Back in Mayer, AZ

I've been on the road, broke down, put in new alternator and returned tail between legs. However, Big Bug Station made me feel at home and I was served an excellent cold pressed cup of coffee and welcomed back. Sam Mardian Jr. popped in on his way for his usual hiking trek each day and gifted me with a great book written by as he put it, "my wild child cousin wrote this." It is Siren's Feast an Edible Odyssey by Nancy Mehagian. I love it. a bio with recipes and so well written. How could I not perk up now with my car repaired, back home with friends, and a good read tucked under my arm.

Turquoise Quest Ends in Mayer, AZ

Remember the late 1940s Sky King and his cereal box offer of Sky King’s Turquoise Secret Decoder Ring? (this is Sky King of radio fame not yet TV). Oh the thrill of taping your hard earned allowance money onto the cardboard cutout from the cereal box and mailing it in. The rush to the mailbox each day. The anticipation. I loved it but it was too big. Not to worry. It had been advertised that it was an adjustable ring. Well two fine lined fractured teeth later it was on my finger. One finally broke off twenty years later. Turquoise is usually on my mind anytime I look in the mirror. and see the cracks and the cap. But a slightly snaggle toothed grin breaks out at the memory anyway. Well, I still have a fondness for turquoise, the Native American sky stone. I live in a state famous for the mining of it. It is December’s birthstone, my birthstone. It also is Diana’s birthstone. Diana lives across the street from me in the Old Town Mayer white frame two story hotel converted to apartments. Diana and I run into each other getting coffee at Big Bug Station. She is one of those who have sent me on the turquoise quest.

Beings that I run in the Southwest’s rockhound circle when on the road, people ask me for turquoise, opal, tanzanite, etc. So what did I find and bring back to Mayer last week? A box of fishing lures. That sparked some interest with the fellows that hang at big Bug Station but brought out that dullness of disappointment in my turquoise searchers’ eyes. So I feel triumphant today with having found some turquoise jewelry to show Diana. Trouble is I like it so much, I want it. Oh these demons I do battle with daily. They wear me down. However, last week when Diana’s eyes glimmered in anticipation as mine did each trip to the mailbox nearly sixty years ago, and then the light dimmed at the news I had only fishing lures, I vowed to bring her several sky stones to choose from next time.

I will triumphantly return to Mayer this week with much sky stone in my pocket.

Anything Can Happen at Big Bug Station In Mayer, AZ

Busy Morning at Big Bug Station.

Sam brought in a Cherokee Nation Newspaper from Oklahoma and a discussion on the Cherokee written alphabet (the only Native American alphabet created so Native Americans could have “talking leaves’ the written word on paper) caught our interest. It is a syllabary…symbols for syllables rather than a true alphabet with symbols for consonants and vowels.

Carol snagged a three wheel electric scooter at Hope’s Attic (our in town second hand shop) I tried to talk her into turning it into a Rat Rod Scooter a sorta Rat Scooter until I saw it was already a hot candy apple red and to paint it with grey black primer would be a crime. Adding perhaps an antique auto grill would be cool though. You shoulda seen the look she gave me…I think the Rat Rod Scooter idea is out.

Mike was pawing through a box of World War I and II army helmets. We all wondered about the several tiny holes in the World War II one. Ventilation perhaps?

Tim mentioned flying saucers and Don painted a word picture of he and Deb’s encounter with a beaver and its den or lodge in Kansas. So I googled and found this interesting theory on why beavers build dams or rather why SOME beavers build dams. Be surprised and check it out
http://www.naturealmanac.com/archive/beaver_dams/beaver_dams.html

I flew the coop early to play catch up on my writing but shared time later in the cool of late afternoon in front of my apartment on the veranda swing while Mike’s daughter Claire, Carol, and I each savored a root beer float in glasses I had chilled in the freezer. A nice small town cocktail hour sans booze. Tame but soul satisfying.

Memorial Day in Mayer,AZ at Big Bug Station

The old Dance Hall was “purty busy” on Memorial Monday at Big Bug Station. I suffered a bit of character overload. The Stitch and Bitch group was there sharing crochet and needle crafting secrets with each other. You can thank Rose (who else of course) for the group’s name.

Our local musical duo, D Squared, was playing an assortment of harp and guitar music for potential clients. The bar was lined with a couple of Dons (not the mafia type, today anyway) myself, and a Spring Valley local we nicknamed Gabby. She was telling us her plan to go back out in the hills and pan for gold. Don One was sitting neat and dapper in his western gear but without fiddle today. He seemed somewhat amazed at the number of people gathered today as was I. We usually have a fairly steady stream of a few at a time.

Don Two was telling me he used to live on a hilltop high above Phoenix in the late 1950s. His family turned their home into The Cloud Nine Restaurant. Customers had to bang on a pipe at the bottom of Shaw Butte for his father to come down the steep incline in a four wheel drive vehicle. His dad would drive them personally up to the restaurant. The Movers and Shakers of the time were the restaurant’s patrons. Men like Carl Hayden, Barry Goldwater and star power entertainers.

The old dance hall windows in the back cast a bright glow into the room and silhouetted those inside. The windows give frame a view toward Big Bug Creek. And there in the back sat Alan, seemingly as one with his laptop and the antique padded church pew bench he sat upon. He is a Tai Chi Master who holds classes here on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Alan was in for a little WiFi. For those of you who are not exactly cyber literate, WiFi is an internet access that Big Bug Station has so patrons can use their laptop. Just the other day Alan was in using the laptop to talk back and forth with a friend in Russia. It makes feel calmer to see Alan. I think a sense of peace walks with him. Alan blends in with his surrounds. Probably that makes for a good Thai Chi Master.

Mayer Daze and Snake Talk at Big Bug Station

Ooohps, Ray informs me that the Hopi Rattler wasn't the pink ropey looking snake he saw. He said, "Try coach whip snake." Well, here is the result of that google search. "His response was, That's , more like it but I don't remember the markings on the back." Red Racer came up in the conversation but that turns out to be another name for coach whip snake. Ah well. I also learned that black rattlers will even chase you. We were all standing in the sunlight outside Big Bug Station. Dexter, also called the Killer Killer (he hunts coyotes) and an excellent fiddle player, was nodding in that wise desert rat way of his. The moment was torn assunder by the thunder of a whole parade of four wheelers roaring past us on Central Ave. They were out practicing perhaps for the upcoming Poker Run that takes place annually here in mayer during Mayer DAZE celebrations. It is the 4x4

Poker Run that claims 15 acres of terrain and 22 miles of trails. You bring the truck and they will bring the cards. Intrigued? Well just click onto this site and check it out. http://www.mayerpokerrun.com/ Mayer Daze is June 7, 2008 this year. For more information contact the Mayer Chamber of Commerce 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. at 928.632.4355

Rattlesnake Sightings Begin

As early as a month ago, Rattlesnake Bob (also known as Cordes junction Bob) was out and about getting rid of weeds and started coming into Big Bug Station with rattlesnake sightning stories. Now Bob's hearing is not so good these days and he was wondering why his faithful dog and companion was going so crazy. Bob was nearly standing on a rattler and didn't even hear it. Fortunately Bob's dog has been vaccinated against rattlesnake bite. (didn't know you could do that and sure is wise thing to do in Arizona country) however, the dog needn't worry but Bob needed to. He takes that rattlesnake sensing dog everywhere with him on his property and from the sound of the number of sightings that's a good thing. Bob is softspoken and carries traces of earlier younger years time spent in Oklahoma in his drawl. he tells his stories gently and it is always a surprise to realize the seriousness of his predicaments.

Of course any talk of SNAKE brings out more snake stories. Ray who has a custom furniture making store on the end of the building, told us of a pink rope he spotted laying across some iron in his yard. Wondering what self respecting cowboy of the wild west would own a pink rope he was shocked when he watched it slither away! so I googled "pink rattlesnake" and found this Wickopedia definition:

Common names: Hopi rattlesnake,[2] Arizona prairie rattlesnake, prairie rattlesnake.[3]
Crotalus viridis nuntius is a venomous pitviper subspecies[4] native primarily to the desert plateau of the northeastern portion of the American state of Arizona, but also ranges into northwestern New Mexico. Named for the Native American Hopi tribe, which inhabits the region, its range overlaps that of the nominate subspecies and some interbreeding is believed to occur. The taxonomy of the C. viridis group is a matter of debate, many considering the various subspecies to be nothing more than locality variations.

After the scare stories of that morning I was pleased to read in the cyber world information stream that altho scientists have identified 36 species of rattlesnake, according to Arizona Poison Centers, less than 1% of rattlesnake bites result in human deaths. Whew! But still...watch where you tread and where you put your hands. Arizona is rattlesnake country afterall.

(PS Don't EVEN bother asking Rattlesnake Bob to sell you his dog)

Hit and Run in Mayer, AZ

Yup, a crash heard in the middle of the night about one in the morning. But not by me. I was asleep snug and safe in my bed. However, me car Mate! She had her behind kicked in by another vehicle identified in the dark of night as perhaps a white or cream or light tan Bronco maybe in the 1990's. Hit and run and still not identified. My son is searching the junk yards of Phoenix for a replacement boot (I mean trunk lid)...Oohps am speaking slightly Aussie today as have been emailing friends over there. See I don different hats in different countries and sometimes the vernacular carries over for abit. Oohps, Aussies use the term "abit" alot...see what I mean? Oh well one step at a time to repair it..no comprehensive insurance you see.