Odd but Comfortable: Mother's Perspective on the Main House

Welcome to the Main House.....

And I do use the porch, when the weather is warm enough....

Tobey and I greet you....On a chillier day....

Come inside to the first of two very comfortable living areas.... 

Looks pretty comfortable, so why have there been complaints about the decor?  Why was a  print by the famous artist Diego Rivera taken down in the Anna Gamz room and turned face forward?

SHOCKING, I tell you!!  A nude back!!!

However, before we take a closer look at the artwork, let's look a bit more inside the house.

 

Hmmm.... Day of the Dead theme emerging over the stove....

High heels aren't usually comfortable, but turns out this chair is a nice fit for the human body....Mother quite liked it.

BUT   the skeleton taking up another chair in the living room was not wanted (except by me).  Alex claimed we needed the chair, which I thought was a rather lame

excuse, but Mother was adamant:  Skeletons are morbid!!  So off it went to the appropriately named "Goth Room."

However, not all the bedrooms would be comfortable for vampires and ghouls.  Mother stayed in the one below...

the infamous "Nude with Calla Lilies" room, yet somehow, Mother managed to sleep peacefully...

And Alex's room.....

                       

               

                                              However, some of the art might be NSFW
                        

In my bedroom (I stayed in the house and gave my abode to Susie and Harry)

                                        

In the back entry way

                                                                   

                       And to greet you in the living room...

   Why, then, was a nude back so offensive?????
                              

Who is responsible for this outrage?  Meet my landlady...

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Given the name Susan at birth, by parents who obviously didn't see into her future, she is now Soleil or Zia, both referring to the sun.  Her partner is Dragon.  No idea as to his birth name.  Notice the heavy boots she's wearing, though you can't see the very practical pants under her painting dress.  Twice that I've seen Dragon, he was wearing skirts; he has the legs and the tush for it.  

The Air BnB site for the Bisbee House of Art and Mirrors makes quite clear that a renter will not be stepping into country cottage chic:

                         

Our house is filled with ethnic and erotic art and, of course, mirrors!

 The main house is filled with art, photographs and crafts. Some by local artists and also Spiritual, ethnic, erotic and kinky.

We are LGBTQ friendly and welcome medical Marijuana use.

Anais Nin room

The king sized bed (big enough for 3) is under the skylight.( Tobey and I are in this bed for 3!)

Wouldn't those descriptions and statements offer some....clues....that one is not stepping into Mayberry?  Or these visuals...

                         

When I asked Soleil and Dragon about it, they said that potential renters looked at the price of a room, and nothing else.  According to Soleil, the prices are very competitive and that's all the people care about...until they get there.  Deal with it people!!  Another sign on the house.....

                                           

Now we come to the last day, when the skeleton was returned to its rightful location...

                                                     

Harry ignoring it.....

And Harry saying that Susie had finally found someone who truly appreciates her!!!

                        Mother wearing her Queen's crown from her holiday "popper."

And they say goodbye while I remain in ....

Runnin' the Road

The Roadrunner should be my totem...my logo... as I "run the road" as we say in my family.  As I've said before, I come naturally by my wanderlust.  My paternal grandmother would automatically get in the car whenever the door was open.  And my maternal great grandmother would walk to town....5 miles or so....pretty much up until the day she died.  So I've been wandering around here in Arizona on my three day weekends.  Haven't done anything particularly exciting or seen anything worthy of the National Geographic.  I wander simply because....

 

 

As of 2010, the population of Young, Arizona, was 666.  According to the website:  There are no strangers in Young, only welcomed guests.  As you travel through town, prepare to be greeted often by a pleasant wave and a friendly smile.   And it had played a role in the Pleasant Valley War, a cattleman/sheep herder range war, with a bit of bigotry thrown in range war.  
 
Pretty funky place, I gathered.  So after a good cup of my own coffee, I threw the dogs in the car (or rather, they saw the open car door and the devil himself couldn't have kept them out--kinda like me) and set off on State Route 288 for the 50 + mile jaunt.  I knew that some of the road was not paved but no concern.

And it was indeed a beautiful trip, from the desert to the ponderosa pine forest and the snow.

And as you can see, the paving had disappeared by this point.  However, it wasn't too bad, not nearly as bad as the Chaco washboard was 40 years ago.  And my little Subaru Outback was born to this kind of road. 

After a road trip of 50 or so miles and about 2 hours of on and off again road, I was looking forward to poking around in a funky little town, so it was with some eagerness that I spotted the sign.  Saw a few houses....rental cabins....a bar....a few churches...a cemetery.... and 

a rather chilly looking vineyard....the vines, not the people, as I had yet to see a human being.  Then...

Young is a wonderful place to photograph derelict buildings....but otherwise, not too much there there.

Desert as Yard or Yard as Desert?

Tucson is in the forefront of xeriscaping, a wonderful, if retro by several thousand years, concept.  Shirley, however, has always xeriscaped, and I love its zen calm. Plants around the base of the house add a bit of color, without being gaudy, and more native vegetation blends the property into its desert habitat.

Recently planted, and not native, I take some pride in keeping this bougainvillea thriving in Shirley's absence. (OK, I do see the misplaced modifier, but I'm retired, so what the hell.)

A prickly, and colorful in springtime, welcome to visitors

Barrel...doh.

Prickly pear....beautiful blossom but ouch!

Variety of hedgehog -- the herbivore version

Ocotillio in the spring, before blooming.  Indigenous.  Used for fencing around patios and for animal enclosures.

As with oaks and maples, spring brings green leaves to the ocotillo in Shirley's yard.

Quite the ouchee, if you fall into it.

An agave, perhaps the source of tequila....

Even in the desert, life springs up.  These two little cacti volunteered between the water hose and the house.  I repositioned the hose nozzle for scale.

And yes, green, green, green, even in the desert -- staunch ironwood

Departed -- to the judgment

Departed to the judgment,
A mighty afternoon ;
Great clouds like ushers leaning,
Creation looking on.

The flesh surrendered, cancelled,
The bodiless begun ;
Two worlds, like audiences, disperse
And leave the soul alone.

Emily Dickinson

Tubac was the first European settlement in Arizona, founded in 1752.  Today, it is both a state park and an artists' colony. I began with a visit to a cemetery which both mirrors and reflects the older culture and peoples.

Homage to the University of Arizona, along with a contemporary headstone, and the color of Hispanic culture.

The Virgin, safe from storms, providing her protection and love...

This hand-crafted crucifix is intended to lay horizontal with the earth, rather than rise to the heavens.

From her austere northern room, I wonder what Emily Dickinson would have thought of this brilliant color.

A canopy to protect Jesus who offers solace

Not all is colorful

Nor always marked with other than local stones, placed by non-professional hands....

A small mausoleum

Carefully whitewashed, with a heavy door....

Note the date, and the remnants of the hand-carved crucifix.

Over fourscore years

Marked only by nature

Horses

Even here, a chain link fence encloses...or excludes....

Was it a sad Christmas?

Or a loving celebration of a life that has Departed --