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Art Squared
Tucson, Arizona
2023

Smell No Evil
Tucson, Arizona
2023

My apologies to the artist, Fin Dac (thanks for doing the research on the name Teresa), who produced this strikingly interesting mural for the rather silly name I came up with for it on the spur of the moment.

Space Invasion
Tucson, Arizona
2023

This odd (to me) scene was on a sidewalk in downtown Tucson. I’ve seen a number of signs or graffiti around the Southwest in recent years using the word “occupied” to reflect indigenous peoples feelings about their traditional lands being mostly taken over by European peoples and their descendants over the last couple of centuries.

I was not familiar with the word Cukson though. I wondered at first if it were an odd, possibly profane slang word of some sort. But I did some research about it on the internet and found it was not that at all. Instead it is variation of an English language spelling of the Tohono O’odham word for what is officially called Sentinel Mountain, and later the original settlement now known as Tucson that surrounds the peak. The word means “black base”, which is visually descriptive of Sentinel Peak. Alternate spellings I came across include “Chukson and Tu-uk-so-on. As close as I could figure, the name is pronounced something like “chew-sawn”, which the Spanish pronounced or spelled as “Tuqui Son,” later becoming Tucson.

As far as the flying saucers (submarines?) go, I imagine their placement next to the text was incidental. However, the juxtaposition does make some coherent sense given that the encroachment of European settlers and the appearance of little green men in flying saucers in the area could both be seen as unwanted invasions of (and in the later case from) space.

Desert Maze
Sasco, Arizona
2023

The presence of this maze-like building foundation in the same area takes some of the strangeness out of the isolated oddity in yesterday’s POTD (seen in the background of this image). Still I found it curious that the oval shaped hole in the isolated structure was not even pointed towards this building like you might think it would. One thing I know for sure about this foundation structure is that, likes its neighbor, it’s served much time recently as a target for gun nuts.

The Hole Part
Sasco, Arizona
2023

This isolated remnant of an old mine is quite the oddity in the desert. Maybe more odd than it appears at first glance because that hole isn’t actually round, it’s oval shaped instead. Whatever purpose it served originally it’s been repurposed in multiple ways–as an interesting photographic subject, a canvas for graffiti, and as evidenced by the innumerable pockmarks on the side, cannon fodder for insatiable target shooters.

Mystery Growth
Ironwood National Monument, Arizona
2023

Crest-like growth forms on the tops of some saguaros are a relatively rare, yet can be found scattered around randomly in the Sonoran Desert. They are thought to be the result of genetic mutations or possible lightning strikes. The type of odd growth pictured here is much less common. This is certainly the only “bud forest” on a saguaro I’ve seen, and the only one location I’ve ever seen them documented online. But there are several in a small area surrounding the one pictured here. I read online that it’s a real mystery as to why they grow that way they do at this one location. A mystery, sure, but turning around in the opposite direction and seeing a tall mountain of old mine tailings suggests some possible explanations I think.

Questionable Direction
Tucson, Arizona
2023

I’ve seen saguaro cacti in all sorts of stages of growth, dying, death, and decay. This unusually shaped one had me stumped though. The top half looked quite healthy while the bottom looked quite dead. So I had to wonder, is it dying from the bottom up or growing from the top down?

Watching the Watchers
Tucson, Arizona
2023

A mountain lion relaxing and watching the people watching it at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I always feel sorry for animals cooped up in zoos, but this cats environs were quite plush. It certainly was in a situation much better than a lot of caged animals do.

For Gene
Tucson Mountain Park, Arizona
2023

If you have cable TV, there’s a good chance Grit is on your channel list. We don’t have it at home but we do have it where we’re staying here in Tucson and watch it quite a bit. If you aren’t familiar with it, Grit streams all old western movies and TV show content. When I say old movies and TV shows, I mean quite old, including a lot of shows starring Gene Autry, a.k.a. The Singing Cowboy. (He competed a lot with Roy Rogers in regards to the singing business I think.)

I’ve always enjoyed Gene Autry’s songs, although the older I get the more the joy derives from the campy, nostalgia of his music than anything else. But that enjoyment started growing thin the other day when for some reason every 10-15 minutes on Grit they would run the same commercial for his shows. So we got to listen to Riding Down the Canyon over and over and over again. In spite of the repetition, I do still like the song, so this POTD is for you Gene.

The backlit effect from the setting sun always gives teddy bear cholla cacti a warm fuzzy glow. But anyone who’s been around them knows, sometimes painfully, the folly of taking that look too seriously. Perhaps instead of Faux Warm Fuzzies, I should have titled this image Forewarned Fuzzies.

Faux Warm Fuzzies
Kofa Mountains, Arizona
2022