Bisbee Views

I have been neglectful. This poor blog has been so far on the back burner I could hardly remember where it was exactly. If I hadn't been visiting my sisters blog (Carmen is a Cat) I would not even remember my log on. Now that is sad. Anyway I am looking at changing the direction of the blog or perhaps create a new one that is more focused on my photography. I have done quite a bit of new work since I last posted so that may be my direction.

I have been looking at landscape in a new way for me. It helps to have the glass to look through! This shot is taken on 90 heading to Sierra Vista early in the morning. We have had lots of cloudy skys this winter but no rain. Just like California to hog it up even when they don't need it, don't want it, and can't use it!

I am looking for a local gallery to show my work. Susprisingly enough many of the galleries in town don't show local artists work. Now how messed up is that? I don't want to show in a gallery that is not about local talent. If I find a spot I will let folks know. I also need to find a way to link this blog to sites that people who are interested in Bisbee will see. Maybe I can link through the Marquee site.

So stay tuned I will be loading more of my Bisbee Views in the future. Bisbee from the point of view of a local bisbohemian wanna be. A real bisbohemian lives on the art and I (sigh) still need to work.

Carmen is a cat

This may be how I am able to comment. I hope so as all other attemps have failed. I am enjoying the work and the photos. More!

It is not raining

That is the subject everyone wants to talk about. It is hot, and sometimes it is humid. It has even tried to rain a time or two but this is no monsoon. And everyone is testy, tired and hot. Arizona in July without rain is a set up for mass hysteria or murder, which ever happens first. Both activities are bound to overheat a body so I guess the world is safe.
You can always spot a tourist in Arizona in the summer. They are the people who park their car in the space closest to the entrance, instead of the one that will be in the shade at 2PM that is half a parking lot from the store front. They don't use a reflector for the front windshield and leave something on the dash board slowly melting into the plastic. The tourists are walking on the sunny side of the street, and when they take their sunglasses off they have that albino raccoon look around the eyes. They seek out the sun and actually lay in it! They wear black because it is slimming. Never mind that it makes the outfit a quick solar cooker. The tourist is out and about during the mid-day hours. No sensible local stirs after 10 or before 3PM if they can possibly avoid it. But most of all the tourists don't gather in groups in a spot of shade, scanning the sky with hope . Monitoring the development of every small cloud and judging the potential of every errant breeze to bring Rain. Blessed Rain.
When it gets here I hope its a frog strangler!

Holiday come and gone

Well the holiday weekend has past and altough I thought I would collapse yesterday the time has slipped away. It was a full weekend. I went to Phoenix to get my sister and her two teenagers , and I dislike Phoenix just as much as I always thought. We are all staying at my house and for those of you that know Bisbee that can be a bit of a challenge, but we are managing and having fun.
The biggest news is the new grandbaby and as you can see I am pleased to have a new photographic subject.
Speaking of photographs I do have a site where my work can be viewed. It is www.flicker.com and I think if you do a search on radiann or Bisbee you can locate it and see some other amazing stuff along the way.
It remains very hot here and we have yet to see the rain, which makes Bisbee residents just a bit on the cranky side. We are seeing build up of clouds in Mexico but with the big storm in the southeast we will no doubt have persistent high pressure. We did have rain on San Juan Day so all the locals are waiting for a bang up rainy season.
Arizona. One of the few places where rain in any quanity ant any time is a blessing

Big events in old town

Not only is Bisbee getting ready for the 4th but I welcomed a new grandson into the world yesterday. Jake arrived at 4:38 AM weighing in at 7# and 12 oz. Mom and Baby and Brothers and Sisters doing well.
In other news today I will head to Phoenix :-(D( where it will be a balmy 110 degrees if I am lucky. But I am happy to make the trip as I will be picking up my sister and two of her three children who are arriving from Lebanon.. as in the country of, not Pennsylvania They will be here for 7 weeks. You don't make a trip of that distance and turn around home in a week.
Looks the the big events of the 4th are a go. I think the coaster time trials went off without a hitch this morning around 5AM. I opened one eyelid and quickly closed it.
Did a little work on several photos and discovered a Bisbee group on the Flickr site. Only 4 members but if you want to see what others are seeing in Bisbee it is a place to check out.
Stay posted as the biggest party weekend in the old town unfolds.

Creeping up on the fourth

The forth of July is Bisbee's second biggest holiday, Halloween being the first. The 4th signals a start to the monsoon or rainy season. Rain in Arizona is always a good thing, even too much of it is a good thing. It's only a problem for the flatlanders.
The 4th is a big deal for other reasons as well. Bisbee was a mining town, a company town. There was one industry and that was copper mining. The mines never shut down totally. There always had to be someone running the pumps or many areas would flood. There was also a need for firemen as parts of the mines are burning to this day. But all other miners got 3 weeks of vacation all at the same time and it always started on July the 4th. So by tradition Bisbee becomes one hell of a party town on the forth of July. The population soars with many home town people returning from where ever they ended up after the mines closed. If there is a class reunion, and there always is, it will be the 4th of July. We have events unique to a mining town such as a hard rock drilling contest. Some events are unique to our mountain setting - The race up 'B' hill and of course the coaster race.
Now most folks know about soap box derby racing, but this makes soap box racers look like amateurs. The main street or Tombstone Canyon, is down hill at a fair degree for over a mile and it is twisted and curved. On one side there is a gully that is about 12 feet deep and has cement retaining walls protected by a pipe fence of sorts. Kids up to the age of 16 get in these very fancy coasters and ride down hill at speeds faster that I am willing to drive. The steering is generally lines connected to either side of the front axel and brakes are rudimentary at best. They can weight up to 250 pounds without the driver and are only about 4 or 5 inches off the ground. Most of the coasters are built with adult men sponsors and businesses provide the funds. It is a very canyon rat thing to do. My brother has at least three that he sends down. I think he is too busy to have built a forth as he is a city councilman who is under recall for the second time. But that is a blog for another day.
Everyone is on pins a needles to see if the sewer project will cause the cancellation of the coaster race. More will be revealed ,

A Day in the Town

You never know who might be surfing the web and looking at Bisbee. I have heard people say that everyone in the world know someone from Bisbee, and some days I think it's true. I hope this Bisbee Blog will be of some interest to someone out in the ether of the net.
I am a Bisbee native and there aren't that many of us left in the old town. I live about a block from the house I grew up in, and although the old neighborhoods are changing I am very glad to be able to still live in the old town.
I hope to post images and interesting bits about life in the old town which is very interesting right now. Most of the streets are torn up as all of the sewer pipes are being replaced.
Please give feedback as I would like to hear what you think, and what you might want to know about Bisbee.
If you found this on a search you may already know something about Bisbee. For those of you who don't, Bisbee is a mining town in the extreme southeast corner of Arizona. Founded in 1881 it was a copper mining boom town and at one time the largest city between Santa Fe and San Francisco with a population of about 33,000 just before the turn of the century.
The mines closed in 1974 and the town has become an artist colony and retirement community. It is up in the mountains at an altitude of over 5000 feet. The homes are built up on the mountain sides. My house is a B address which means I am one house removed from the main street and the houses running up the hill behind me end with G.
I will get a picture or two up in the next few days.