El Presidio

Our El Presidio Gardens

A new week and a new theme.  Today's theme is about "El Presidio".  These grounds were in poor shape when I arrived on the property 3 years ago.  Today they are becoming the El Presidio Gardens which I hope transforms into something special for the residents within the next couple years.  This is a very interesting word and one that applies to our grounds here.  The word "El Presidio" literally means a fort or establishment.  The above picture is just a piece from the entire garden.  There is more garden on the sides and in the front.  This is the Central Courtyard.

Tucson's El Presidio Park

Specifically it was a fortress established in the southwestern United States by the Spanish in order to protect their missions and other holdings.  When I look at El Presidio, my place and from my point of view, we are definitely a fort protected from the meth zombies, homeless and prostitutes who try and keep stealing and invading our "fort"!  We are a little gem hidden away in a bad neighborhood!

San Francisco's Presidio

The first time I encountered the word "Presidio" was in San Francisco where I lived for 2 years.  It was beautiful and a former military fort.  Now it's a recreational area and a nice walk!  Good views as well.  The purpose of the presidio was to protect the mission from Indians who were unfriendly, and to secure the Native Americans from escaping the mission. A presidio, in the case of the California missions, were homes for the soldiers. That was why so many presidios were near the missions...to guard the Priests living in the missions.  Nowadays, the presidio takes on a whole new meaning.  Missions, still trying to convert those "savage" Indians, have moved down to Central America, Asia, Africa, and South America.  The Native Americans here in Tucson now run casinos and some, but very few, still live like they used to back in the day.  It's actually sad how people feel the need to try and convert people. But that's another topic:)  Today  my "El Presidio" is a wall to wall fort that protects its' residents from bad people that surround our borders.  We don't always succeed and sometimes I think we should call our garden, "The Alamo".  But as I am putting in my army of cacti, things are changing.  That project is currently in works on the front walls for the upcoming months.  The last freeze damaged several of my "soldiers."  I'm just waiting a bit until the freeze danger lowers.  So there you have it...the meaning of El Presidio and a couple famous places with the same name including our garden here.:)