Suburban Haunted House ~

How fun is THIS? These homeowners have built a haunted walkway that tonight's Trick-or-Treaters will have to pass through in order to get their candy treat! What a great idea and it looks way scary with the cobwebs and ghouls outside. Lucky kids!

Mmmmm ~ holiday treat: Pickled Brains

Here is one of my fun ghoulish Halloween Party decorations ~ pickled brains! Mmmm....old family recipe!  (: Who knew that an innocent cauliflower could look so creepy?

Ghost acrobats ~

To me this looks like a circus act - the balancing Ghostini Brothers. Brother #1 on bottom looks leering and menacing, Brother #2 in middle looks happy in an evil kind of way, and Brother #3 on top looks dismayed! Weird indeed! 'Tis the season!

What every home needs - a dungeon!

For your next DIY home project, how about creating a nice dungeon? I guess this was the Medieval version of "time out"!

Gaggle of ghosts? Gang? Group?

If you see one of these sepulchral images unexpectedly on a dark night it would be very scary. But when 5 of them are displayed neatly hanging at a big box Halloween store, well.... not so much!

Endless summer ~

This super cheerful SUV has a great license plate - LimeSqz! Even though Halloween is just around the corner seeing this made me think of limeade and lemonade and summer!

Fun Pun!

Meow!! Enjoy!

The Bear Bottom (3 images) ~

These big bears were on their way to a carnival or theme park when I spotted them in midtown Tucson. The ride's name is "Bear Affair." Pretty fun and colorful overalls they are all wearing!

Good vibrations ~

Just couldn't resist posting one last image from the recent VW Bug festival. Here's a Karmann Ghia with a great license plate!

'tis the season for...BATS!

Yes, bats! Real ones - not the little plastic ones you can buy at the Halloween shop! This flock (?) group (?) of bats was flapping around on a Tucson residential front porch recently and was startled by the camera flash which made them BATTY! (sorry - it was irresistible)
Photo courtesy of George Goldman.

October means BUGtoberfest in Tucson!

VW owners from far and wide come to the annual Chirco Bugtoberfest in Tucson. The event spans several days and they do a road rally, a huge BBQ, raffle and more! And it includes bugs, vans, Ghias, and sandrails and baja vehicles, too. Looking at all these VW Beetles made me miss mine - my first car was an orange VW Beetle. Loved that car!

Ancient petroglyphs in Tucson ~

It's amazing that such history and beauty are just a half an hour's drive from Tucson! Picture Rocks is a spiritual place as well as a place of great natural beauty. The picture rocks were created by the Hohokam Indians many centuries ago. Fascinating!
Photo courtesy of Nathan S Bunker.

Neighborhood patrol ~

A family of javelina is on neighborhood patrol. Notice the little one (they are called "reds") staying close to mama. This is a delicious time of year for them because one thing I know they like (personal experience speaking here) is raw pumpkin! Munch, munch.... there goes your jack o' lantern!
Photo courtesy of George Goldman.

Modern version of timeless classic ~

This striking modern sculpture depicting Hamlet stands outside the UA School of Film and Television building. The  UA has a "Studio Series" where one can attend a wide range of innovative plays performed in the small studios housed there. The recent play I saw there was "Boom" and the studio had just 77 seats! Here is a full photo of this interesting sculpture and information on the artist: William Arms.

A favorite watering hole ~

Ahhhhh, the Tucson temperatures are finally dipping below 80 degrees in the evening! The fun and historic Hotel Congress has a great patio for outside dining and drinking. And it is a great spot for people watching, too.

Festival continues through sunset and beyond ~

Tucson's beautiful and iconic mosaic courthouse dome was like a beacon welcoming Tucson Meet Yourself attendees.The international food vendors were all located on the plaza by the courthouse. Add some Asian drumming and some wacky puppets and you get the idea - different and definitely a fun night out!

Tucson's Historian - meeting and greeting

Here's Big Jim Griffith, one of the founders of the Tucson Meet Yourself festival, making everyone feel welcome. Big Jim is a local folklore and history expert and the author of many books. Click here for the link to some of his stories.

Dance, Food, Fun ~

Tucson's Annual "Meet Yourself" festival is a great mix of entertainment and food representing all of Tucson's different ethnic groups. The whole globe was represented with food choices - Jamaica, France, Denmark, Greece, Poland, Mexico, Turkey.... you get the idea. Lots of choices and all of them good!

Tin Man's Girlfriend ~

There is so much going on in Tucson this weekend it's impossible to be bored! Not only is downtown crowded with hundreds of vendors and information booths to celebrate "Tucson Meet Yourself," the annual Tucson food and ethnic festival, there was also the "2nd Saturday" celebration which fills downtown with music, street performers, and more vendors. And there are also Gay Pride events, Parents' Weekend at the U of A and a football game! This silvery damsel was just part of the wild and unexpected novelties you can find during this fun weekend. 

Snake Fan Club ~

Instead of warning visitors about the dangers of snakes, this stuffed polyester snake at the Casa Grande Ruins Monument draws your attention to the poster that lists the virtues of snakes: eating rodents and helping to limit hanta virus and plague.

Lunar landing pad?

Now, hundreds of years after it was built, the Casa Grande (big house) Ruins look lonely and isolated on a vast tract of desert. But in the 1300's this structure was the centerpiece of a thriving community of thousands of Hohokum Indians who maintained an extensive system of irrigation canals and had a thriving abundance of crops. Interior photos provide a hint of what the structure looked like.

Sun play ~

Walking around the Casa Grande Ruins visitor center I was struck with the beauty of the sunlight streaming through the slats. I loved the stripes it created on the support poles and the ground.

Eye on the sky ~

Here is the opposite side of the Casa Grande Ruins and it has very interesting features - windows high up on the structure that are believed to have been used as observatories. The small circular window shown here aligns with the setting sun on the summer solstice. Other windows and doorways align with the moon at significant times during the year. This suggests that the Hohokam devised a calendar system based on the motions of the sun and moon and incorporated that into their architecture. Similar to England's Stonehenge, this building may have served as an astronomical observatory and calendar.

Hundreds of years before Columbus ~

The ancient site of the Casa Grande Ruins is now protected by a massive metal roof. This four-story building was perhaps the main community building (and possibly the grain storage area) for a thriving Native American population in the 1300's. There is no definitive answer to how or why this community disappeared. Fascinating!

Entrance to an ancient world ~

Here is the parking lot entrance to the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Although you get a peek at the ruins here in the background, it simply does not prepare you for the immense scale of this structure. What happened to the thriving community that built this structure remains a mystery. Stay tuned for a walk around of this interesting site.

Soon to be your shirt, sheets, and towels ~

Arizona's economy was built on the 5 C's -- Cattle, Copper, Citrus, Climate, and Cotton (the famous Pima cotton, in fact). This beautiful stretch of farmland near Coolidge is ready for harvest and is filled with fluffy cotton balls as far as the eye can see.

High style golf cart ~

When I first pulled into my friends' driveway I thought they had tricked out a golf cart with a fake Rolls Royce grill just for fun. Nope! This golf cart was actually manufactured by Rolls Royce!  My friends bought this cool cruiser at a yard sale! Just goes to show you never know what you'll find when you follow those "Yard Sale This Way" signs!!

Backyard light show ~

Hope you enjoyed the little stroll around Nogales, Mexico this week on the site! Now we're back in Tucson and have finally finished this year's monsoon storms. Here's a recent photo taken of "just another spectacular view" from a Tucson backyard during our recent monsoon season. The persimmon sky and the two bolts of lightning create an awesome photo!
Photo courtesy of George Goldman.

Neighborhood bar ~

As we left the lovely retail plaza surrounding LaRoca Restaurant, we saw this bar just across the street. The contrast is, of course, stunning. And that is the nature of Nogales, Mexico - highs and lows... and sometimes on the same block.