2015-11 5enses

Celebrating art & science in Greater Prescott

Alan Dean Foster offers a comic take on literacy P. 10

Ty Fitzmorris winters over in the wilds P. 14

Paolo Chlebecek jogs your devices’ memory P. 18

Jacy Lee

catalogs a couple of chimerical cabinets P. 20

And much2 more

NOVEMBER 2015 | VOLUME 3, ISSUE 11 | 5ENSESMAG.COM

Prescott

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Mondays 9 a.m.

Seasonal Yoga w/Sara Lopez Mondays 10:30 a.m.

Gentle Yoga w/Kathy Defreitas Tuesdays 5:30 p.m.

Dynamic Flow w/Will Duncan Thursdays 5:30 p.m.

Dynamic Flow w/Breanna Rogers

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Visit flyingneststudio.com or Facebook for more info | info@flyingneststudio.com | 928-432-3068 | 322 West Gurley Street |

PRODUCTIONS

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& your host:

PRESENTS

Send in the Queens

Aimee V Justice

Friday, Nov. 13, 7pm & 9pm Saturday, Nov. 14, 7pm & 9pm

$15 general admission $30 gen. admission + pre-show pass Buy tickets @ sendinthequeens.bpt.me

Coco Holly Pena St. James Popper

DJ Galaxy

Stage Too is located @ 208 N. Marina St. @ the corner of Willis & Marina streets

5enses In which:

Sue Smith

4 5 6 7 10 11

Copyright © 2015 5enses Inc. unless otherwise noted.

Publisher & Editor: Rev. Nicholas M. DeMarino M.A., P.M. Copy Editor: Susan Smart Read a new 5enses the first weekend of every month.

Visit 5ensesMag.Com, Facebook, & Twitter for more.

Contact us at 5ensesMag@Gmail.Com & 928-613-2076.

Vi veri universum vivus vici.

14 5/6 16 8 18 19 20 21

Ty Fitzmorris

takes a plant that’s been dragged through the mud and gives it a proper place in the dirt.

Lindy Gasta

November 2015 • Volume 3, Issue 11

winds down for winter and notes the ebb and flow (but mostly ebb) of the still but great outdoors.

Robert Blood

spots a not-so-rusty raptor that’s the biggest Buteo around and notes its flying, perching, and nesting habits.

talks about transforming tragedy and woe into triumph at Heaven on Earth with Happy Oasis.

Peregrine Book Co.

Paolo Chlebecek

Kathleen Yetman

Helen Stephenson

Alan Dean Foster

Jacy Lee

delves into mental illness, maritime machinations, gender, water, more water, and ghostly detective work.

Plus

Flip Photo

22 22

Oddly Enough

A visual puzzle from the Highlands Center for Natural History

Smart, quirky comics

by Russell Miller

Left Brain/Right Brain

Not-as-holy-days

Find out what’s going on in Greater Prescott

Enjoy some alternative reasons for the season(s)

has his head in the clouds after a travel-borne tech mishap and finds an unseen ally has his back(ups).

discovers the distance that some people traveled for one non-yam vegetable was no small potatoes.

makes a casting call for student films that are about to leap from the page and become nascent realities.

pictures an art form that’s a big motivator for aspiring readers to see what all the pictorial fuss is about.

examines a household amenity whose name is also a refrence to Indiana natives and, technically, a trademark.

James Dungeon

Robert Blood

talks about painting, teaching, and reinvigorating a career with contemporary portrait painter Paul Abbott.

“The Golden Cast.” Painting by Paul Abbott. Fine art photography by Pat Warwick. See Page 11 for more.

talks missions, community outreach, and thrifting tips with CCJ Thrift Store manager Chuck Taylor.

COVER: “Useless Wall.” Painting by Paul Abbott.

Fine art photography by Pat Warwick.

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5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2015 • CONTENTS • 3

Plant of the Month

Box Elder Box Elder (Acer Negundo). Photo by Sue Smith, Cals.Arizona.Edu/yavapaiplants.

By Sue Smith

Some

THRIFT STORE

CCJ Thrift Store 4 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

people describe the Box Elder as trashy.

That’s because it sheds, has suckers, often has multiples stems, is an irregular shape, is prone to wind and ice damage, and is often short-lived.

Plus it’s wood isn’t especially useful.

Some people consider it an invasive.

And, indeed, it’s been introduced to parts of China, Australia, and Europe where it’s become invasive.

But we can clean up that trashy perspective by further examination of the Box Elder’s importance.

In riparian areas, Box Elder communities provide important habitat for many wildlife species. Many species of birds and squirrels feed on its seeds. In addition, insectivorous birds like to eat the insects and caterpillars that feed on the tree.

Mule deer and white-tailed deer use it in the fall as a browse species of secondary importance. Woodpeckers and other cavity nesting birds find fine homes in its soft wood.

Boxelder Bugs (Boisea trivittata) find this tree of particular importance.

The nymphs of these bugs usually feed on the leaves, flowers ,and seedpods of the female Box Elder tree — hence the species’ name.

They’re active throughout the summer, but we usually don’t notice them until they start sunning themselves on buildings. As cooler temperatures arrive in the late summer and fall, large numbers of adults move from the trees and congregate particularly on warm south-facing walls.

The

Box Elder is a maple (Acer negundo), but its fall coat is yellow not red. It’s the most widely distributed of all American maples. Its native range extends from the East Coast of the U.S. to California and from Alberta to southern Mexico and Guatemala.

The Box Elder is native to wet soil and stream bottoms and found along stream banks in Greater Prescott.

Common names include Boxelder Maple, Ash-leaved Maple, and Maple Ash. The tree has an elevation range of 3000-9100 feet. To the inexperienced, the seedlings can be mistaken for Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans).

Box Elders have compound leaves with three to five notched or lobed leaflets. The winged seed is similar to the other maples but occurs in drooping clusters which mature in fall and remain on the tree for several months. Branches tend to grow crooked and uneven, while the trunk sometimes spreads near the ground into crooked limbs.

When you see those ribbons of yellow coursing along our streams in fall, look closer. There may be some Box Elder trees contributing to that fall color. ***** Sue Smith is the president of the Prescott Chapter of the Native Plant Society and a Yavapai County Master Gardener.

Visit the Arizona Native Plant Society Prescott Chapter at AZNPS. Com/chapters.prescott.php.

Bird of the Month

Bringing Wild Birds To Your Backyard!

Ferruginous Hawk Ferruginous Hawk. Photo by John West.

By Lindy Gasta

Fueled

by curiosity, and a desire to get the best vantage point for experiencing a sunset in the Aubrey Valley, you continue toward the top of Chino Point. No sooner are you out of your truck do you realize you’re not alone.

Two hawks soar high above the juniper woodlands, pointed wings held in a slight V. Periodically, one descends expeditiously over the grassland, talons ready, exposing white crescent-shaped patches on the upper wing and a mostly white underside with rufous-mottled coverts.

Captivated and puzzled by the sheer size of this Buteo, you scramble to identify it before an irresistible feast draws it away. After 10 minutes, tired eyes, and a silent wish for a closer look, the raptor flies overhead, giving you the clues you need — rusty, “booted” legs and a noticeably extended gape. It has to be a Ferruginous Hawk.

Present

in

northern Arizona year-round, the Ferruginous Hawk is the largest of the soaring Buteos and can be found high above the plains of the American West searching for a small mammal, snake, or large insect to satisfy its appetite. Similar to other raptors, these hawks are heavily dependent on their prey base. For this bird, an unreliable food source means low-

ered nesting and fledgling success, leading some pairs to forego nesting all together. In order to secure a meal, these versatile predators have been observed hunting from perches, soaring overhead, pursuing its prey on foot, and even waiting near rodent dens for the emergence of an unsuspecting victim.

Like Osprey, these birds build large nests using a variety of natural and artificial materials. For these birds, nest sites are just as variable as the materials used to create them and have been found in trees, dirt mounds, and man-made structures such as windmills and telephone poles. Both sexes have identical plumage and share parental responsibility, thus if observed together at the nest, identification should be based on size; the females are larger.

As the winter months approach keep an eye out for this regal bird as its presence extends statewide. ***** Lindy Gasta is a senior at Prescott College studying Conservation Biology. Prior to living in Prescott, she spent her years growing up in Michigan and had never seen a cactus (or any desert vegetation for that matter). She enjoys spending her free time exploring Merriam’s life zones.

Visit Prescott Audubon Society at PrescottAudubon.Org. Contact them at Contact@PrescottAudubon.Org.

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5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2015 • FEATURE • 5

Peregrine Book Co.

Staff picks

By Peregrine Book Co. staff

Prescott’s finest submarines since before downtown traffic 418 W. Goodwin St., 778-3743 M-F 10:30-2:30, Weekends closed Highlands Center for Natural History’s

Flip otohP

Granite rock!

The

many forms of rock each have a story to tell. Granite was formed from molten material within the Earth’s crust. It often has mineral crystals that, depending on their size, tell of the cooling rate and pressure during the rock’s formation. Locations along with the shapes also tell portions of the history and environment in which the forms became visible to our eye. Smooth curvatures tell of flowing wind and water while the continuous rough surfaces, such as the Granite Dells and Granite Mountain, tell of incomprehensible spans of time where soil slowly eroded away around the rocks. People aren’t the only ones who enjoy local granite formations. With the sun’s warmth, the rocks heat up, radiating heat that warms cold-blooded creatures each day.

ABOVE: Photo by Duane Bebo.

6 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

“Furiously Happy”

By Jenny Lawson Do you know how people tend to ignore or avoid the things they find uncomfortable? Lawson does the opposite, proudly standing beside her diagnoses and emotions while not hiding or denying them. A truly beautiful book that will have you falling out of your seat laughing, while still learning a little bit more about mental illnesses and the social perceptions about them. — Emily “Sea Fever”

By Sam Jefferson Here are the real-life adventures at sea that inspired some of the most beloved English literature of all time. A stand-alone nautical history as well as a companion to Melville and Marryat, “Sea Fever” evokes the salt spray, tar, rum, and gunpowder of the age of sail. — Reva “The Underground Girls of Kabul”

By Jenny Nordberg I realized after reading “The Underground Girls of Kabul,” that I took my tree-climbing, dirt-rolling, pant-wearing childhood for granted. In so many communities throughout the world, girls and women are still seen as inferior. Nordberg highlights the lives of some families throughout Afghanistan who discreetly bend gender rules for reasons you may be surprised to read about. ... — Emma “The Water Knife”

By Paolo Bacigalupi This is the scariest book I’ve read in a very long

time. In the southwest U.S. in the very near future water has been finally and completely commodified and is the most valuable resource on Earth. Bacigalupi portrays this world in enough detail to change the way you look at water in the west (and maybe everywhere) forever. — Ty “The Plover”

By Brian Doyle Brian Doyle is without question my favorite new author, and this is the best of his books. Lyrical, exuberant, transcendent writing that makes the plot almost unnecessary, though the story itself, of four explorers in a small craft on the Pacific Ocean, is wonderful. I can’t say enough good about this book. — Ty “Jackaby”

By William Ritter The description on the inside of the dust jacket was only partially correct. Instead of “Doctor Who meets Sherlock ...” it should say “Sherlock meets Supernatural meets Neil Gaiman meets the Brothers Grimm.” I simply could not put this book down. Jackaby is a detective able to see ghosts and faeries and other otherworldly beings. His unorthodox style of investigation puts him at odds with the local police.

Enter Abigail Rook, English runaway and Jackaby’s new sidekick. The story is perfectly told from her perspective, the surprises along the way are truly a surprise. — Jon

***** Visit Peregrine Book Company at PeregrineBookCompany.Com and 219A N. Cortez St., Prescott, 928-445-9000.

Sweet potato

Vegetable of the Month

Sweet potatoes. Photo by Shanti Rade.

By Kathleen Yetman

The

sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a vining plant with sweet, starchy tubers that are a staple in many culinary traditions around the world. Its genus, Ipomoea, also contains the common and often invasive morning glory flower. The edible tuberous root of the sweet potato plant has a smooth skin and a starchy flesh. Both the skin and flesh range in color between yellow, pink, orange, red, brown, purple, and beige. Contrary to its name, the sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato, and while it is often confused for a yam, it belongs to a different family altogether.

The sweet potato most likely originated in the Andes of South America. Remnants of sweet potatoes have been found in Peru dating back to 8,000 B.C.E. Recent DNA analysis shows that the sweet potato was introduced to Polynesia nearly 400 years before European explorers came to the Americas. Researchers theorize that the Polynesians traveled the 6,000 miles to South America by boat and brought the sweet potato with them on their return. Shortly after, the plant was introduced to Hawaii and New Zealand, and later to Asia and Europe.

Sweet

potato plants grow well in a variety of conditions, but prefer well-drained soil, plenty of sunshine and warm nights.

Sweet potatoes are started from “slips” that grow out of the tubers while being stored. In northern Arizona, these are planted in mid May to early June. The tuberous roots are ready to be harvested anywhere from three to five months later. Since the plants do not tolerate frosts, most sweet potatoes are harvested in early fall or covered to

protect them from frost damage.

Sweet potatoes store well, making them an excellent choice for winter dishes. Sweet potatoes are packed with calcium, potassium, and vitamin C. Varieties with darker orange flesh are loaded with beta-carotene.

Some recipes to try? Black bean and sweet potato tacos or burgers, sweet potato pie and homemade sweet potato fries. ***** Kathleen Yetman is the Managing Director of the Prescott Farmers Market and a native of Prescott.

Find out more about the Prescott Farmers Market at PrescottFarmers Market.Org.

WORLD BISTRO LIKE US ON

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5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2015 • FEATURE • 7

Left Brain: November’s mind-full events Events

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“When the Earth Had Very, Very, Very Bad Days: Mass Extinction” • 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4: David Viscio discusses disasters that have brought an end to lifeforms on our planet. A monthly Prescott Astronomy Club meeting. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-7786324)

Brian Turner & Ilyse Kusnetz • 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20: Award-winning authors and poets Brian Turner and Ilyse Kusnetz discuss their books. Via the Yavapai College Literary Southwest Series. (Yavapai College, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000)

“Field Methods in Peccary Ecology” • 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6: Dr. Mariana Altrichter discusses peccaries, like our local javelina, in the field. Via the Prescott Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society. (Natural History Institute at Prescott College, 312 Grove Ave., 928-350-2280)

“Honky Tonks, Brothels, & Mining Camps” • 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21: Jay Cravaith shares stories and songs about entertainment in old Arizona. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385, $3-$7)

Granite Basin bird walk • 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7: Local, guided bird walk at Granite Basin with Micah Riegner.

(Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP)

Fain Park bird walk • 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21: Local, guided bird walk in Fain Park with Eric Moore. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP)

“Wild West to Wild Hollywood” • 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7: Museum docent Joe Webster discusses how Hollywood took the cowboy and cowgirl and transformed them into screen legends. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385, $3-$7)

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“The Genesis of the Northrop YF-23” • 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9: Darold Cummings discusses the genesis of the Northrop YF-23, the stealthy aircraft on which he was the chief configurator. (ERAU Student Union, 3700 Willow Creek Road, 928-777-6723) “What Wyoming Has to Say About the Grand Canyon” • 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10: Charles Ferguson discusses what Wyoming has to say about the Grand Canyon. A monthly Arizona Geologic Survey meeting. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Chino Valley bird walk • 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12: Local, guided bird walk in Chino Valley with Mryan Crouse.

(Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP)

Million Student March • 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12: The freshly organized Tri-College Coalition (Yavapai College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Prescott College) joins foces with 75-plus campuses nationwide for the Million Student March calling for tuition-free public college, cancellation of all student debt, and $15 minimum wage for all campus workers. (Yavapai College Quad, 1100 E. Sheldon St.)

“Plant Parenthood, or Do Violets Have Blue Genes?”

• 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19: Prescott College professor Walt Anderson discusses plant parenthood. (Natural History Institute at Prescott College, 312 Grove Ave., 928-3502280)

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“A Naturalist's Way of Seeing” • 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5: Author and Prescott College professor Walt Anderson discusses how we perceive the natural world.

(Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928445-9000)

“Starry Nights” • 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7: See the Andromeda Galaxy, Dumbbell Nebula, Albireo, Ring Nebula, and Double Cluster. A Prescott Astronomy Club Star Party. (Pronghorn Park, 7931 E. Rusty Spur Trail, PrescottAstronomy Club.Org)

processes that keep Io geologically active from the volcanoes on the surface that thrust up mountains higher than the Himalayas, into a hidden ocean of magma. Via Prescott Astronomy Club’s Third Thursday Star Talks.

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-778-6324)

“Tips on Creating & Crafting Your Story” • 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21: Workshop with Mark Goldman, author of “Storytelling Tips: Creating, Crafting, & Telling Stories.”

(Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928445-9000)

“Then No One Can Have Her” • 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7: New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother discusses her new true-crime book, which chronicles the life and murder of Prescott resident Carol Kennedy as well as the trials of her former husband, Steven DeMocker. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) PHOTO: Caitlin Rother. Courtesy photo.

29

Prescott Climate Rally • 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 29: Second annual Prescott Climate Rally. “Paris to Prescott: Bringing Climate Justice Home” theme featuring speakers, music, open mic, and “What each of us can do to bring climate justice home to Prescott,” in conjunction with the Global Climate March. (Yavapai County Courthouse Square)

landscape and nursery plants. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

materials, upcycled materials, or with nature themes. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

Multi-day

“Disruption” & “Do the Math” • 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13: See two climate justice-themed documentaries. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-7786324)

“Preparing for an Arizona Winter” • 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14: Find out how Arizona pioneers prepared for Arizona winter.

An Arizona History Adventure. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-2133, $7)

“Blowing the Whistle on GMOs” • 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13: Steven Druker, author of “Altered Genes, Twisted Truth,” discusses how the U.S. Government and leading scientific institutions have allegedly systematically misrepresented the facts about GMOs and the scientific research that casts doubt on their safety. (Prescott College Crossroads Center, 220 Grove Ave., 928-221-2533)

“Take Two Bones & Call Me in the Morning” • 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14: Dr. Caroline O'Sullivan discusses her book and philosophy practicing veterinary medicine in Prescott.

(Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928445-9000)

Eco-home Design • 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6, 9:30 a.m. & 1 p.m. Nov. 7: Learn innovative designs for your home that increase efficiency and decrease overall cost at a Friday presentation, and see the homes Saturday. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550, $12.50 & $40)

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Prescott Area Boardgamers • 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Nov. 14 & 28: Play board games. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

“A Mouse That Ate an Elephant” • 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18: local, military historian Ron Anderson discusses Finland's surprise of the Russian Air Force during World War II. (ERAU Davis Learning Center, 3700 Willow Creek Road, 928-777-6985)

Naturalist City & Field Walks • 9 a.m. Wednesdays & Saturdays: Discover more about local insects, birds, geology, plants, and more. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928776-9550)

“Altered Genes, Twisted Truth” • 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12: Steven Druker discusses his book about GMOs and systematic scientific fraud. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

“Integrating Land Use & Water Planning” • 10 a.m Saturday, Nov. 14: Linda Stitzer discuses tools to reduce the water footprint of new development. (Granite Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation Building, 822 Sunset Ave., 928-445-4218)

“True West Stories” • 5 p.m.Thursday, Nov. 19: Award-wining illustrator, magazine editor, and all-around Western personality Bob Boze Bell performs.

A Third Thursday Dinner & Program. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-7781385, $25)

Winter Prescott Farmers Market • 7 a.m. Saturdays: Enjoy local organic produce and goods from local farmers. Yavapai College, Parking Lot D, 1100 E. Sheldon St., PrescottFarmersMarket.Org)

“Invasive Plants in the Landscape/ Nursery Industry” • 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12: Jeff Schlau, Yavapai County Extension discusses invasive

Pre-holiday shopping bazaar • 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14: Annual pre-holiday shopping bazaar including one-of-a-kind holiday and gift items made with natural

“Io-Jupiter's Hyperactive Moon” • 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19: Dr. Laszlo Kestay, Astrogeology Science Center director, U.S. Geological Survey, discusses the

Audubon bird walk • 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14: Monthly Prescott Audubon Society bird walk. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

8 • EVENTS • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Drop in chess • 2 p.m. Saturdays: Play chess, all ages and skill levels welcome. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

November’s art-full events :niarB thgiR

4 5

Events

Poetry discussion group • 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4: Dr. Janet Preston’s monthly poetry discussion group.

(Prescott (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

13 & 14

Art Fall 2015 Juried Student Exhibition • From Oct. 30: Annual juried show featuring student ceramics, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, jewelry, watercolor, photography, woodworking, and digital art.

(Yavapai College Prescott Art Gallery, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2031)

“Hamlet” • 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5: Via satellite, The National Theatre Live’s presentation of Shakespeare’s great tragedy starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role.

(Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $9-$15)

Ewalt & Ewalt • From Nov. 1: Jewelry by Charlotte Eqalt and paintings by clyde Ewalt.

(That New Gallery, Prescott Gateway Mall, near Dillard’s, 928-445-0788)

Poets’ Cooperative • 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5: Share your work with other poets in a supportive atmosphere.

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Thomas • From Nov. 1: Photography by Linne Thomas.

(Arts Prescott Gallery, 134 S. Montezuma St., 928-776-7717)

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“Holiday Wrap” • From Nov. 6: A variety of gifts from jewelry, paintings, photography, wood-turned pieces, ceramics, glass, sculpture, oneof-a-kind clothing book art, and more.

(Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286)

High Desert Artists Art & Craft Show • 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7: Seventh annual show featuring art by the High Desert Artists. (Chino Valley Senior Center, 1021 W. Butterfield Road, 928-636-9114)

“Talking With ...”

• 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8: The Prescott Women Players read “Talking With ...” by the pseudonymous Jane Martin featuring 11 women’s monologues features characters such as a housewife who lives in Oz in her head, a snake handler, a woman giving birth to a dragon, a rodeo girl, and more.

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

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“Change the Rules … and YOU Change” • Through Nov. 14: Fiber art and jewelry by Mary Kaye O’Neill, Carole HunterGeboy, Linda Scott, and Becky Kyhl. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) “Adorn Yourself” • From Nov. 16: A show of wearable art and jewelry by Joan Knight, Barb wills, and Leslie Parsons. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

Mile High Comedy Theater • 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14: Mile High Comedy Theater’s last show of 2015. (Elks Theatre, 117 E. Gurley St., 928-777-1367, $10-$20)

“Jewels” • 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17: Via satellite, the Bolshoi Ballet performs an opulent triptych including the music of Gabriel Faure, Igor Stravinsky, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

(Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $9-$15) Open mic poetry • 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18: Poet Dan Seaman emcees monthly open mic poetry. ((Peregrine Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

Prescott Artisan Gift Market • 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21: Purchase items from local artists, crafters, and authors. (‘Tis Art Center & Gallery, Third Floor Event Room, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-710-5550) Black Friday Fun Day • Friday, Nov. 27: Special selection of gourmet food, gelato, music, wi-fi, and (of course) fine art from 120 artists. (Miller Valley Indoor Art Market, 531 Madison Ave., 928-237-9282) 4th Friday Art Walk • 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 27: Monthly art walk including more than 18 galleries, artist receptions, openings, and demonstrations.

(ArtThe4th.Com)

Multi-day Modern-day meditation • 6:50 p.m. Wednesdays, Nov. 4 & 18: Open.

Calm. Think. Act. An active, four-part practice. (Flying Nest Studio, 322 W. Gurley St., 303-903-2630)

“Friday Portrait Open Studio Group” • Through Nov. 18: Spotlight show.

(Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510)

“Send in the Queens” • 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. Friday & Saturday, Nov. 13 & 14: Drag queen show with host Aimee V Justice, Coco St. James, Holly Pena Popper, and DJ Galacy. Via 4AM Productions. Buy tickets at SendInTheQueens.BPT. Me. Pre-show passes available. (Stage Too, 208 N. Marina St., alley between Willis and Sheldon streets, 928-445-3286, $15-$30) PHOTO: Holly Pena Popper. Courtesy photo, inverted.

“Barefoot in the Park” • : 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12-14 & Nov. 19-21, and 2 p.m. Nov. 15, 21, & 22: A romantic comedy featuring newlyweds who learn to cope with life and each other. Directed by Jon Meyer.

(Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286, $12-$20) Yoga classes • Mondays, Tuesdays, & Thursdays: Yoga classes including Ayurveda yoga, gentle yoga over-50 class, mindful and gentle yoga, and dynamic flow yoga. Visit FlyingNestStudio.Com for schedule. (Flying Nest Movement Arts, 322 W. Gurley St., 928-432-3068, prices vary) Social dance classes • Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, & Sundays: Learn the Argentine tango, West Coast swing, tribal belly dance, Lindy hop swing, flamenco, and Latin dance. Visit FlyingNestStudio.Com for schedule. (Flying Nest Movement Arts, 322 W. Gurley St., 928432-3068, prices vary)

Mindfulness meditation • 7 p.m. Tuesdays: Meditation group open to people of all faiths and non-faiths. (First Congregational Church, 216 E. Gurley St., PrescottVipassana.Org)

“MAG Miniature Show” • From Nov. 20: Spotlight show.

(Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510) “Music to My Eyes …

‘Tis Marvelous” • Through Nov. 23: Art from the finest artists of the SWAA. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) Meals on Wheels Charity Art Show • From Nov. 24: Art show with 100 percent donation to Meals on Wheels for all purchases.

(Arts Prescott Gallery, 134 S. Montezuma St., 928-776-7717) “Eclectic Works in Various Media” • From Nov. 27: Annual art show. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

Community Yoga • 5:15 p.m. Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10 a.m.

Saturdays: Free community all-levels yoga class for people from all walks of life. Come heal your whole self. No experience necessary. (Deva Healing Center, 520 Sheldon St., DevaHealingCenter.Org)

Lume • Through Nov. 28: Minnesota installation artist Charles Matson Lume works with light. (Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928350-2341)

Performance dance/ movement arts classes • Wednesdays & Thursdays: Learn contemporary dance, movement for life, and normative movement. Visit FlyingNestStudio.Com for schedule. (Flying Nest Movement Arts, 322 W. Gurley St., 928-432-3068, prices vary)

“Something Round/ Something Smooth” • Through Dec. 23: Main gallery show.

(Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510)

9

The reading of pictures

Alan Dean Foster’s

Perceivings

A comics sans pretension approach

But my intention is not to praise the artwork in comic books, be it Frank Miller’s transformative “The Dark Knight” or the tsunami of manga from Japan that has washed over the industry. Most folks think that the words in comics serve the art.

They’ve got it backward.

By Alan Dean Foster Comic books have a checkered history in the United States.

From the sanitized and idealized “True Romances” and their ilk, to the bland but often entertaining “Archie,” through Frederic Wertham’s infamous 1954 anti-comic “Seduction of the Innocent,” to the explosion of underground comics in the 1960s and onward to contemporary adult titles, there’s about as much variety in the comic arena as there is in general book publishing. A lot of something for everyone.

The Europeans have long regarded comics as serious art, in everything from “Tintin” and “Asterix” to less well known but immensely influential works like Calvo and Dancette’s Disney-fied take on World War II, “The Beast is Dead.” In the last 30 years, we’ve seen the transformation of the lowly comic book into the “graphic novel,” of which there are hundreds of fine examples.

I’ll just mention a personal favorite, Canales and Guardino’s “Blacksad,” which puts anthropomorphized animals in a early 1950s film noir setting and takes on murder, the Civil Rights movement, illegal experimental drugs, and more, with some of the most beautiful watercolor work to be found in any illustrated storytale book anywhere.

When

I was 4 or 5, my parents started buying me subscriptions to a dozen or so comics. It was a way of obtaining favorite titles without having to make interminable trips to the corner drugstore in the Bronx, where comics were sold from rotating metal racks. I had one small problem when I started perusing them.

I couldn’t read.

But I wanted, I needed, I craved to know what was happening in those colorful panels. So my mother, who knew exactly what she was doing, would read to me. But only what I couldn’t read for myself. No Dr. Seuss. No Eloise at the Plaza.

I’ve forgotten a good deal of what was contained in those earliest comics, but one set stayed with me.

to this day. After all, if an old man (never mind that he had feathers) who walked with a cane and needed glasses to see could get to someplace with the fantastical name of Famagusta, what was to stop someone like myself from doing the same?

In the course of entertaining, explaining, and educating the youthful me, Barks also taught me to read.

[Side note: when Barks was allowed to paint images of the Ducks and sell the originals and the subsequent prints … the only Disney artist ever allowed to do so utilizing copyrighted Disney characters … they were issued by a company called Another Rainbow that happened to be based in … Prescott, Arizona.]

Words.

There

once was a man named Carl Barks. Barks wrote and drew the great Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge (a character he created) comics from post-World War II right on into the ‘60s. He did so, as was the manner of those employed by the Disney Corp., in relative anonymity until late in life. Barks’ work was distinctive for a number of reasons. His art was infused with human reality and proportion, even if the main characters were anthropomorphized ducks. He utilized real research in writing about real places and history, be it the mines of King Solomon, the seven cities of Cibola, or the Golden Antiques • Household • Estates • Buy • Sell • Consign • Transport Fleece of mythological fame. Barks instilled in me a love of travel and adventure that persists

JACY’S AUCTION Reuse, recycle, re-make-money 928-443-0911

10 • COLUMN • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Later,

when I came upon other comics, from Batman to Sgt. Rock to Green Lantern, I always made it a point to keep a look-out for anything new by Barks. So apparently did others of my age who grew up to become successful creative individuals, such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. I wonder if Barks taught them how to read as well. Other artists would doubtless cite other comics as their inspiration and as drivers of their educations.

Therefore, even though the Arizona Board of Education currently wallows in turmoil, I have a proposition. In a couple of test schools, get rid of every Reader between kindergarten and the 8th grade. Give the kids comic books instead. Barks reprints would be a great way to go. In a couple of years, check the reading scores of the pupils in the test schools against those of students reading the traditional curriculum. I’ll take bets right now on which group does better in reading comprehension and spelling, with a side bonus in history.

All over the world you find adults as well as children and teens learning how to read from working their way through comic books. Because the art supports the language.

And yes, I did eventually get to Famagusta. ***** Alan Dean Foster is author of more than 120 books, visitor to more than 100 countries, and still frustrated by the human species. Follow him at AlanDeanFoster.Com.

By James Dungeon

Towering

metal stills line the Thumb Butte Distillery. The warehouse would be ideal for displaying art if its indomitable structures didn’t eclipse even the most ostentatious pieces.

But the paintings here today are different.

A dozen and a half large-as-life pieces hang high on the walls. Their dour colors bleed into the room’s industrial palette, so it’s not immediately obvious why they’re so arresting.

It’s the bodies. And the faces. Subjects are partially to completely nude, but they’re baring more emotion than flesh. Try framing them with a litany of adjectives (visceral, melancholic, provocative, transcendent, and sublime, to name a hackneyed handful) and you’ll come up short.

These paintings are a singularity — images and emotions that imply the past, crystalize the present, and divine the future. It’s as if the artist has captured a vivisection of soul.

At a table on the far side of the room, a man stirs. He’s of medium height with tousled grey hair, an understated beard, and classic features crossed with contrasting lines from smiling and furrowing his brow.

This is Paul Abbott and these are his paintings.

A vivisection of soul The art of Paul Abbott

London, Paris, & Prescott Abbott’s first visit to the Courthouse Square and Whiskey Row in 2001 wasn’t the stuff of tourist brochures.

“I felt this dark undercurrent that reminded me of living in a big city,” Abbott said. “I thought, ‘I could live here.’”

And so he did. (Abbott’s then-mother-inlaw lived in Wickenberg, hence the family’s discovery of Prescott.)

Born in London in 1960, Abbott spent his formative years as a starving artist and studied with the prolific, socially conscious painter Robert Lenkiewicz. His breakthrough came in Paris, where he met an American woman, his first wife and the mother of his two children. His paintings showed in London and Paris.

“I thought I could find a gallery stateside and keep things going in Europe,” Abbott said. “Well, it didn’t quite work out like that.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 >>> IMAGE: “Shock ’n’ Awe.” Painting by Paul Abbot. Fine art photography by Pat Warwick.

5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2015 • PORTFOLIO • 11

... FROM PAGE 11 He never found appropriate representation. As Abbott discovered, many of the galleries in affluent areas of the Southwest deal in decidedly Western art. Meanwhile, in Europe, things kept moving … without him.

Life happened. Abbott worked.

He raised his kids. He got a divorce.

Eventually, Abbott took a job in construction.

Locally, Abbott’s work showed at the Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse, the Raven Café, Pangaea, and a few now-defunct venues. To date, his smaller pieces sell for around $2,500 while human-sized canvases fetch roughly $12,000.

Now married to Kelly Grey, Abbott is happy, but longs to throw himself back into art.

“I haven’t done a full run of paintings in years — it’s all been very intermittent,” Abbott said. “I’m reaching out and, if I make inroads back in London and Paris, I’d love to devote myself back to painting every day.”

That ambition pushed him to catalog his paintings in the intervening years — paintings that reveal a surprising contemporary focus.

Lessons “Every attempt I made, it wasn’t working.”

12 • PORTFOLIO • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Abbott was struggling with a portrait. Frustrated, he stepped outside.

“Then, I heard a little voice: ‘You have to let go of control,’” Abbott recalled. “‘But I’m supposed to be the master,’ I thought. And the voice just laughed at me.”

He stepped back into the studio, followed the painting, and was finished in half an hour. The lesson, Abbott said, is that you can’t force paintings in preconceived directions.

“The harder you try to make something happen, the less likely it is to happen,” he said. “Things appear when you’re not trying to make them appear, when you’re just do your thing.”

That requires persistence — an ethic he tries to impart to students. Though he can’t make a living on weekly lessons alone, Abbott’s also a devoted art teacher.

“All of my students have become my friends,” Abbott said, shunning traditional dynamics. “I hate even calling them students.”

Anna Fallon, Carol Russell, and Carole Jolly — each of whom has studied with him for a few years — have stories about the joys and challenges of learning from Abbott.

“There are some things he says all the time: ‘Why don’t you pay attention to this part of the painting?’ or ‘Look at this more,’” Fallon said. “We all think of ourselves as fighting with Paul sometimes.”

“Paul always keeps the carrot just out of reach,” Russell said. “You think you’ve got it down, then he pushes you the experiment, to reach further.”

The payoff is artistic growth and, hopefully, finer artistic expression.

“A lot of what Paul teaches is how to interact with whatever’s in front of you,” Jolly said. “It’s not just about capturing an object, but finding the heart and expressing that.”

Paintings & personalities “Circle of Lies,” the painting from Abbott’s anecdote, is one of Robin Lieske’s favorites.

“A lot of Paul’s pieces are heavy, but that one is really heavy,” Lieske said.

“There’s a a beauty and a mystery in his work, something that transcends style.”

Lieske started studying with Abbott five years ago and now hosts his classes at her home studio. She’s got great personal stories but is most excited to talk about his paintings.

“His pieces can feel a little high-wire and uncomfortable,” Lieske said. “But for me, that proves they work on a deeper level.”

The “tortured artist” characterization is tempting. Abbott’s wife, Grey, said that’s a common occurrence.

“There’s some dark, intense stuff in his work, but he’s not the typically disturbed image of an artist people think of,” Grey said. “He’s nice, sweet, and open.”

Ironically, one of her favorite Abbott paintings is “Useless Wall,” a self-portrait in which he’s screaming.

Abbott’s retroactively dubbed his post-Prescott work the “Nonchalant Aggression” series. “Useless Wall” and “Shock ‘n’ Awe,” among others, reflect his outrage over 9/11 and the military violence that followed.

“I came here right before 9/11, and it was an eye-opening experience,” Abbott said. “You know, Americans don’t have the monopoly on anger.”

He borrows a line from Leonard Cohen’s “Democracy”: “It’s coming to America first/The cradle of the best and of the worst.”

Another social facet of Abbott’s work

is portraits of addicts. On more than one occasion, he’s bailed out a subject so he could finish a painting and give them a shot at unfinished business.

“It’s surprising how contemporary so much of Paul’s work is,” Lieske said.

“He takes the figurative style and does things that just aren’t normally done.”

Grey concurred.

“He’s not just doing portraits.”

Forward(s) Back at the Thumb Butte Distillery, Abbott remains seated and his paintings remain whatever-the-opposite-ofstolid-is.

Abbott invokes painters, philosophers, and Star Trek as conversation dictates, but is curiously quick to switch topics when discussion of his paintings gets overly technical or esoteric. He eschews jargon and balks at romanticization of the artistic process.

“Look, I’ve been painting all through

my life. This my work,” Abbott said.

“But it’s not like I wake up in the morning always inspired to do work. I just get up, I go into the studio, and I work. It’s the process of working — it’s that process that creates the energetic quality for me.”

That may be the mechanical crux of his methodology, but his impassioned tone when discussing world poverty and related issues betrays an agenda. It gives a social context for the burdens carried by so many of the subjects in his paintings that, once observed, is difficult to filter out.

“Good art has a function,” Abbott said. “It has a level that takes it past decoration. How far one steps in that direction is, I think, a lifelong process.”

Regardless of whether the connections he’s tapped in London and Paris yield leads, he plans to continue painting and stretching himself.

The initial lure of Abbott’s paintings

is the breathtaking skill with which they’re executed and the brooding beauty of their subjects. Spend enough time with them, though, and Abbott hopes they’ll stir else inside you.

“Even seeing the same painting, day after day, there can be a moment — it’s dim, then there’s a spark, then a change,” Abbott said. “Painting has that ability. A still image can make a change.” ***** See more of Paul Abbott’s artwork through late November at the Thumb Butte Distillery, 400 N. Washington Ave., 928-443-8498. Contact him and inquire about commissions at PaulAbbottStudio@Gmail.Com. James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination. And he likes cats.

Contact him at JamesDungeonCats@ Gmail.Com.

LEFT TO RIGHT: “Burka,” “Ally: A Third Entity Painting,” “A Circle of Lies,” and “Burden.”

Paintings by Paul Abbott.

Fine art photography by Pat Warwick.

13

News From the Wilds Skyward

By Ty Fitzmorris

November

is the beginning of the long quiet of winter for the Mogollon Highlands. The cold has crawled from the cracks of night into the light of day, changing how all of the creatures of the region live.

The coming season brings scarcity of food and water, along with low, sometimes killing temperatures, and every species, plant and animal, has their set of adaptations to these challenges. These adaptations are sometimes physiological and sometimes behavioral, though for most species there is a little of both.

Mammals (including humans) and some non-migratory birds begin to undergo cold acclimatization now, which includes redirection of blood flow away from skin, accumulation of insulative body fat and fur, and metabolic and chemical changes, all resulting in an overall increase in tolerance for low temperatures.

Insects undergo a wide variety of changes — some, including bumblebees, generate propylene glycol, or antifreeze, in their blood, which prevents them from freezing, while others develop the ability to raise their body temperatures far above that of the surrounding air, proving themselves anything but “cold-blooded.”

Reptiles and amphibians are able to tolerate very low body temperatures without any injury, though some snakes, such as rattlesnakes, gather together in large numbers in caves to avoid the killing frosts. Many birds, such as the swallows and warblers, migrate south, both for food and to avoid the cold, while mammals such as Black Bears, Rock Squirrels, and Beavers create dens in which to shelter.

The

winter adaptations that are often less discussed, however, are those that are evolutionary in nature, such as the development of life stages suitable for extreme conditions. The most conspicuous are plant seeds and insect eggs, which are excellent for dispersal but also are capable of extraordinary feats of survival. Seeds might remain dormant for decades in soil, waiting for perfect germination con-

Young Western Screech Owls are dispersing now and establishing new territories. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris. ditions, while some invertebrate eggs are tough enough to withstand the harsh conditions of outer space and still hatch. It was this hardiness that led NASA to take the eggs of fairy shrimp far outside of our atmosphere, holding them with mechanical arms outside of spacecraft for long periods, and then hatching them with no apparent injury back on Earth.

These

quiet months are a challenge to the naturalist after the bewildering panoply of the growing season, but some of the more neglected aspects of the natural world remain for us to explore.

Winter is a great time to study the rocks and landforms of the Mogollon Highlands, which form the basis for our ecoregion as a whole. Formerly called the Central Highlands, the Mogollon Highlands are defined as the broad band of mountains and

14 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

valleys between the Mogollon Rim of the Colorado Plateau and the deserts of the South, from the Chihuahua to the west to the Sonora to the south to the Mojave to the east. The Mogollon Highlands, as a result, have plants and animals from all of these regions, though intermingled in ways that have remained largely unstudied.

The three geologic processes that have affected our region most are the volcanism that has provided the extrusive igneous basalt cap of the Colorado plateau as well as the intrusive igneous granite that formed the Granite Dells and Granite Mountain; the spreading of the geologic plates, which have pulled the highlands apart, causing dropped blocks of crust to form valleys; and the movement of rock materials by gravity, water and wind, which carve the majestic valleys such as Sycamore Canyon, the Agua Fria, Walnut

• Nov. 5: Taurid Meteor Shower peaks. This is a longrunning shower, from Sept. 7 to Dec. 10, which occurs as we pass through two separate dust trails — one from Comet Encke and one from an asteroid that broke off of the comet at some point in the past, called Asteroid 2004 TG10. Meteors from this shower are typically not very bright, and the full Moon will wash out much of them, but the patient observer should be able to see a few bright ones.

• Nov. 11: New Moon at 10:47 a.m.

• Nov. 17: Leonid Meteor Shower peaks. This bright meteor shower makes for excellent viewing this year due to the waning crescent moon.

This shower is caused by dust particles from the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which last passed through our solar system in 1998, and returns next in 2031.

The 33-year period of this comet results in a 33-year cyclonic peak for the shower, during which meteors are extremely abundant. The last of these was in 2001, during which time more than 30 bright meteors were visible per hour in dark locations.

As with all meteor showers, best viewing is after midnight, as our position moves onto the side of the Earth facing into our rotation around the Sun, which is the side that collides with the most meteors.

• Nov. 25: Full Moon at 3:44 p.m.

Canyon, and Beaver Creek Canyon. ***** Ty Fitzmorris is an itinerant and often distractible naturalist who lives in Prescott and is proprietor of the Peregrine Book Company, Raven Café, Gray Dog Guitars, and is cofounder of Milagro Arts, a community arts nexus, all as a sideline to his natural history pursuits. He can be reached at Ty@PeregrineBook Company.Com.

News From the Wilds, too A very brief survey of what’s happening in the wilds ...

By Ty Fitzmorris

migratory stop-over points for many species, and will host thousands of individuals of many different species from now until February.

• Beavers cut branches from Aspens and riparian trees, pushing them into the mud to store for midwinter food. Because Beavers slow down the flow of rivers and distribute nutrients in riparian areas, they are very important for maintaining river health in the Southwest.

Visit: Lower Wolf Creek Falls, No. 384.

High mountains • Young Ravens gather into large groups (called “a congress of Ravens”), sometimes as many as 50-70 individuals, and can be seen at sunrise and sunset, flying from communal roosts to feeding sites.

• Though Black Bears finished mating in the summer, they delay implantation until now and begin their pregnancy as they enter hibernation.

Visit: Spruce Mountain Loop, Trail No. 307.

Ponderosa Pine forests • Mule Deer and White-tailed Deer ruts reach their peak now, as bucks finish rubbing the velvet from their full-grown antlers. Look for bare spots on saplings where male deer have rubbed off their velvet.

• Arizona Black Rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerberus), along with the other five rattlesnake species in our area, begin looking for hibernacula in which to spend the winter, sometimes with many other rattlers.

Rattlesnakes are much maligned, but are typically very interested in avoiding humans, and won’t bite unless harassed.

Visit: Schoolhouse Gulch Trail, No. 67.

Pine-Oak woodlands • Young Western Screech Owls find temporary territories. These beautiful small owls, which weigh from 3.5-10 ounces, will prey on worms, insects, rodents, birds, or even crawdads. Some have been observed catching rabbits and, rarely, ducks.

• Galls on oak trees and shrubs are very visible now. The most common is the Oak-apple Gall, which looks like a red-orange peach, but is really an incubation site for an immature wasp. The wasp stings the plant, laying its egg in the growing tissue of the oak, and the plant grows this specialized structure around the developing larva. Oaks have over 300 types of galls, including some that look like furry animals, curled leaves, and gnarled twigs.

Visit:Little Granite Mountain Trail, No. 37

Queens of many species of social insect are mating now, as is this queen Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica), and overwinter buried underground. In the spring they will emerge and establish new colonies. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

Pinyon-Juniper woodlands • Javelinas switch to eating large amounts of prickly pear, along with whatever protein-rich plant food, such as acorns and pinenuts, still remains.

Visit: Tin Trough Trail, No. 308.

Grasslands • Pronghorn change their diets to shrubs and tough evergreen plants now that grasses have died back.

Pronghorn can digest many plants that are poisonous to cattle and thereby graze grasslands more evenly. This, in turn, allows for a greater diversity of plants to thrive where Pronghorn graze, since no one species can outcompete others.

Visit: Mint Wash Trail, No. 345.

Riparian areas • Many of the creeks in the Prescott area dry up until the snows of winter arrive and melt.

• The leaves of trees in lower-elevation riparian areas change now, reaching a riotous diversity of color before dropping.

• Hermit Thrushes, one of the last of the songbird migrants to migrate through our region, stop over only long enough to regain lost body fat and drink water. These relatives of American Robins migrate according to the magnetic field of the Earth, and keep a straight, unwavering path, flying night or day. The only time they change course is when they pass near lightning storms, in which case the Hermit Thrushes fly directly toward the storm.

• Ducks and other waterfowl begin to arrive at our man-made lakes, such as Watson and Willow near Prescott.

These lakes have become important

Deserts/Chaparral • The leaves of Ocotillos (Fouquieria splendens) change color and fall.

This species, along with Yellow Palo Verde (Parkinsonia microphylla), has photosynthetic bark, and only grows leaves during times when water is abundant. They then drop them as drought periods return.

• Phainopeplas, the sole member of their family (the Silky-flycatchers) in North America, return to the desert from the uplands. These pitch-black birds would seem to be incongruous in the hot desert, but thermal studies have shown that their black plumage actually functions to decrease their skin temperature, in much the same way that the black robes of the Bedouins of North Africa diff use incoming solar heat.

Visit: Aqua Fria National Monument.

Weather Average high temperature: 60.6 F, +/-4.2 Average low temperature: 27.4 F, +/-3.2 Record high temperature: 83 F, 1933 Record low temperature: -1 F, 1931 Average precipitation: 1.22”, +/-1.36” Record high precipitation: 8.68”, 1905 Record low precipitation: 0”, 15 percent of years on record Max daily precipitation: 4.3”, Nov. 27, 1919

15

If you build it ...

Happy Oasis brings Heaven on Earth to Prescott

By Robert Blood [Editor’s note: The following interview was culled from conversations between the reporter and Happy Oasis, owner of Heaven on Earth, a nature sanctuary in the Granite Dells. Visit HappyOasis.Com to find out more.]

Tell us about Heaven on Earth.

It’s Prescott’s newest wildlife sanctuary. It’s not only a private sanctuary for wildlife, but also for the wild

Heaven on Earth sanctuary. Courtesy photo. life inside us. The idea is to bring out and enhance our communication with nature and eco-conscious living.

There are gardens with edible plants mixed in with wild flowers — all of which are friendly to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds — as well as dozens of fruit trees. Heaven

Highlands Center Natural History Highlands Centerforfor Natural History Eco-home Design: Presentation and Tour Friday and Saturday, November 6-7 Learn innovative designs for your home that will increase efficiency and decrease cost. Visit highlandscenter.org for registration and prices.

Free Bird Walk with the Prescott Audubon Society

Saturday, November 14, 9:00AM beginning and experienced birders welcome.

Invasive Plants in the Landscape Nursery Industry: Free Native Plant Society Presentation Thursday, November 12,

6:30 PM, Join Jeff Schlau, talking about invasive Landscape/Nursery plants.

HolidAy BAZAAR

November 14th, 10 AM - 3 PM

Nature-Inspired Gifts, Arts and Crafts for Everyone on Your Shopping List

928-776-9550 • highlandscenter.org • 1375 S. Walker Rd., Prescott, AZ 86303

Wonder • explore • discover 16 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

on Earth is surrounded by thousands of acres of what should have been a national park. My beloved John and I feel as if we’re the caretakers — not just of our home here, but of these gorgeous Granite Dells, as well.

Heaven on Earth is surrounded by a network of trails that traverse some of the most spectacular scenery in Arizona. Part of that is city of Prescott designated Open Space.

The trail system behind our home is called the Granite Gardens Trails. I envisioned these trails before I suggested to the developer that he sell and donate the trail land to the city.

The trails were brilliantly designed

by Chris Hoskins and built by his Over the Hill Gang.

The sanctuary is situated in the middle of an extensive labyrinth of canyons. Decks, patios, lawns, a hammock, and several dozen fruit and nut trees compliment the cliffs.

There’s a playful mix of edible and native plants, vegetables, domesticated flowers, wild flowers, and towering native trees as well as ecoamenities including an 8-kilowatt solar system that covers the entire south side of the house and provides nearly 100 percent of the sanctuary’s electrical needs, plus 3,000 gallons of water storage, a passive solar flagstone sun room with a raised bed greenhouse garden, local flagstone exterior, electric heating beneath the wooden floors, an EPArated low-emissions wood stove, low-flow shower heads, faucets, and toilets, plus yellow walls and

skylights to reduce the need for electric lighting, and LED lights throughout.

The sanctuary uses solar hot water and has a 8,000 kilowatt solar array, which was installed in October.

What kind of activities do you host there?

An eclectic array of inspirational, educational programs focused on health, nature, music, and art, all with an interactive flavor. This year, we’ve hosted an outdoor vibrant vegan Easter egg hunt and celebration, a goddess gathering, a raw vegan potluck celebration, and a local talent show. We also hosted Sedona’s Illuminate Film Festival preview party, Green Living magazine’s Prescott launch party, a quiet music-making playshop with Prescott’s fun-loving Jonathan Best, “Let’s Get Wild!” which was an edible foraging feast led by me, as well as a gentle concert with the talented muse Celia Ferran of Prescott Valley.

We ended September with a lively lecture by Durango, Colorado’s most innovative eco-professor, gardener, forager, wild foods chef, musician, and award-winning author Katrina Blair.

How did Heaven on Earth come into being?

While we were wintering in our little RV in Baja California, our renters subleased to someone who accidentally burned down our home in March of 2014. Being nonsmokers who rented to nonsmokers we would’ve

never guessed that one careless toss of a cigarette would dramatically change the course of our lives.

Upon hearing the news, we were shocked and confused as to how to proceed. After a few days of ponderous prayer and meditation steeped in nature, I heard a call from the universe to rebuild with a new vision to protect the land and wildlife habitat more than ever. “It’s about the land, not the house.” That’s what I heard from deep within. “Rebuild the house to protect the land — and enjoy it.”

We did the majority of the work ourselves, as well as the flagstone patios, winding stone walkways, landscaping, and decks. We subcontracted areas that needed a specific or larger workforce. We had to get a crane to lift the trusses while we helped a crew set the trusses onto the roof. Negotiating with the insurance companies and the county building permit staff was also educative and surprisingly pleasant.

With all that wild space, you must’ve had some interesting encounters with wildlife.

Definitely. For years, an enormous porcupine dwelled in the hollow of one of our peach trees at the bottom of a cliff. We would hear it drag its long, heavy quills through the garden and across the sand and rocks to drink from the pond each night.

One evening, I was sleeping al fresco on a rock perch part way up a cliff with a housemate’s pet rabbit by name of Thistle. In the bluish light of the moon I saw a pointed boulder with its tip a little taller than I had previously remembered it.

Seconds later, as if in a dream, the boulder seemed to split in two, when I realized that the top half of

swimming pool. Occasionally, coyotes wail out as they pass through.

Javelinas frequent our tasty compost pile announcing themselves with their signature huffs. And we often find javelina footprints on the steps of our pool. We use a very low chlorine pool rather than salt water since the wildlife drink from it. Crickets often chime away the night. Cicadas prefer singing high up in the Cottonwoods during the day. They can be deafening.

Happy Oasis. Courtesy photo. the split was in fact a mountain lion flying in an arc right in front of me.

I heard a high-pitched screech and knew it must be Thistle the rabbit.

In an instant, I scrambled down the cliff toward the mountain lion.

It looked at me, dropped the rabbit and trotted away. At dawn, I awoke the owner of the rabbit and told her about its sad demise. We buried Thistle in the garden. The funeral for that rabbit had more than 30 people.

Can you believe that — 30 people? I’d be amazed if there were 30 rabbits at my funeral.

Sometimes we hear a Great Horned Owl hoo hoo-ing at night.

Arizona Tree Frogs sometimes convene to sing in both the pond and

There’s a certain irony that modern technology, eco-friendly and not-so eco-friendly, helped make Heaven on Earth possible.

John and I stood up to the challenge. While removing the 39 tons of debris — the ashen remains of our erstwhile home that often had us coated black in ashes — we’d take frequent breaks to immerse ourselves in researching the most sound eco-construction materials and compare different eco-friendly techniques and technologies.

We conscientiously decided to put aesthetic architectural beauty and natural eco-sustainable materials equal with affordability to co-create the highest quality of life imaginable while being as frugal as possible, confident that if we were to fall short of paying for the house — which we did — we are resourceful and diligent enough to manage to pay the remainder.

After looking at vinyl, concrete,

adobe, plywood, and wood siding options, we chose real flagstone from a nearby quarry because it’s not only local — it’s the longest lasting choice of all, thus the most eco-sustainable.

There are stone homes still standing today in Europe that were built

by Romans nearly 2,000 years ago.

Another benefit to stone is that it doesn’t burn.

For the roof, we initially imagined stucco terracotta tiles. However, when we decided we definitely wished to go solar, we learned that terracotta tile roofs don’t easily house solar systems. Also, they’d be mostly covered by the solar panels, anyway. So, we decided to go with an affordable two-tone asphalt shingle roof. It’s a combination of beige and rust mid-tones that don’t heat up very much in the summer or cool down very much in the winter. Being beige, it blends in with the Granite Dells. A part of choosing eco for us is blending our home in with the surroundings, so that it appears to be a natural extension of these magnificent canyon lands. ***** Find out more about Heaven on Earth and Happy Oasis at Happy Oasis.Com. Robert Blood is a Mayerish-based freelance writer and ne’er-dowell who’s working on his last book, which, incidentally, will be his first. Contact him at BloodyBobby5@Gmail.Com.

Read the extended interview at 5ensesMag.Com.

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17

Committed to memory

Diagnosis: Technology

By Paolo Chlebecek

On

a recent trip I had a frightening and tragic experience.

While no one died, it was unpleasant to say the least. After taking many pictures with my elaborate cameraphone, the memory card, where all of my data lives, just died.

When I say “died” I don’t mean it just stopped storing new pictures — I had no access to any of my previous pictures. All of the people, places I went, videos, and even selfies, were gone. The phone just reported it was not able to access the data. Even the ones I took before I bought this particular phone. Like many, I just moved my micro SD memory card to the new phone from the old one.

Have no fear, dear reader, all was not lost. But more on that in a moment ...

This

is an all too common occurrence these

Get your head in the clouds

days. But before we address fixing the problem, we need to address why this happens and how you can mitigate such a terrifying event from happening to you in the first place. As technology improves and selfies take the place of diaries, we utilize what most of us take with us no matter where we go: our cell phones.

All of those pictures, music, videos, and various forms of data just tend to sit there, digitized until we can look or listen to them once again. The storage medium is mostly the same, “a non-volatile memory card format.” Of course “non-volatile” is a loose term considering the potential loss. What now?

Most of the commercially available SD memory cards store information much like many other types of nonvolatile media. It has the capability to store information without consuming power. Most of the time

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we refer to it as flash RAM or flash drive. Flash memory stores information in an array of memory cells made from floating-gate transistors.

This allows the transistors to both change quickly yet store that data for a long time — generally about a decade. Therein lies the problem. Electricity must change the state of the gate to affect the bits in order to store the data.

Therefore the drawbacks to flash memory include the relatively limited longevity of flash memory due to its finite number of write-erase cycles. So, most consumer flash products can withstand only around 100,000 rewrites before memory begins to deteriorate.

If I’ve lost you don’t worry, you needn’t know those details to have a safe backup. Simply stated, heat destroys everything, eventually.

So

things wear out, no surprise. How did I get my pictures back? Was it some miracle of expensive data restoration? Nope.

Just an auto backup of my newly changed data via an online, or internet-based, backup program. One of the two I use is Dropbox. As soon as I take a picture it automatically uploads to my secure storage on the Dropbox servers. It’s easily synced and retrievable with my computer at my office and, if I want,

any other device I own or via the internet. This is a paid service and, depending on your plan, it’ll have plenty of storage for all of your digital data. Google Photos will do much the same for free, though.

Naturally, there are drawbacks to any digital solution. You must have a good data plan or else you’ll have to depend on WiFi to back up your data, i.e. when you have a solid connection to the internet. So, if you don’t have access to WiFi like at a hotel, friend’s house, or coffee shop while you’re away, you may have to sacrifice some of your data. There also may be small fees.

Since Apple products don’t have a removable storage card, they give you 5 GB of iCloud storage for free.

Depending on your phone that’s roughly 2,000 pictures or less that are backed up. Then they charge $0.99 for 50 GB, and on up contingent on the amount of storage you need.

In any event, I slept well on my trip — despite the SD card death — knowing my precious pics were safe in digital internet lockers. ***** Paolo Chlebecek is founder and owner of PaoloTek, which he started in 2003. He loves dogs of all sorts and oddly finds himself driving around town between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. every weekday.

Wave hi when you see him or contact him at Paolo@PaoloTek.Com.

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18 • COLUMN • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

2nd Annual

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Speakers, music, open mic, & “What each of us can do to bring climate justice home to Prescott!”

Fresh talents seek fresh faces

By Helen Stephenson

Student

filmmakers from the Yavapai College Film and Media Arts Program are looking for “A Few Good Men” (and women!).

The Yavapai College film program is centered in Clarkdale on the Verde Valley Campus. Students have been taking classes on screenwriting, editing, camera coverage, and sound design. Scripts were written throughout the semester. The competition was fierce on which two would be shot this fall. Both of the chosen films are comedies.

“Pennant People,” written and directed by Diana Stoneberg, and “Malcolm in the End,” written and directed by Nicholas (Niko) Contreras. The resulting films will be edited and “in the can” by the end of the semester. The films will then be put on the film festival circuit.

Students

will be working on their thesis films throughout the spring semester, which starts in mid-January. These films will be shot across Yavapai County, depending on locations necessitated by the scripts.

Spring semester students will be looking for a broad range of ages and “looks” for their actors. Actors do not need to have experience in film. Interested actors should email FilmSchool@YC.Edu with “ACTOR” in the subject line. Attach a brief bio and one headshot.

Are you “ready for your close-up?” ***** Helen Stephenson is the director of the Yavapai College Film and Media Arts Program and executive director and founder of the Prescott Film Festival, where her thirst for independent cinema is quenched.

Sponsored by The Sierra Club. Co-sponsors: NoKXL Pledge of Resistance, Prescott Chapter Veterans for Peace, Grandmothers for Peace, and Prescott Peace Action

4 Prescott’s 4th Friday

ART WALKS

4FRIDAY ’S

Calling all actors

Plus, see these compelling climate justice films at the Prescott Public Library’s Founders Suite “Chasing Ice”: 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1 “Disruption” & “Do the Math”: 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13

COT T

Prescott Film Festival’s SCRIPT NOTES

PRE S

Lights (camera, action). Photo by Helen Stephenson.

This event is in solidarity with the Global Climate March demanding serious action from world leaders at the December 2015 Paris Climate Summit.

EVERY

TH

2015 January 23 February 27 March 27 April 24 Beginning at 5 PM May 22 June 26 July 24 August 28 September 25 October 23 November 27

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5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2015 • FEATURE • 19

Your mama’s a Hoosier

Sometimes a cabinet’s not just a cabinet

By Jacy Lee The modern kitchen has refrigerators, stoves and ovens, islands for prepping and scads of cabinets. The kitchen of 80 to 100 years ago was quite different.

Some

had ice boxes made of wood. Most had ovens, although some ovens were in separate rooms. A few larger kitchens had room for a baker’s table. But almost none had built in cabinets.

Their answers to cabinets were pie safes and Hoosier cabinets.

The Hoosier cabinet was the kitchen back then. It combined cabi-

nets, drawers, a work surface, a flour bin, and often a spice carousel. The typical Hoosier cabinet was about 40 inches wide and 70 inches high.

The top half was about a foot deep and the bottom was about 30 inches deep. Most had a porcelain coated tin or zinc counter which pulled out from under the top cabinet, thereby increasing the work area.

In

the days of their practical use, the more accessories they had, the better. These days, the more sought after Hoosiers are also the ones with more accessories.

The most common accessory is, of course, the flour sifter. The flour sifter was usually in the top left cabinet and made of zinc coated tin, sometimes with a small glass window. A more desirable feature among these cabinets was a spice carousel, usually attached in the top cabinet, to the right. That one’s harder to find

20 • COLUMN • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

these days. Another feature was a small, tin wire basket, attached to the inside of a top cabinet door, for recipes or pamphlets. Some bottom cabinets had pull out bread boards.

The best attachments to find intact these days are original paper with cooking instructions or measures and equivalents on them. Being ephemera, these didn’t survive well or were victims of the 1960s and ‘70s refinishing craze.

Now, there were different sizes of Hoosiers, A Hoosier. Photo by Terra Amas there were different bridge, Creative Commons 3.0. sizes to kitchens. There were “double size,” which are, in fact, only about one third larger than regular Hoosiers. escapes a lot of They had an extra cabinet up top and people today when an extended bottom cabinet. There it comes to Hoosier cabinets is that were “half size” Hoosiers, which had Hoosier was a brand name. Much one fewer cabinet door up top. They like copy machines are called Xerox were really about three-quarters the and facial tissues are called Kleenex, size of a full cabinet. these kitchen cabinets became There were different styles and known today as Hoosiers. There qualities of these cabinets. The upwere other brands of kitchen cabiper crust was usually made of oak nets made around the same time, and sometimes had slag or etched almost all of them made in the Inglass windows. Cheaper woods used diana, Illinois, and Iowa areas. The were apple and gum, the latter of second most popular brand was Sellwhich many people think is spruce. ers, noted by an S on their hardware.

Toward the 1930s and ‘40s, many Other noted brands were McDougall, Hoosier cabinets were painted and Nappanee, Wilson, and Boone. They stenciled right from the factory. were indiscernible from one another Gray, light blue, green, with tints, from across the room. and red trimmed were common.

So the next time you’re in someDuring the Deco Era, some Hoosiers one’s house and they’re bragging even had arched tops — popular for about how much they spent on their kitchen alone, just look around at style, but obviously less practical for it and think to yourself, “Ah, your interior storage.

The Hoosier rage spawned satellite mama was a $50 Hoosier.” pieces. The “Hoosier Helper” was a ***** tall, thin, chimney cabinet. It could fit almost anywhere. Another version Longtime Prescott resident Jacy Lee has been in the auction business for 37 of the “Half Hoosier” was the deep years and is directly responsible for a bottom cabinet, porcelain topped, fraction of a million pounds of minibut without ever having the shallow mally processed recycling each year. top cabinet. It could be used like today’s kitchen island or against a wall.

What

Another door, store CCJ Thrift Store moves, continues mission

By Robert Blood [Editor’s note: The following interview was culled from conversations between the reporter and Chuck Taylor, manager of the Coalition for Compassion and Justice Thrift Store. Shop and make donations at the store’s new location, 1034 Fair St., the grand opening of which is 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13 and 14. Find out more at YavapaiCCJ.Org.]

need through our voucher program.

That’s everything from a sleeping bag or tent to a pair of shoes or a nice dress for a job interview. We gave out a lot of pots and pans for the people who got kicked out of the abandoned hotel that was torn down on Gurley Street. One family was evicted with their 11-day-old infant. And, through our little Thrift Store, we were able to provide bedding, clothing, pots and pans, a coffee maker, things like that. By the way, anyone can sponsor a “pay it forward” voucher for only $15 that’s donated to whoever needs it. The average voucher yields about $15 to $20 worth of merchandise per user. One of the big misconceptions is that people think we get reimbursed by CCJ at the thrift store. In all our programs we rely on community support to make things happen.

Sponsoring an emergency voucher is one way the community helps.

Another way the community helps is through volunteering. We must have over 200 regular, active volunteers. We have volunteers who work at the Thrift Store. We have volunteers at Open Door and Home repair.

And we have volunteers who work very closely with individuals and families to unpeel the layers of challenges those living in poverty face.

We call this program Circles of Support.

Through our Circles program we work to help folks become better self-advocates.

Why are CCJ and the CCJ Thrift Store important?

We’ve been working in our western Yavapai County community for 15 years. We’re a grassroots, nonprofit anti-poverty agency. 100 percent local with a largely volunteer staff, and we’re making a direct impact on people’s lives every day, day-to-day.

We’re trying to attack poverty on many fronts. For folks who are hungry, we provide food. Our Open Door Program serves about 800 hot meals per week. In collaboration with several local preschools, we give out more than 350 bags of food for kids under the age of 5 every weekend during the school year. We call it the Weekend Family Food Program. We realize that for some of our clients our food may be all they have to eat on the weekend.

Another CCJ program is Home Repair. We often call it our homelessness prevention program.

So why move the We help extremely CCJ Thrift Store? low income homeLocation and owners keep their total square footage. home habitable. This The store literally isn’t about started in the cosmetics. We basement of Chuck Taylor. Courtesy photo. the Methodist repair homes so our clients church. After a don’t lose them bit, we rented or find them condemned. a small space across Gurley Street, The Thrift Store is a vital part of and then, in 2012, started rentCCJ’s response to poverty. Last year ing the space on Goodwin Street. the Thrift Store gave away almost While it’s been convenient for our $50,000 of products to people in need-based clients, it’s never been

conducive to the traffic that we need probably will, too, and get it before for this place to exist. People assume then. The habitual shopper gets the that because we don’t have to pay for worm. We have some people who inventory that it’s pure profit, but come in almost daily. Most of them it’s not really that simple. We do get are people with very specific intergreat donations from very dedicated ests. Whether they’re into media, people who know the good things we audiophiles, or whatever, it’s zip-zipdo in the community. We have to pay zip, OK, done. ... In terms of timing, staff and all the other costs of being you want to shop early and you want in business. We need to be in a high to shop late. At both ends, there’s traffic neighborhood and we need at new merchandise out you might othleast 5,000 square feet to sort, store, erwise miss that’s been donated and and sell. … People processed during were talking about the course of any a move long before given day. Another I started as the thing is jeans. I tell manager in Februpeople you can get ary of 2014. And designer blue jeans thanks to a very from us for $6 or generous gift from go to Walmart and local businessman, pay $10 for Basic philanthropist, and Edition brand. chronic thrift-aAnd we’ll do a lot holic, Howard Memore with that $6 chanic, and a whole in the community. bunch of other We’ll make sure folks, we someone else gets purchased The new home of the CCJ Thrift Store. a pair of the new property.

Image via Google Maps, fair use. jeans for free with Our new that $6. place is right across from the county building on Fair Street. I’m pretty sure thou***** sands of folks buzz by our new front Shop and make donations at the Codoor everyday. We’ve found the right alition for Compassion and Justice location and it has the right square Thrift Store’s new location, 1034 footage. So, we’ve got our grand Fair St., the grand opening of which opening 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and is 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and SaturSaturday, Nov. 13 and 14. There’ll day, Nov. 13 and 14. Find out more be sales, coupons, raffles, drawings, at YavapaiCCJ.Org. door prices, face painting, and music.

Robert Blood is a Mayer-ish-based What thrifting tips can you share? freelance writer and ne’er-do-well The time to buy something is who’s working on his last book, when you see it. Don’t wait for the 50 which, incidentally, will be his first. percent off sale, because, odds are, if Contact him at BloodyBobby5@ you notice something, somebody else Gmail.Com.

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5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2015 • FEATURE • 21

Not-asholy days How

indulgence became inextricably linked with thankfulness is a bit of a mystery. Luckily, there are plenty of other reasons to get energized this month.Consider celebrating ...

Nov. 2: Look for Circles Day • Use circular logic.

Nov. 6: Saxophone Day • It’s sassy. It’s sexy. It’s the sax.

Nov. 8: Dunce Day • Seems mean-spirited, no?

Nov. 18: Occult Day • Tomorrow’s yesterdays today.

Nov. 19: Have a Bad Day Day • Go ahead, make my day ... bad.

Nov. 20: Absurdity Day • Cue the Camus cameo.

Nov. 23: Cashew Day • It’s nuts.

The

Overtoun Bridge, built in 1859 near Milton, Dumbarton, Scotland, has a rather bizarre history. It is the site of many suicides. What makes this bridge so unique is the fact that dogs regularly commit suicide. These canine leaps were first recorded in the 1950s. Strange, too, is the fact that the dogs jump quite unexpectedly, and in the same spot between the two parapets. The drop is 50 feet, culminating in a rocky waterfall. Perhaps unrelated, but equally weird, is the events surrounding a 1994 killing when Kevin Moy threw his 2-week old son off the bridge (same spot) because he thought he was the incarnation of Satan. Kevin attempted suicide himself at this location, but failed. Dog experts have studied the scientific possibilities for why these events occur, but have come up with no answers.

ODDLY ENOUGH ... What makes this location even freakier is that some dogs who survived to recoup from the initial plunge returned to the same spot on the bridge and jumped again. *****

The

Spider-Tailed Horned Viper is a newly discovered and recently described snake from the Zagros Mountains in western Iran. It’s range may, however, spread as far as Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

This 3-foot long snake undulates its bizarre tail, creating the uncanny illusion of a scampering spider, luring birds to within striking distance. There are even poems written about this unique reptile in the North Arabian Desert areas.

Nov. 27: Buy Nothing Day • With apologies to our advertisers.

Nov. 28: Red Planet Day • Mars or bust.

Nov. 29: Square Dance Day • It’s hip to be square dancing. *****

Bellydance Classes with of New Moon Tribal Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced classes held at Lotus Bloom Yoga Studio

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22 • FEATURES • NOVEMBER 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

ODDLY ENOUGH ... A specimen of this animal was brought to the United States as early as the 1960s in a preservation jar. Examined only visually through the glass, it was deduced that the “growth” on the tail was a tumor caused by some kind of parasite, and was dismissed as a singular anomaly and not a new species. ***** Russell Miller is an illustrator, cartoonist, writer, bagpiper, motorcycle enthusiast, and reference librarian. Currently, he illustrates books for Cody Lundin and Bart King.

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