The Shire

One of the defining novels in my life has been "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings".  And it's no secret that Tolkien is with me everywhere I go when I do photo shoots.  There is magic everywhere.  I just have to look.  Sometimes it's easy to spot.  Sometimes it's a little more difficult.  But it's always there.

Many times I stand alone on a trail wondering what will show on the path.  Sometimes I experience fear from the dead silence of it all.  These shots were taken on Madera Canyon from the Old Baldy trail.  The images in today's post haunted and fed my imagination.  The trees were dark and quiet.

The Mexican Jay reminded me of Gandalf in the Hobbit during the whole Smaug scene where a blue bird led Bilbo into his fiery layer.

These birdhouses reminded me of the hobbit holes.

The textures.  Plants.  And the stillness of the Shire......

Madera Canyon

.......hidden in the magical forests that surround Madera Canyon.

A Tree That Goes the Distance....

I took a pic of this Walking Tree in the Amazon

Trees.  No matter where you live, trees are sure to be found.  The forests of trees, the solitary tree of the desert, sporadic trees that dot the landscape like stars in the sky, urban soldier trees that line our roads like a fortress wall, the fruit orchards....well the list does on and on.  Whether they are in the background or foreground, trees make a statement.  Whenever I am in rain forest, I am always amazed at all the magnificent varieties of trees out there that I don't know anything about......the Lipstick tree, the May tree, and the Tree of the Forest are just some examples that come to my mind from my latest trip.  I also discovered that not only are there walking trees but....walking palms?  Yes.  People may say impossible, but I tell you it's true.  Look at the above pic.  Notice how the roots are above ground?  The roots will help the tree search for light or water.  In a rain forest, this is a very good skill to have as competition between plants is fierce.  It doesn't move super fast, but it can move several feet in one year.  How does it work?  New roots grow from where the tree or palm needs to be.  Older roots detach from the tree so that it can move anywhere it wants.  

It looks like this tree is escaping into the field from the rain forest.

The Walking Palm or Red Mangrove are considered plants that can "move" in search of water. Many of the walking plants are found in the rainforests of Central and South America.  But like the Ents from Lord of the Rings, these plants are slooooooow moving...well by human standards:)  Until tomorrow..... 

Winkelman, AZ

Yesterday me and my better half went on a road trip to nowhereland in Southern Arizona.  Our original plans were to go to the Grand Canyon and stay overnight, but a winter storm put the kabash on that idea.

We ate at a restaurant and instead followed another path on the State Route 77 and then looped back onto 79 back to Tucson.  This was an incredibly beautiful drive and a "must see" for people.

One of the things that shocked me was the tiny village of Winkelman.  We drove into the city and it felt like we were entering the fantastical world from Lord of the Rings.  The pic above shows the tower in Mordor(okay maybe it's just a HUGE chimney for copper refinement but one can imagine:).

Cold, misty, and rainy.....we found random plants all mixed together at this park. This above pic shows the color tone for most of the day. The state right now is this brown, washed, grey color.  I am really looking forward to seeing green again in about a month.

I don't know who plays in this scary looking park, but it's really interesting.  There is a river....and yes, I said river, not a wash, that runs through these little villages along this mountain range.  We took this beautiful roadtrip through Tonto National Park and found these tiny villages that were collapsing, or already collapsed like the village of Mustang. I believe we saw an operating Circle K and Medical Clinic.  A lot of homes off the highway were boarded up....many buildings had broken windows and wooden paneling over the doors.  I forgot that there are people in our own country fighting to survive.  There were some really nice homes here and there, but for the most part, this was poverty outside of Tucson.  I cannot believe that I have never taken this route before.  So what you'll see on this road trip is Mother Nature at her finest with human settlements adding a scratch here and there.  There's also a lot of history in these villages and I am going back again on nicer days to explore them over the summer.  A beautiful forest of trees runs as far as the eye can see along this river area and I want to explore this more.  Simply put....I'm hooked.  People who love riding motorcyles....you need to take this route!  Go from Tucson on Oracle all the way until you reach Globe.  Spend a night anywhere along the route....do some hiking.....and head over to route 79 from Globe back to Tucson OR continue the magic from Globe to the White Mountains. Arizona is amazing, but you'll have to leave our cities to see the great natural artwork. One more thing, on route 60/79, I discovered a world famous arboretum near Globe called the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It was closed by the time we got there, but I'll be back there soon.

We stopped at Winkelman to gas up at $3.45 cents a gallon and found some locals shopping at this gas station.  It was really wonderful outside and I snapped a lot of shots from this cool little town.  However, walking inside for a soda, I noticed an older man hitting on a younger man filling up his tea.  I'm sorry.....I can't help it.  I admit....I'm fascinated by people.  The clerk looked annoyed and we enjoyed the free entertainment.  There definitely is a unique culture in this part of the desert and I am extremely fascinated and want to know more.  Why are the villages falling apart?  Who lives in this beautiful region? How do people view Tucsonans?  I'm imagining "annoying" as their final answer:) I don't know why I've never gone this route but it requires further investigation.  Winkelman has about 2500 people and they must be spread out over this larger area.  This town is first and the best kept from the other villages that follow.  We drove past Oracle and San Manuel.....all situated in some amazing and breathtaking scenery.

So while I didn't take pictures of the landscape......I will in future investigations and reports.  There were too many clouds all over the place.

On the way back home, I snapped this shot as the sky cleared up a bit.  If you visit, have some fun and explore our Arizona Highways:)  Until next time.....

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

When we begin our gardens, it sometimes seems like the impossible dream as we can't vision how it will all look down the road. These next 2 writings are on what I see everyday and how I combat the surroundings of the gardens. The posting for tomorrow will be called "Imperfections." Several postings ago, I mentioned that I would do a walk around my neighborhood and show you the "hood" that surrounds me.  We are a part of the neighborhood known as Miramonte which is located near the Sam Hughes/Encanto areas and by El Con Mall.  When one says the Sam Hughes area, people automatically think rich, but that isn't the case.  One block changes from the next and El Presidio sits between beautiful and disgusting.  Our unique advantage is that we are at the dead end of a street surrounded by evil and light. As I climbed the roof today I looked north, south, east and west.  Let's look at what inspires and what makes me dial 911:) Seriously. Let's start with the positive and that which inspires.......

Sorry...I can't enter the property:) So...

This property is 2 blocks away and is, in my mind, magical.  It captures a look that I would like to have in our gardens. But let's head back to reality. While the Encanto and Sam Hughes neighborhoods are super closeby, I'm still in the Miramonte Neighborhood. On a teacher's salary and dream, I accidentally discovered a place surrounded by some sketchy characters....hence being able to afford our place.  Our home physically straddles the border between poverty and wealth. For businesses in our area, we have a biker bar, a strip club(which apparently they can show everything! barf!), an adult shop, and a bug company. My question is, why can't the bug company create pestisides that get rid of nasty cockroach humans?  The crowds that are attracted to these places can cause disturbances. Take for an example, last weekend when a man beat up his wife, he ran into a neighboring complex and was going to shoot himself in the head. Now we couldn't allow him to do that, could we? The problem is that there are many innocent people around that area.  This incident required a ton of cops and a helicopter at 2 in the morning.  This is about homeowners being subjected to losers that come in all shapes and sizes....it's about their choices like drugs or prostitution, and how they endanger innocent people around us which include people's kids. Let me show you that which touches our kingdom walls at El Presidio......so my question is how come something so lovely like our place  exist amongst madness?  How has this place endured for so many years? This blog posting will show the purpose of a garden and why they are important for homeowners....

A children's school is on the opposite side of my fence.  The landscaping is terrible except for the large eucalyptus.  The issue with this school, while it is nice hearing children playing, is that they occassionally throw toys over the fence and they hit and break windows.  When I moved onto the property, I grew my fortress of oleanders along the fence and it now prevents kids from damaging anything on our side of the property as the toys get stuck in oleander.  Seriously folks, have you ever thought about how much abuse oleander takes and how it makes an attractive natural fence?  Okay...here's the kicker....ready? Across the street is poverty city where people who need assistance live....that's a great idea and all but it also happens to be the highest in crime rate for the city.  That is why we have a regular police patrol in our neighborhood.  A man hopped our fence the other night and asked for money at 10 PM.  When we said no, he looked like he would attack us until I called 911.  This place has major meth problems and a prositution ring the likes of a  little whorehouse known in Texas:)  And guess what, the kid's place is right across the street from this!!! If I were a parent, I would take my kids to another place. It's a building made of 3 stories and it represents pure evil in our neighborhood.  Everyone wants it gone because it brings the criminal element into our homes......

Besides this place, there is another nasty apartment complex to the North of El Presidio and unlike the above place, this one actually touches our northern wall!!  Here you'll find empty beer cans/bottles and litter as drunks cross into this sector of the El Presidio Gardens.  My plan is to put my oleander in these areas but the parking lot is paved and I will need to punch holes here to keep the vermin out.  This particular place has had cop raids galore as gang members live in this neck of the "woods" and have tagged buildings nearby...not ours thank goodness.(Knock on wood.) Coming from the Midwest, I was shocked at how dirty Tucson was and I have discovered it's because of the higher number of pigs per capita that live here.  It's a very different world than the one I grew up with in Wisconsin.  If Wisconsin were the Shire from Lord of the Rings, than Tucson would be Mordor. Again, one block can make all the difference in the world.  This is why I employed my cacti soldiers to keep the meth addicts out as well as people who would try to climb our fences.  They've done an amazing job at security....and they don't cost much to have around:)

Evil nasty people live in this place.  There aren't any cars because they are all waiting to come out at night to haunt the city of Tucson. Tucson's version of the zombie....the meth zombies! So how did we end up at El Presidio?  For all that is dark, there also comes the light.  On one side of the west wall, touches the eco friendly 400,000 k condos and on the southern wall, a tropical type condo buffers the evil ones from direct access to our property.  Here you'll find huge ficus trees and a tropical setting.  In this garden, I have created a tropical feel to mirror the other side of the fence.  Fig, peach, mulberry, apple, orange trees were placed to create the fruit garden of El Presidio. However, one block away is beauty and a great neighborhood.  All of us have come together to defend ourselves against the dregs of society. I'd love to think that there is good in everyone, but I have come to learn that there is a lot of evil in this world and you have to protect yourself and your loved ones from it. We've had theft at El Presidio, meth people attempting to do their drug deals on our property, a stolen Mercedes left in my parking spot, fights, drunks passed out in the gardens....well you name it and it has happened. We came here and I took the place over to work on the grounds and I've been noticing that as my garden grows and spreads, it keeps the evil out with appropriately placed plants:) Several places like the one above is similiar to El Presidio in that we are an oasis amongst chaos in our neighborhood. May your garden protect you and keep you safe from the evils of the world.  Create your oasis and you'll discover that the wildlife will also feel it's safe to venture and live....leaving my property, I am always disgusted.  But driving into my place, I smile and think....wow, it's so different from everything else outside our walls.  You can suspend reality and create a paradise amongst the hell that surrounds your borders....block it out! With a little time and effort, a bush here or there can make the difference of a calm peaceful garden or seeing white trash sitting in their front yard on their nasty couch with loud thumping music as they use every possible meaning of the word that begins with the letter "f" and I'm not talking "firetruck" people.  If you do like that kind of party, our neighbor has this little block suare on Friday and Saturday night....and sometimes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday:)

The Miramonte Church a couple blocks away...depending on where you are, Miramonte can look beautiful or ugly to the visitor.  We are caught between both worlds.