! And if you run around the corner to escape, you'll see a life sized horse on their roof. 
Here is another of the fantasy murals decorating the east-facing walls of Bookmans (one of Tucson's best used book stores). We've enjoyed "Mr. Be-header" "Venus de Milo's Sister," and "Tucson's Dragon Slayer" so far. Here is "Pirate Ship + Ancient Ruins." This Spanish Galleon enjoys calm seas as it cruises past the Parthenon. Bookmans staffers tell me that they nicknamed the ship, "Pinto Bean." Go figure.
This mural is quite faded and I enhanced the color as much as I could for this photo image. This nice piece of building wall art depicts a swimmer (?) doing a back flip into the ocean(?). He holds his violin high as he flips. If you know anything about this mural (artist, vintage, title), please post a comment. I'd love to know more about this image at Broadway & Arizona.
Leaving a downtown restaurant I noticed this very large martini mural on a nearby building ~ fun! Cheers!
This beautiful and charming park entrance is in central Tucson. Yep, it's one of the paths into the Tucson Botanical Gardens. Lovely and GREEN ~ right here in the desert!
Looks like the all American Cowboy hero is about to save the damsel in distress on her runaway horse. This poster advertises "An American Cowboy, a Play of the Golden West." Perhaps this is a replica of a real traveling play poster or perhaps this is just part of the themed ambiance at Trail Dust Town.
Fort Trail Dust (or Trail Dust Town) is a favorite place for Tucsonans and visitors to enjoy a themed Western fort and town. The original core of this charming attraction was an abandoned movie set. It now is host to restaurants and specialty shops.
This stately saguaro sports quite a topper - looks like a rooster's coxcomb or a many-fingered hand. This is a rare variant of the typical saguaro "arm" structure. The scientific name for this formation is "crested" or "cristate" saguaro.
This fun bunny bench is an inviting rest stop in the Tucson Botanical Gardens, a beautiful and tranquil oasis in the center of the city.
A Tucson watering hole since 1963, the Kon Tiki Lounge serves a drink they call the Scorpion, "the largest drink in the world." It's a mix of rum, brandy, gin, fruit juice, and liqueurs ~ whew! And they serve it in a giant bowl with extra long straws. Quite a cocktail! I've never been brave enough to try it but do tell me if you have!
Another charming house in Tucson's Barrio District. Click on the "Barrio District" link to see more restored buildings in this area - each one with its own character (and color scheme!).
A few days ago I posted a photo of some non-traditional nutrackers that I spotted ~ witches, football players, GIJoes, skeletons... I am relieved to see that your basic soldier, king, drum major nutcracker is alive and well and available by the truckload. Special & unique for sure.
Don't get me wrong... I'm hardly a Scrooge about the holidays! In fact, my birthday is in December so I celebrate pretty much the whole month long. And I get the lighted reindeer that appear on front lawns. Even lighted polar bears... OK, snow... all that stuff. But lighted Christmas DOGS? (MY dogs would never be seen wearing a Santa hat!)
