Friday, December 3, 2010

Shabby Yin and Yang

Shabby Yin Yang







 Picking up the pieces ~ our collection




These still seem so exotic to me



View of the town of Warren
The mining company is planning on contouring the tailing piles and planting shrubs.
You can just imagine the hole left behind when they took out all of this material.

Well, here is a picture of the pit in case you can't imagine it
This pit is on the road between Old Bisbee and Warren




some shabby and empty houses



stately agaves



 Lone pomegranate 



Even the sewer covers are cool




Some houses are very nicely kept up.





The house of the  former big boss in this mining company town.
For sale at $650,000



Tailings that created a new landscape



The old Copper Queen  Hospital



arch to the empty house




Good old funky places



Italian cypresses piercing the open sky



Gateway





Prickly Pear Cactus





 I'm taking you on a little walk through our small Arizona town. Warren is a part of Bisbee, an old copper mining town  that was established at the end of the 1800's. After Bisbee got too crowded they set up this company town called Warren in the early 1900's. Bisbee had been one of the largest cities between St. Louis and San Francisco then.  Warren is in fact, an early planned city with sewer and water and it's nicely laid out with it's Vista Park that views the mountains across the border in Mexico. These days there isn't as much work since the copper mine shut down and it's a rather sleepy town comprised of many retirees.

 Coming from Alaska we relish the funkiness of the place with it's similar mining history as where we had been living up north. I can walk through the town with few cars on the road and do my explorations of the neighborhood on the way to the gym. My husband says it reminds him of the Flintstone's town of Bedrock. There's always so much to look at and little treasures to pick up on the roads and ditches. 

My rusted "roadsmithed" smashed bottle cap earrings were made from pieces I've been picking up on my daily jaunts.

I often say that the most magnificently warm winter's day here is so similar to an Alaskan summer's day with the big sky and desert dry air. That's one of the reasons we picked this place.


I relish my walks as it keeps this old truck driver's hip joints moving and I can take it at my own speed and lose myself in thought. It's been a crazy past week of  bad news about all sorts of friends, family and acquaintances. 


 One friend in Alaska was charged by a mad mother moose as she was trying to take a photo of the baby calf that was nibbling at her flower pots at her house.



 Mad Mother Moose Charging
( my friend has bruises from hip to toe but is otherwise all right, fortunately)


Another friend fell flat on her face at work busting her lip and smashing her face.

And another blog friend, Terresa taking a spill on her travel trip, suffering bruises yet fortunately not too badly injured.

The musician gentleman that lead the band that played at my wedding took a nasty spill on the ice from the ice storm that crippled Fairbanks and has been in and out of consciousness since then. We're praying for his recovery.

My own father facing yet another health crisis that he seems to be bouncing back from, I'm happy to report.

And another friend whose condition is too raw and dire for me to even express. I hold her in my heart.

All that is putting me in a pensive and yet expansive mood as I meditate on it all  and feel grateful for this day and all my friends and family and far reaching connections in my blog world as well.

11 comments:

  1. Hey Kim .....love and good thoughts to you.....thanks for taking us on your journey ...xxx

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  2. Sorry so much turmoil in your heart. My thoughts go out to your Dad and friends hoping their is healing. Wonderful journey through the town.
    Talk soon. xox Corrine

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  3. What an interesting town. That top picture looks like the yin and yang I painted on the back of my garage. It was pretty at first, but now is peeling off.

    Hope all your situations even out.

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  4. wonderful photo journal of your walk through town....lots of interesting sites indeed. i always find it interesting how the towns are surrounded by hills and desert out west...where in the east towns melt into one another. the pit looks like an open wound and I would be very tempted by that sewer cap...what a great piece of art to display. love the shabby homes..what a tale they tell.
    sending wishes of improved health to your father and those friends who are not well.

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  5. Thanks for the photo tour. I love the funky places and your beach glass collection, although you might not have plucked it off beaches.

    I'm sorry to hear about all the mishaps. My husband and I are going through a long run of that, too. Keep the faith!

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  6. Hello,
    what a interesting journey and great info on this town.
    that moose looks scary! but what a great photo!
    glad shes ok.
    hope everyone recovers from their ailments soon.

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  7. It was so interesting to see your town, so completely different from your area in Alaska! Sorry to hear of all the misfortunes of friends lately, and hope they will be better soon! XO

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  8. I've been to Bisbee. Thanks for the little tour. Glad you are back home in AZ. Take care.

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  9. glad your Dad is better and you have so perfectly pictured your corner of AZ! just fabulous photos and a great photo of the mine! for those who have never lived there, I bet it is hard to imagine what the companies did to the earth. glad you are home safe and sound! xox

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  10. great photos of your town I can almost taste the dust..the light must be great there and what cool sewer or manhole covers as we call them. Glad to hear your dad is ok and your friend after the mad moose incident

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  11. Pretty amazing to have caught the photo! When one thing happens others seem to crowd in but it does seem to keep us in perspective. As the sign says we must 'keep calm & carry on'...for them & ourselves. Lovely walk around town, we're starting to thaw.

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