From the monthly archives:

August 2009

Elephant Head

August 1, 2009

Just as Elephant Head has many faces it also has had many names. Driving south from Tucson on I-19, it is hard not to be intrigued and curious about the massive monolith of the Santa Cruz River Valley. It appears to be nestled in the womb of the Santa Rita Mountains from the northern approach, [...]

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We Have to Save the World

August 1, 2009

HELP!!!
We have to save the world! Although it is too late for many species, there is still a glimmer of hope for ours. I believe we are worth saving. Look at the amazing feats we’ve accomplished–climbing the highest peaks, building bridges that span miles, creating the Panama Canal, going to the moon, unlocking the invisible, [...]

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The Green July Beetle

August 1, 2009

Most people have heard the names May beetle or June bug, and have the impression of brown uninspiring beetles that fly to their porch lights in the summer, hit the doors and land upside down. Clumsy indeed. Names sometimes tell a lot about a critter and these names are indicative of the months we see [...]

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The Borderlands Photographer

August 1, 2009

For me, the word monsoon evokes images of the Jewel in the Crown, colonial India, and David Niven in a pith helmet. A term borrowed from the tropics, monsoon refers to a seasonal wind carrying moisture-laden air. Monsoon’s arrival in Arizona signals a second springtime, and brings down temperatures during months that otherwise would be [...]

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Exploring the Southwest

August 1, 2009

Bumping along Bull Springs Road, a backroad route to Patagonia, the sensory combination of temperature and smells and motion triggered an old memory: summers spent exploring the abandoned mines, ghost towns, and working ranches of the Santa Rita Mountains, five of us kids packed into my parents’ bare-bones Travel-All – hot and sweaty and jostled, [...]

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A Cowboy's Memories of Working on the Movie "Arizona"

August 1, 2009

Back in 1939 the set of Old Tucson was built for the movie “Arizona” starring William Holden and Jean Arthur. Among the cowboys hired to train the ox teams pulling the wagons used in the movie was Grady Garth Powell.
He was in his 20s then and remembered, “They fed us our lunch and paid us [...]

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Santa Cruz County Update

August 1, 2009

Fire District Taxes Rising
Property taxes for residents of the Tubac Fire District are rising under a budget adopted by the five-member board on July 8. That’s due to repayments for the bond election to pay for construction projects approved in November 2008.
The tax rate that funds daily operations remains the same, at $2.64 per $100 [...]

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