keepin it quirky

i tend to be a-political. sit back and watch. i'm patient enough to wait and see. somehow this one has me riled. *see previous post* it has everyone riled.
bisbee is a small abandoned mining town. everything built on top of something. quarters are tight. in Old bisbee there really are no 'neighborhoods'. you have doctors living next to junkies. border patrol next to artists/activists. young familes next to ex-cons. and when i saw 'next to' i mean in many cases RIGHT NEXT TO. and it works. without much strife. why? cause it's bisbee and when folks move in they are often looking to get away from the big cities with their big lots and big lines of seperation.
bums, vagrants, crackheads - we got them too. they sit in the parks. don't think of your big suburban parks. these are areas smaller than my house just off the main streets. as a mom of two small kids - NEVER have i been threatend, harrassed, ANYTHING in the park. these people are people. often really interesting. crazy at times, but who's not? i feel safe. they were here before me. i accept that.
so now we have this big shot business guy in town. he's been here years, he should know... he owns the ONE coffee house. one of the three finer resturaunts. and now just opened another "authentic mexican" place across from the park. he's done really well for himself so far - but i smell a boycott. his tourist customers now have a great view of the 'vagrants' and it is upsetting their digestion. (SO HE CLAIMS) so they are asking people to leave the park. and calling the cops if they don't. the other day they made a guy leave the park - who was on his lunch break from work - trying to enjoy his lunch. His name is Scruffy, and yes, at times he's out of work. but not the day in question. he was doing nothing except eating.
it's ironic - he opens an 'authentic' mexican eatery. has he never BEEN to mexico? it doesn't get more authentic than vagrants and panhandlers taking seista on the street.
ramble ramble ramble... so know we have this proposal. and it pisses me off. the main "problems" are happening between 2-4 in the morning. what volunteer will take that shift?
this is just one man's beef with reality. we won't let him turn this into a police state. and he pretends it will be an aide to the tourists...
so i say - if it happens - we will start handing out red vests to our vagrants. we have some mighty characters in town and they'd run with an official badge as such.
i say - start the OB BO tour. (old bisbee body odor) led by our more eclectic, you can tour the sleeping, shitting, shootin up spots of bisbee's gypsies.
they've been here always. they are part of our history and present. they're real. pretending we are a fancier town won't work. people come here to get away from that.
ok - i'm done.

the general idea

http://www.mongolyurt.com/ a house to go
http://www.infowest.com/business/g/gentle/yurt.html living in the round article
http://www.yurtinfo.org/photos.php photo link page

the new view

in the bus. measuring. sorting. planning. needs finishing touches - but we now have back bedroom. kitchen. living. a place for kids beds. etc... there will be a back deck with shower and toliet.
the front has a deck. hopefully soon a nice shade awning. the plan is to move into the bus by june. wake each day and get the yurt built.



this is the driveway into the building site. where the mighty yurt will be. for those who are curious about what that will look like - stay tuned. i will put some photos and info links up soon.

wed. snapshot

two teeth this week. waving hello. traveling ON HIS FEET from chair to chair. will walk if you hold his hands. gobs and gobs of snot. and buckets full of drool.
"when i grow up i am really gonna drink beer. is a little bit of beer okay? is it healthy? i'm gonna drink a whole bottle of beer. but only when i grow up cause beer is only healthy for adults. some is. right?"

happy birthday mama earth

everyday you birth again. another chance to recreate ourselves. this day in your own cosmic way you gave me my vacation. i thank you.
this morning we found this little one knocking itself silly in the greenhouse. she let us hold her. we brought her in. we made a box with water and some plain cereal. after an hour she recovered enough to fly outside again. thanks be. i don't know how to nurse a bird...
earth day festivities were on full swing at the park. vendors of fun earthy crunchy stuffs. a guatamalan hammock i fell in love with. a maypole made out of a nice tall centrey cactus. a friend selling homemade lemonade and for an extra dollar a shot from a bottle of tequila in an ice chest. the clothing exchange. bring what you want - take what you want. i got some nice new duds... i love this town! i'm happy to have woken up today.

just a reminder

grapes look promising this season. seedless green. a new addition this year - concord.
after years of attempting flower gardening, i have columbine and marigolds. with these two exceptions i work best in greens.
every year i find a new plant i get really excited about. hot-n-spicy oregano is my new baby!
i found my greenhouse budda three years ago. think what you will - but so far without fail where he sits things thrive...
so i sat beneath for awhile this morning. the day started badly. badly and early. so i sit awhile and soak up some green. breathe. sit. soak.

strings

a pouring out of sweat. soul. singer. songwriter. feeding a family on a guitar string. support your local musicians...

let's redefine the term

wind surfing meets dumpster diving!

we were talking to a few ranchers last spring who informed us the monsoon season is directly related to the windy spring season. last year it was WINDY. this spring it's down right dangerous. hopefully we will have our new water catchment system in place by the time the rains come. hopefully we will have not blown away.

choose your noise

in the house we have scattered... five guitars. one piano. two banjos. one fiddle. one mandolin. several hand drums. a tambourine. castanets. harmonicas. flutes. not listing the 'kids' instruments.
tonight's impromptu family jam highlighted... guitar. banjo. mandolin. xylophone. percussion frog. bongos.
i mostly played the flash on the camera...

nothing slow about this turtle

6 months. 17 lbs. 27 in. crawling for two weeks. pulling to stand for one. wanting to walk. begging for teeth. quite a little fresh cut fruit junkie. war paint wasn't exactly his idea - but willing to play along!

tantrum

in my 5 1/2 years of motherhood there have been three times i wanted to walk away. leave my crying children and walk. far far away into deep sleep. wake in land of endless beach and a fine salt mist. wake with a margarita in hand and no responsibilties...
last night was one of them.
we were out on the property and the weather was bad. the girl was hyper. the boy cranky. i yelled and cried. i caused my babies to bawl. i shoved the babe at pat and walked.
into the desert. wind whipping. dust flying. moon shining. carrying me away. it was a painting waiting. a song. a cry. desperation - help me help me. i want to fly away. carry me away. blow me away.
then breathe. just breathe. resist the pull. one step at a time back to my family...
back home i rediscovered the healing effects of a heartfelt apology. a glass of cold wine. a hot bath. a man who loves me despite my tantrum holding me through the night and lending me a bit of strength. a brace against the wind. hold on mountain mama. hold on...

all good things

papa john is visiting and brought us all a gift from chicago. a walker-car for the babe. a dancing dress for the girl. a painting (replica of my sister's done by my brother) for me! thank you mo!