Tally-ho Taliesen

As we got farther and farther from Tucson, we saw fewer and fewer saguaros.  We did see a lot of open cattle grazing and cattle grates along the roadside.  In this part of Arizona, the roads follow the contours of the land, and there were a lot of dips and rises to keep us on our toes.  For quite a while we paralleled the railroad tracks and were able to see firsthand how so many things are transported from place to place.  One train we passed had over 100 cars before I lost count, and many of these were stacked two high with containers.  It's quite impressive to think of the weight that the 4 or 5 locomotives can pull.

We stopped for a bio break in Sacaton.  I noticed that everyone at the gas station and convenience store there looked to be of Native American ancestry, so as we pulled out I looked it up.  Sacaton is a CDP - a census designated place.  A CDP is not a city or town, as it is not incorporated, but is a concentration of people that is tracked for census purposes. Sacaton has just over 1500 people, over 95% of whom are Native Americans. 40% of the population has income below the poverty line.  As we traveled through Arizona, we saw many similar settlements. I know there are many areas of New England that are struggling, but when you see these clusters of houses, shacks, and trailers isolated in the desert, their difficult situation becomes that much more clear.

I've forgotten to mention something that I have noticed since we passed St. Louis, and that is the abundance of public art.  Not only are there sculptures in many of the shopping centers and plazas, but there is wonderful decoration on concrete walls along the highway and bridge abutments.  Some of these are cast into the concrete and then either left in the natural state or painted.  Others are done with different colored stones, much like the Navajo sand paintings.  There are geometric designs, as well as stylized animals or other representations.  My favorite was a spotted Gila monster done in gravel.  Unfortunately, we were unable to take photos of any of these as we were driving along the highway.

We arrived at Taliesin West, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's famous houses, and took a most interesting tour that lasted almost 2 hours.  The house is currently used as an architecture school, which writes started when he was still alive.  There are only about 25 students, and only a handful of new ones are admitted each year.

Taliesin West is fascinating in its design and concept.  Wright used one of his favorite shapes, the hexagon, in everything from doorways to the furniture in the living room.  From an engineering and structural perspective however, the building is a nightmare.  When Wright had an idea, such as covering the roof beams with canvas rather than wood or glass (he wanted to allow in a soft, filtered light) he paid little heed to whether the material would last or was even suitable for the environment.  The hot Arizona sun and yearly monsoon rains quickly deteriorated the canvas, and it has had to be replaced with more lasting materials.  Joints are not always tight.  Wright was an assertive person, to say the least, and since he was only 5'8", felt that anybody more than that was a waste of material. Many ceilings are relatively low when compared with structures of today, yet his mastery of light made rooms feel very open.

Since we were just outside Phoenix, which is quite a bit lower than Saddlebrooke, many of the spring flowers were already open and it was several degrees warmer.  This quickly disappeared when we reached Sedona, which sits at about 4500 feet.  Sedona is named after Sedona Arabelle Miller Schnebly, who was the wife of the first postmaster. The famous red rocks are beautiful, and for geologists, fascinating because they are "open" geology rather than the geology of the Northeast which has long since been covered over. The red rock itself is known as the Schnebly Hill formation, and is found only in the vicinity of Sedona.

The area is beautiful, and in addition to the many stores selling jewelry and native crafts, attracts hikers and campers.

We always enjoy people watching, and Sedona provided ample opportunity.  While waiting outside the Cowboy Club for a table for dinner, we saw many noteworthy examples: a gentleman in his late 50s, dressed in the usual khakis and a sweatshirt, with short cropped white hair, sporting a little tail on the back of his hair dyed purple; a big and tall man, also in his late 50s or early 60s, with a mustache paraded on both ends hanging down about 16 inches, with a dangling three-inch airing in one ear, and a black Derby on his head; and another large man - this area seems to specialize in big and tall - completely outfitted in Harley-Davidson gear, daintily carrying a plastic bag from his shopping - which I then noticed also said Harley-Davidson.  We also saw a number of young ladies wearing halter type dresses whose pulchritude spilleth over.  And over.  Pulchritude was another of the words that Bob made me use.


We end of the day with a little bit of window shopping and then back to our hotel.