2014-07 5enses

Celebrating art and science in Greater Prescott

Alan Dean Foster is going (even more) places P. 12

Ty Fitzmorris

precipitates into the monsoon deluge P. 16

James Dungeon brings back art from Haiti P. 11

Gene Twaronite

boldly goes where no gardener has gone before P. 25

And much 2 more!

PICTURE Prescott Film Festival returns for fifth screening JULY 2014 | VOLUME 2, ISSUE 7 | 5ensesMag.Com

P. 13

LOCALLY & INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED

METHOD COFFEE

3180 WILLOW CREEK • 777-1067

5enses In which:

4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13

James Dungeon

discusses art, redemption, and different definitions of recovery in Haiti with Tim Parker.

Sharon Arnold

take’s a bird’s-eye view of a high-brow avian doppelgänger that doesn’t havea goatee.

Robert Blood

exchanges words about cinematic songs, manuscript muses, and lovely writing with author Mark Rouse.

Matt Dean

notes that when in Rome ... it’s probably best not to do as the Romans do if they’re plane spotting.

Willie Heineke

snaps to attention and harvests data on an incentive program that halves the cost of some foods.

James Dungeon

digs up paydirt on a garden-variety group of seedy plotters and their greeny sewing circle.

Alan Dean Foster

broadens your mind and horizons with wieldy, worldly wonders from his wide, wild wanderings, again.

Robert Blood

discusses motion pictures and the love of cinema with Helen Stephenson and a not-so-secret panel of judges.

16 18 19 21 22 25

Ty Fitzmorris

comes in out of the rain, and describes pitchfork-, hammer handle-, cat-, and dog-shaped drops.

Markoff Chaney

solicits art from a bunch of men who believe they’re chatting up a blue-haired ingénue.

Jacques Laliberté

dashes a note off to everybody’s hometown from everybody’s neighbor to the north.

Lauren Antrosiglio buckles down and takes a bite out of dangerous fad diets, and, yes, that includes bacon.

Paolo Chlebecek

talks to the teeny tiny gnomes that live in your devices and whom happen to speak English.

Gene Twaronite

July 2014 • Volume 2, Issue 7

Copyright © 2014 5enses Inc. unless otherwise noted.

Publisher & Editor: Nicholas DeMarino Creative Director: Jimmy Polinori 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.

Plus

5/6 8 20 26

Flip Photo

A visual puzzle by the Highlands Center for Natural History

Left Brain/Right Brain Find out what’s going on in Greater Prescott

Oddly Enough

Comics by Russell Miller

Spot-on Spotlights

Prescott’s premier happenings and happenstances

’ppl’s ’nd ’r’ng’s

Doodles by Jacques Laliberté

leads brave horticulturalists down the verdant garden path to Brave New Worlds, naturally.

COVER: The 2014 Prescott Film Festival promotional poster.

Image by Beth Hammer.

Layout by Jimmy Polinori.

RIGHT: Appetizers await crowds at a cabaret after party at the 2013 Prescott Film Festival. Courtesy photo.

See Robert Blood’s story on Page 13 for more.

�ENSESMAG.COM • JULY ���� • CONTENTS • �

From Haiti w/love In It For the Cause brings art back to Prescott

By James Dungeon [Editor’s note: The following excerpts are from a conversation with Tim Parker, founder and president of In It For the Cause, a nonprofit recovery outreach program.]

So, how does art from Haiti end up in Prescott?

Well, this is our fourth year with the program and our second year doing the art show. When we go to Haiti, we purchase art, statues, and jewelry from local artists and we bring it back to the United States to sell as a fundraiser for In It For the Cause. Half of the money goes to the artist, the other half to our program.

Last year, we were able to take over 11,000 pounds of medical supplies for babies and the elderly. The aver-

age income in Haiti is $2 U.S. a day, so half the money from a $150-$200 art sale goes a long way. Through the nonprofit, we even purchase some oil and canvas to bring back to them.

A big part of this program is the compassion and love from both sides — from the people in recovery we bring there and from the children and elderly in Haiti. Art therapy is another part of this that’s really important.

No offense, but it’s pretty easy to get jaded or cynical about recovery programs in Prescott.

Everybody has one kind of addiction or another, whether it’s chemical dependency or something else. But your addiction is not your identity.

Substance abuse addicts are usually looked at as people who are broken or damaged because we’re afraid to

Highlands Center for Natural History Nestled in the Lynx Lake Recreation Area, two minutes from Costco, The Highlands Center for Natural History invites you to experience the wonder of the Central Arizona Highlands.

Wonder

Explore

928-776-9550 www.highlandscenter.org

Discover

� • FEATURE • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Courtesy images.

How does art enter the picture?

Art exposes things about ourselves that we can’t express through normal talk therapy or motivational interviewing. Feelings are automatically built into the arts. And it’s not just for our clients — you should see the art that these Haitian children create. It gives you a whole different language. There’s peace, joy, and hope through art that’s not available to some people in their daily lives.

That’s an interesting overlap.

• Free Naturalist-led walks, Saturdays 8 AM • Year-round kids’ camps and family programs • Milkweed & Monarchs, July 18-19 • Folk Sessions and Prescott Jazz Summit concerts • Beautiful location for your special event Mention 5enses and get $10 off a Family Membership through July.

contract that disease or how it could affect us. In our program, we talk about our true beliefs that lead to our actions that lead to outcomes, and come to terms that it’s OK not be OK.

This kind of outreach has changed my life. when you care about other people you have to step out further from yourself. There’s a saying in Peru, “You today, me tomorrow,” that basically means if you focus on how to help people now, they’ll take care of you in the future. So we’re helping these children and the elderly today and, in turn, by stepping outside of ourselves, they’re helping us deal with drug and alcohol addiction. …

There’s a language barrier sometimes, and arts helps bridge that.

What kind of reaction did you have to the show last year?

There was a great reaction, people coming in and really supporting the artists who created these pieces. Our first year we sold six pieces of art and didn’t really advertise it. We’re excited and gracious that the folks at Method Coffee want us back. We’ve also got programs in and art from Peru and Mexico and Argentina this year. … Maybe, in the future, the art created by the clients and the children and the elderly will play a role, too, but for now it’s the art from the locals in these countries that we’re showcasing. By supporting them, by purchasing art, you’re supporting these communities and these families. ***** Visit InItForTheCauseFoundation.Org to find out more about In It For the Cause.

Haitian art is on display all July at Method Coffee, 3180 Willow Creek Road.

James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination. And he likes cats. Contact him at JamesDungeonCats@Gmail.Com.

By Sharon Arnold

Your

eyes aren’t deceiving you. …

There is, indeed, a bird with a distinctive crest that looks like a black cardinal.

The male Phainopepla is pure black with white wing patches that flash when it summersaults from a high perch to catch an insect. Females are dusky gray with whitish edges on their wings. Both sexes have red eyes.

Cardinals feed close to or on the ground, while Phainopeplas prefer hunting for insects and berries from a bit higher up and rarely land on the ground. Some Phainopepla are vigorous defenders of territories with mistletoe.

These silky-flycatchers are unique among the birds that migrate to Prescott to breed. Phainopela have already nested in the upper Sonoran Desert in dense stands of paloverde, mesquite, and ironwood where mistletoe is abundant. After raising one brood, Phainopepla take off for higher elevations and set up housekeeping a second time. Now, their preferred nesting site is in pinyon, oak, and juniper woodlands associated with riparian habitat.

In the desert, nesting activities begin early, often in February. These birds start appearing in Prescott in May. The males select nest sites and can begin construction even before attracting a mate.

Whiskey Row’s ROCKIN’ Irish Pub

Courtship displays are spectacular. Males rise to 300 feet, circling or zigzagging above their territory.

They chase away other males and offers females food during courtship.

This seven-and-a-half-inch bird builds a relatively small nest tucked into the crouch of a tree or in a clump of mistletoe. Females lay two or three eggs.

Both adults share incubation, brooding, and feeding duties.

The Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas (2005) notes a declining trend in the Phainopepla population in their historic range. However, these showy birds are still common and conspicuous if you know where to look for them. One reliable place to find Phainopeplas is along the east side of Granite Dells Road in Prescott across from Granite Creek. ***** Sharon Arnold is a Prescott Audubon Society member and serves on its Scholarship Committee. Sharon retired to Prescott after a satisfying career as a professional fundraiser for PBS, hospitals, Arizona State University, and The Nature Conservancy.

Trained as a Highland’s Center naturalist, she leads walks on city trails, birds with the Prescott Audubon Society, and volunteers for Prescott Creeks as the co-chair of One Man’s Treasure.

Contact Prescott Audubon Society at PrescottAudubon.Org, Contact@ PrescottAudubon.Org, or 928-7786502.

112 S. Montezuma St. Upstairs on Whiskey Row 928-771-0997

Bird of the Month

Phainopepla IMAGE: A male Phainopela perches atop a budding branch. Photo by Doug Iverson.

Highlands Center for Natural History’s

pilF Photo

Milkweeds support each stage of a Monarch Butterfly’s life cycle. Every spring, Monarchs begin their multi-generational migration from south to north for the summer. In fall, a new generation of monarchs travels back south for the winter.

Photo by Nicole Trushell.

�ENSESMAG.COM • JULY ���� • FEATURES • �

An accidental love story

Mark Rouse pens a ‘Soulless’ novel with soul

By Robert Blood [Editor’s note: The following excerpts are from a conversation with Mark Rouse, author of “Soulless.”]

What’s the story behind your first book?

The idea was born in 1992 or ’93. I was working on an assembly line and listening to a lot of music. Music is really inspiring to me. So, anyway, I was working and this song came on and it had this weird break. It was a long, really sad song about a guy losing this girl, and he’s really sorry

Highlands Center for Natural History’s

Flip otohP

As Monarch numbers decrease, organizations like MonarchWatch work to better understand these creatures and encourage their survival by introducing milkweed plants into gardens. Photo by Seney Natural History Association. Creative Commons 2.0.

� • FEATURES • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

she’s gone, and then there’s this 10 second break and the song picks back up — boom. And I thought it’d be perfect for the ending of a movie. Boom-boom-boom. Ending.

That’s where “Soulless” came from.

In this story, there’s a young man, a teenager. I should mention that some of the things in the book are things that happened in my life, but it’s not a true-life story or anything like that. So the kid in the story, he doesn’t have feelings anymore. His mother, who was an opera singer passed away when he was 5. His dad is a composer. His uncle was a famous 1980s hair metal rock band guy, who fell off stage and hurt his leg. So this kid goes through life with this numbness; he doesn’t really care about anything. So his uncle gives him an old Fender Squire and he just falls in love with it. No toys, no game system — this kid’s guitar is his whole life. It’s the only thing he can do to express his emotions. And that’s where the book really starts off, and then this girl turns up. And they’re soul mates. She can feel and understand him. He’s soulless and she gives him a soul. And the main character and the girl are in a band together — she has this really great singing voice. … And, well, there’s a lot of other stuff, but this is all basically a prologue for the second book, “Heartless,” which is more of a horror story.

If that’s what you wanted to write, why do this first?

I just had to get it out of my head.

I started actually writing it about four years ago. I wrote the first three chapters over a weekend and a good two years went by when I didn’t look at it. I had three stories I’d been working on, including “Soulless” and “Heartless,” and I figured, what the heck, I should finish one of them.

A year later, what’s been the response?

You know, I have more Facebook page likes than I have book sales, which is strange. Of course, family

Mark Rouse. Courtesy image. and friends read it, which is nice, but it’s more exciting when people I don’t know read it and respond to it. When Sandy Moss (local author and journalist) read it and interviewed me on the radio, that was a big deal. Via Facebook, I heard back from a lady who, it turns out, I went to junior high with, read it and said she was really mad at me. The book literally ends in a cliffhanger and she was bugging me to write the sequel. … I still can’t believe I wrote a love story.

What have you learned about writing along the way?

Putting about 90,000 words in a row is a lot harder than you think.

You can write a little conversation between people, but how did they get to that place? How do they get to the next place? You’ve got to make it flow together. I can listen to a song and get excited about a scene and write that scene, but there’s stuff on either side of it. And, for me, when I’m in a happy mood, I can’t write a sad part of the story. When I write it can really upset me emotionally, and I’ve got to be in the right frame of mind. When I wrote certain parts of “Soulless,” I had to tell my wife to stay away from me for a bit, that I’m not going to be fun to be around. ***** Visit Facebook.Com/MarkRouseAuthor to find out more about Mark Rouse and “Soulless.”

Robert Blood is a Mayer-ish-based freelance writer and ne’er-do-well who’s working on his last book, which, incidentally, will his first. Contact him at BloodyBobby5@Gmail.Com.

Bird Watching (No, The Other Kind) A group of people who may or may not be spies enjoys an Anniversarypainted Hellenic Air Force F-4E Phantom II at an air show in 2005.

When in Rome ...

Photo by Georgios Pazios, Creative Commons. involve eating good food, exploring the ancient culture, and laying on the beach with the Aegean lapping at my feet.

I’ll only embark and disembark a commercial passenger plane. No admiring the Greek Air Force for me.

I’d admonish you the same.

keep your head down

Almost

as soon as the group arrived and began spotting aircraft at a military base in Kalamata, they were arrested and charged with espionage. They then spent the next six weeks in jail awaiting trial with the threat of

This

story has faded from memory for the general public in the United Kingdom and Europe. It was briefly revived in 2005 because of a TV movie about

***** Matt Dean is a Prescott native and a teacher for Prescott High School’s online program who enjoys spending time with his family and walks with the dogs. Contact him at Matt.

Dean@PrescottSchools.Com.

4 Prescott’s 4th Friday

4FRIDAY

ART WALKS

’S

they think of a holiday in Greece, most people picture Athens, the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and ancient Greek culture. Some entertain island hopping around picturesque outcroppings in the blue Aegean Sea. Still others entertain some Anthony Bourdain-induced foodie adventure.

But have you considered spending hours on a shade-less ridge peering through chain link fencing jotting notes and snapping photos as military aircraft create a raucous noise pollution?

In 2001, a dozen British and two Dutch aircraft spotters set out on the latter version of a Greek vacation.

It was a peculiar vacation by most estimations, but a vacation none the less — one that morphed into prison time, financial strife, and a made-for-TV movie. Whether or not the group knew it, being an aircraft enthusiast in Greece a little more than a decade ago was risky business.

the spotters exploits. Now the spotters, while certainly well known among members of some communities, are fallen into obscurity again.

The hobby of plane spotting might now be known to Greek authorities, but any trip to Greece for me will

COT T

When

spending 25 years in prison hanging over them. The charges before the trial were eventually turned into spying misdemeanors that carried much lesser sentences. Lawyers for the spotters argued that aircraft spotting was a known hobby and that there were ample examples of its existence. The Greeks remained skeptical of such a hobby and eventually convicted the group of spying.

The spotter’s financial hardship had already begun with lost wages during the trial and jail time. They were able to post bail on appeal and return to their homes to scrounge up the money they needed for the legal battle. Politicians were soon involved in the fray and even the legal framework of membership in the European Union was debated.

At the appeals trial, a panel of three judges overturned the conviction of spying saying that the evidence proved the group was participating in aircraft spotting and that the hobby was up to that time unknown to Greek authorities. Understandably, the spotters were ecstatic they were deemed innocent but they faced further financial hardships.

PRE S

By Matt Dean

EVERY

TH

2014 January 24 February 28 March 28 April 25 Beginning at 5 PM May 23 June 27 July 25 August 22 September 26 October 24 November 28 December 26

See Special Events

www.ArtThe4th.com

�ENSESMAG.COM • JULY ���� • COLUMN • �

Left Brain: July’s mind-full events

Events

Multi-day

2

“The Hertzsprung/Russell (H-R) Diagram, Part II” • 6:30 p.m. Wednesday: Fred Arndt continues discussing The Hertzsprung/Russell (H-R) Diagram at monthly Prescott Astronomy Club meeting. Please return all club-owned equipment. (Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Modern-day meditation • 6:50 p.m. July 2 & 16: An active, four-part practice — Open. Calm. Think. Act. — for today’s demanding lifestyle. (Deva Center, 520 W. Sheldon St., 303-903-2630, first class free, $10) Prescott Area Boardgamers • 5 p.m. July 9 & 23: Play board games.

(Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, Bump and Elsea conference rooms, 928-777-1500)

5

“Selling the West” • 1 p.m. Saturday: Ann-Mary Lutzick, director of Winslow’s Old Trail’s Museum, discusses Fred Harvey and the benefits and drawbacks of the commercialization of Native American cultures. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385, $5-$7)

Iris Rhizome Sale • 10 a.m July 26, noon July 27: Prescott Area Iris Society’s annual iris sale.

(Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 623-980-6627)

11 12

Moonlit Naturalist Walk • 7:30 p.m. Friday: Experience the wonder of nature at night. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

10

Monsoon Madness Plant & Yard Sale • 7:30 a.m. Saturday: Seventh annual Yavapai County Master Gardener Association’s plant, tool, and garden art sale. (Rodeo Grounds, 840 Rodeo Drive #C, 928-771-0915) Prescott Audubon Society Bird Walk • 7:30 a.m. Saturday: Monthly Audubon bird walk. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550) “Native Roads” • 2 p.m. Saturday: Jim Turner, retired from the Arizona Historical Society, retrace’s the route of Fran Kosik’s “A Complete Motoring Guide to the Navajo and Hopi Nations.”

(Smoki Museum, 147 N. Arizona Ave., 928-445-1230)

13

“The Mysterious Monarch Butterfly” • 2 p.m. Sunday: Cathy and Bob Gessner, of the SW Monarch Watch, discuss how to help Monarch Butterflies through spotting and tagging them and planting milkweed.

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1526)

15 18

Slow Meat Conference report • 5:30 p.m. Tuesday: Diana Kessler of Orme Ranch discusses the Slow Meat Conference at monthly Slow Food Prescott meeting. Dinner included. (Prescott College Crossroads Center, 220 Grove Ave., 928-308-2687, $5) “Milkweed & Monarchs” • 6:30 p.m. Friday: Fiona Reid, previously of the Highalnds Center for Natural History, and Gail Morris, of SW Monarch Watch discuss milkweed growing and seed collecting as well as the status of Arizona Monarch Butterfly migration. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

Cory Doctorow breakfast & Skype • 9 a.m. Thursday, July 10: Science fiction novelist and technology guru Cory Doctorow Skypes with teens and adults.

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1526/1537, RSVP)

PHOTO: Cory Doctorow. Photo by Jonathan Worth. Creative Commons 2.0.

19

“Plant It & They Will Come” • 9 a.m. Saturday: Skull Valley fieldtrip with a presentation on Fiona Reid’s milkweek-growing and seed-collecting project at the Painted Lady Vineyard, plus education on the status of Monarch Butterfly migration in Arizona, and, possibly, butterfly tagging.

(Highlands Center for Natural History, 928-776-9550, $25-$35, RSVP)

Bonsai Club start up • 9:30 a.m. Saturday: Bonsai expert Frank Cuva teaches a beginning-level class encompassing the creation of a bonsai plant.

(Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Road, 928-445-4159) “The Arizona Frontier Experience” • 10 a.m. Saturday: Experience a day in the life of a cavalryman. (Fort Whipple Museum, V.A. Medical Center, Arizona 89, 928-445-3122) “The Ghosts of Dandy Crossing” • 2 p.m. Saturday: Wilderness activist, author, and screen actress Katie Lee reads from her latest book. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

� • EVENTS • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

20 22 26 27

“Tales From the Wild Blue Yonder” • 2 p.m. Sunday: Author John Olson discusses his book and flying off of Mingus Mountain for 33 years. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1526)

“Economic Development Prospects” • 5:30 p.m. Tuesday: David Maurar, CEO of the Prescott Chamber of Commerce talk at monthly Prescott Good Governance meeting.

(Yavapai Title Co., 1235 E. Gurley St., 928-925-0741)

“Write Your Book in a Weekend” • 2 p.m. Saturday: Tom Bird’s free, three-hour writing workshop. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) Prescott Orchid Society • 1 p.m. Sunday: Monthly meeting.

(Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, 928-777-1500)

Bird walks • 7 a.m. July 2, 12, 16, & 23: Bird walks at Watson Woods, Aspen Apring, Kendall Camp, and Lynx Lake. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP) Community Yoga • 5:15 p.m. Tuesdays: Free Community Yoga session. (Deva Healing Center, 520 Sheldon St., 928-899-9939) Mindfulness meditation • 6:30 p.m. informal sit, 7 p.m. formal sit Tuesdays: Meditation group open to people of all faiths and non-faiths followed by optional discussion. (601 Miller Valley Road, park in back, PrescottVipassana.Org) Naturalist City & Field walks • 8 a.m. Wednesdays & Saturdays: Learn about local birds, geology, plants, and more.

(HighlandsCenter.Org., 928-776-9550) Scrabble group • 1 p.m. Thursdays: Play Scrabble and Upwords. (Prescott Public Library, Bump and Elsea conference rooms, 928-777-1500) 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) Prescott Public Library vieweries • Through Aug. 1: Prescott Jazz Summit and Prescott Film Festival informational displays. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

July’s art-full events :niarB thgiR Events

Art

Poetry discussion group • 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dr. Janet Preston’s monthly poetry discussion group. (Prescott Public Library, Elsea Conference Room, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

In For the Cause • From July 1: Artwork from Haiti, Mexico, and Peru, via In It For the Cause.

(Method Coffee, 3180 Willow Creek Road, 928-777-1067)

Poets Cooperative • 6:30 p.m. Thursday: Share your poetry at this monthly meeting. (Prescott Public Library, Bump Conference Room, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

“Adventures in Art” • From July 2: Art show.

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

2 3 15 23 25 26

“Between Worlds” • From July 5: Art by Peterson Yazzie.

(Smoki Museum, 147 N. Arizona Ave., 928-445-1230, $5-$7)

Edwards • 4 p.m. Tuesday: Poet Diana Edwards reads some of her patriotic poems and discusses her writing process. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1526)

“A Nightmare in the Garden: Two Sides of an Artist” • Through July 14: L.T.D. and garden art by Leslee Oaks. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

Open mic poetry • 5:30 p.m. Wednesday: Dan Seaman emcees monthly open mic poetry. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

“Please Steel Our Flowers” • From July 15: Metal sculpture by Lin Hall and paintings and mixed media by Annette Olson. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

4th Friday Art Walk • 5 p.m. Friday: Monthly art walk including more than 18 galleries, artist receptions, openings, and demonstrations.

(ArtThe4th.Com)

Smoki estate sale • 10 a.m. Saturday: Sale featuring a collection of Zuni fetishes and necklaces, plus pottery, baskets, Navajo jewelry, and Southwestern art and collectibles. (Smoki Museum, 147 N. Arizona Ave., 928-445-1230) Contra Dance • 7 p.m. lessons, 7:30 p.m. dance Saturday: Contra dancing. Calls by Archie Maclellan with music by Chupacabras at monthly Folk Happens event. (First Congregational Church Annex, 216 E. Gurley St., 928-925-5210, $4-$8)

Multi-day Indian Art Market • 9 a.m. July 12 & 13: Seventeenth annual Prescott Indian Art Market featuring Native American sculpture, paintings, ceramics, jewelry, and hand-woven baskets and blankets. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-2133, $8-$10) Friends of the WVFD Show • 9 a.m. July 19 & 20: Twenty-fourth annual Friends of the Williamson Valley Fire Department Arts & Crafts Show.

(Yavapai County Courthouse Square) Prescott Film Festival • July 23-27: Fifth annual Prescott Film Festival featuring more than 80 independent films and shorts, features and documentaries. (Yavapai College, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000)

Hemersley • From July 17: Oil paintings by Crol Hemersley. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510)

“Letters at Large” • July 1-31 art show: The Arizona Print Group exhibits 26 original fine art prints.

(A Small Art Gallery, 115 E. Goodwin St., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thru.-Sat.) IMAGE: “T,” by Phoenix artist Joan Thompson. Courtesy image.

Writers workshop 9:30 a.m. Saturdays: Weekly critique group.

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

Theater & film “Cirque Montage” • 7:30 p.m. July 3: A show of daring and skill that defies the perception of what is (im) possible in a 90-minute collage of traditional cutting-edge circus arts.

(Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $26-$44) “The Fence” • 7:30 p.m. 10-12 & 17-19, 2 p.m. July 13 & 20: Musician, actor, and artist Ered Matther’s new play woven around the chain-link fence at Prescott Fire Station No. 7 and the 9,000 items and 3,000 messages of condolence from around the world. Presented by Basin Lake Theatre Project. (Stage Too, 219 Cortez St., 928-445-3286, $20)

“Teddy Roosevelt” • 7:30 p.m. July 12, 2 p.m. July 13: Joe Wiegand’s nationally performed one-man show celebrating the sesquicentennial birthday and centennial of Roosevelt’s final year in office. (Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N. Marina St., $10-$20) “Oxymorons” • 7:30 p.m. July 24: A raucous two-character, one-act comedy that takes place on a park bench near the polar bear’s cage at a zoo.

Starring Ed Asner and Mark Rydell.

(Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $20-$35) “Walt Whitman” • 7:30 p.m. July 26, 2 p.m. July 26 & 27: John Slade’s performance based in part on Walt Whitman’s 1870s Chautauqua Tent Circuit lectures, and his poems, articles, and documented remarks. (Stage Too, North Cortez Street alley between Willis and Sheldon streets, 928-445-3286, $10-$15)

“Black & White With a Splash of Color” • From July 24: Annual show featuring black-and-white-with-a-splash-of-colorthemed art. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) “Ancient Sri Lanka” • Through July 26: Art by wildlife and nature photographer Willis Peterson.

(Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928-350-2341) “Hold Your Horses!”

• From July 26: Inaugural horse-themed Western art exhibit and sale.

(Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385, $5-$7) “Journeys of a Lifetime” • Through Aug. 2: Nine-artist, professional artists of Prescott show.

(Yavapai College Art Gallery, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2031) “A Novel Approach” • Through Aug. 16: Artists pay homage to their favorite book, literary genre, or author.

(Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286) “Bold, Bright, & Beautiful” • Through Sept. 15: Multi-artist show featuring bold, bright, and beautiful art.

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

�

Follow the lettuce

Healthy food incentives give people more fresh local food-purchasing power

By Willie Heineke

The

high price of fresh local food is a constant challenge across the country, and Prescott is no exception. High prices make buying local produce difficult for many families in our community. In 2012, Food Research and Action Center’s report “Food Hardship in America” ranked Arizona’s 4th Congressional District sixth highest for food hardship rates in Arizona. To address food insecurity, municipal and state governments, non-profit organizations, and private institutions across the country are creating and implementing new programs.

One increasingly popular solution is the creation of incentives for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, for short) recipients to buy local, fresh produce. For example the national 501(c)3 organization Wholesome Wave’s Double Voucher Coupon Program matches the value of SNAP dollars when recipients purchase local foods at participating farm-to-retail venues.

This means that recipients can buy twice as much

at a farmers market, increasing their purchasing power and making it possible to eat healthier while also supporting local agriculture. The city of Seattle also teamed up with a local non-profit organization to create a program that gives a bonus of ten dollars to each recipient when they use their EBT card at participating farmers markets.

Because these programs are relatively new, there isn’t a great deal of supportive analysis yet.

However, several organizations running these types of programs have commissioned a report with the goal of quantifying the efficacy of these projects. And the results are in. ...

The

“SNAP Healthy Food Incentives Cluster Evaluation” has several notable findings. The programs, in general: 1) positively influence the local economy by keeping money within the community of local vendors and businesses, and

More than 75 percent of SNAP recipients reported that they have increased their purchase of produce because of the incentives and that SNAP incentives were a strong factor in their decision to shop at a farmers market. SNAP recipients have responded positively; in 2012 96 percent of SNAP incentives were redeemed.

Based on these findings, SNAP matches and double vouchers are a huge benefit to communities.

Not only do SNAP recipients increase their consumption of fresh produce, but these programs also create strong local economies.

For more information about these reports or to learn more about SNAP incentive programs visit the Prescott Farmers Market’s Facebook page. ***** Willie Heineke is an AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate who’s serving with the Prescott Farmers Market.

For more information on the Prescott Farmers Market email Info@PrescottFarmersMarket.Org.

2) save and/or create jobs.

Images public domain.

Illustration by 5enses.

�� • FEATURE • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Plants aplenty

Prescott Community Gardeners take bed time seriously Gardeners get their green thumbs dirty in May at Granite Creek Park. Photo by 5enses.

By James Dungeon

“Mom,

look at this!”

Sherrina Grajeda lifted her gaze from a raised garden bed in the Prescott Community Gardens and eyed her 10-year-old, Aidan — more specifically the verdant stalk of weeds he pumped in his fist like a tangled trophy.

“Huh,” she beamed, mirroring his smile. “That’s a big one.”

“He’s with us,” offered Fabian Grajeda, Sherrina’s husband. “This is kind of like a big science project for us, seeing what’ll grow here.”

It was early evening in late May and, as the sun set on the 21 raised beds in the community garden in Granite Creek Park, a handful of people tended to unattended plots.

“We get an interesting mix of people here,” said Joyce Koressel, treasurer of Prescott Community Gardens, the nonprofit behind the 3-year-old garden. “It’s people in transit like college kids and recent graduates, but it’s also families that come in to ease their budgets and teach their kids about growing food.”

Plots

in the garden run $60 a year. The meaty part of the vegetable growing season is from May until September. That evening, a coterie of volunteers were filling in unleased beds. (If you’re reading this, it’s probably too late to snag a summer spot, but you could gun for a winter plot.)

“You have to be wary of cross pol-

linating plants,” said Rosa Kurtis, who was sorting through a wealth of seed packets. “Cucumbers and zucchini — they’ll crossbreed, and that’s not a problem — but you don’t want something inedible like a gourd next to cucumbers.”

There are plenty of other lessons that gestate at the community garden. And, more overtly, there are classes to take and lectures to attend. It’s a fitting paradigm considering the entire garden was predicated on the master’s thesis of its president, Colleen Sorensen, who came up with the idea while attending Northern Arizona University.

For some people in the garden, growing food is a novelty. For others it’s old hat. And, for another subset, it’s an exercise in growing accustomed to a new climate.

“In the Northwest and the Northeast, gardening is a bit more productive,” said Nix Calder, a garden volunteer and Prescott transplant.

“Here we’re dealing with heat and high-intensity UV rays. All of that changes what you can grow and how you can grow it.”

The learning curve could be worse, though. Koressel contrasted conditions with Phoenix.

“Here, we have four seasons; down there it’s just hot and hotter,” she said. “We’ve had so little rain this year, though, so that’s a concern.”

Rain

or shine, these gardeners will try their hands and hone their green thumbs in Prescott.

Returning to his family’s plot, Aidan added his two cents.

“I like it.” ***** Visit PrescottCommunity Gardens.Org or Facebook.Com/ pages/Prescott-CommunityGarden/173163736084432

to find out more about Prescott Community Gardens.

James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination. And he likes cats.

Contact him at JamesDungeonCats @Gmail.Com.

PRESCOO FARMERS MARKET Saturdays, May 10th - October 25th 7:30 a.m. - Noon Yavapai College “parking lot D” 1100 E. Sheldon St.

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER MARKET!

CHINO VALLEY THURSDAYS June 6- October 17 3:00 - 6:00 P.M. Walgreens, corner of Highway 89 and Rd. 2 North

Fresh, quality produce, from local farmers, plus salsa, honey, local meat, farmers cheese, tamales, baked goods, hand-made soup, live plants, fresh herbs, cut owers, and more.

Come meet the folks who grow your food in a lively community atmosphere that’s fun for the whole family!

The Prescott Farmers Market accepts FMNP coupons (WIC), Food Stamps (EBT), credit and debit cards.

Seeking local growers, musicians, and volunteers.

Contact us at 713.1227 or info@prescoofarmersmarket.org

WWW.PRESCOOFARMERSMARKET.ORG

5ENSESMAG.COM • JULY 2014 • FEATURE • 11

Alan Dean Foster’s Perceivings

By Alan Dean Foster Everyone says that you never know what you’re going to run into overseas.

Even more importantly, you never know who you’re going to run into.

Money: Traveler’s cheques are pretty useless anymore. ATMs are everywhere. The more tourists a place sees, the more likely it is to accept credit cards.

But always have a decent amount of local cash on hand. For example, outside the big cities, gas stations in Turkey don’t accept credit cards: only cash.

Watch your denominations. When a local currency boasts lots of zeros, it’s easy to lose track of what your cost should be. Don’t let yourself be rushed when counting your change. Always check your receipt after you have signed and your copy is returned to you. Make sure the amount hasn’t been al-

Travelerisms: Part II tered. As in, for example, that 40 percent tip you didn’t write in or the expensive wine you never ordered.

One scam is to adjust calculators in small shops so that they add an extra five or 10 percent to your bill. If confronted, the proprietor will exclaim, “Oh, that one must be broken.” Be aware.

Food: Where can you find the best, most reasonably priced, most filling meal for the money overseas? Any Chinese buffet restaurant. Lotsa food, much of it familiar, at fair to downright cheap prices.

Why? Because visitors to other countries don’t eat at Chinese buffets, which means the owners have to satisfy local customers both in quality and price.

Okay: What about local food? Where can you find the most reasonable, tasty, authentic local food overseas? The restaurant(s) in a nice department store. For the same reasons as the Chinese buffet. In any country, including the U.S., department stores offer good food at reasonable prices to entice you to enter and hopefully shop in their establishment. They dare not overcharge or serve bad food.

What matters is not where the food is from, or even what it is, but that it is thoroughly cooked.

I’ve had excellent street food in South America and Africa without ever getting sick, but contracted debilitating abdominal problems in fancy hotels in Lima and New Delhi. The street vendor dare not let his customers, who are all his neighbors, get sick, because word will get around and he’ll be out of business the next day. Whereas cooks and food handlers and dishwashers in five-star hotels know they won’t ever see you personally, so unless they’re thoroughly supervised they don’t give a damn.

Water: Wherever possible, always utilize bottled water. If you want an iced drink where the water supply is questionable, make sure the ice (even in fancy hotels) is made with filtered water. Don’t be embarrassed to ask. (Traveler’s diarrhea is more embarrassing than asking if the water is filtered.)

Watch out in certain third-world countries for bottled water refilled with tap water and resealed.

Look for melt lines around the cap’s seal.

Hotels: I’ve walked in off the street into expen-

sive hotels, asked if there were any rooms available, and been offered some terrific deals on the spot. If a hotel has space available (especially for a short stay), they’d far rather rent to you on the cheap than let it go empty. This works in any city on the planet. But you have to be willing to show up in, say, a place like Kota Kinabalu with luggage in hand, no reservation, and a willingness to shop around.

If commuting between cities, consider taking a sleeper compartment on a train, if one is available. Not only is it the most comfortable way to travel, but you’ll save the cost of a hotel room for the night. Where crowded national trains offer only shared sleeping compartments, offer to pay for both berths. You’ll have complete privacy and more space. It’ll be worth it. You’ll arrive in your new destination rested and refreshed. Plus, if you’re crossing a national border, you’ll be processed by Immigration and Customs on the train. No officious road guards and no airport security to mess with.

Customs and immigration: Particularly in third-world countries, going through your luggage is the only entertainment these people have all day. So be patient, never argue, and smile. If a customs official holds up your camera and says, “Nice camera,” he might be fishing by trying to intimidate you. Don’t fall for it. Just say, “Not really.” They’ll figure out you’re not going to offer them anything and let you pass. Never appear nervous or in a rush. If they see that you’re in a hurry, to make a plane connection for example, they’ll slow down until you offer money. For “expedited” service.

Never, ever, admit to anything even remotely illegal. In the city of Nagpur, India, I was pulled out of line and taken to a small office where a police officer said right off the bat, “I know you’re carrying drugs. Why not tell me where they are now and save us time and trouble?” I admitted that I was carrying drugs. Aspirin, Imodium, etc.

This banter went on for half an hour. At the end, he apologized by saying he was just doing his job, and put me on the plane. Last one on board.

Moral: be pleasant, don’t get angry.

Second moral — for guys, especially older ones: Consider not traveling with a mullet and take out that earring. All customs and immigration officers have seen every episode of “Miami Vice” at least six times and it’s messed with their heads. ***** 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.

FROM LEFT: The author straddles the line between Europe and Asia outside Ekaterinburg, Russia; a girl dressed in a traditional costume in Safranbolu, Turkey. Courtesy photos.

12 • COLUMN • JULY 2014 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

A screening begins at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center during the 2013 Prescott Film Festival. Courtesy image.

Prescott Film Festival returns for fifth screening

By Robert Blood

At

her friend’s side, Helen Stephenson offered condolences to a man who’d survived a heart attack and open heart surgery earlier that morning.

And Chris David, that man, was having none of it.

“The meeting was that afternoon,” David explained weeks after that day in May. “I was trying to give her as many instructions as I could.”

Later that day, Stephenson and David’s wife, Pat, recounted the story to a group of people who, after expressing sympathy, voiced disbelief.

“That’s how important it is to him,” Stephenson said. “I think there’s a movie in this.”

And she’d know. That’s why they’d gathered —

to talk about movies. Well, not just any movies: This not-so-clandestine coterie had assembled to make selections for the fifth annual Prescott Film Festival, which runs July 23-27.

After watching more than 200 shorts and feature-length narratives and documentaries, it was time for festival founder and executive director Stephenson’s jury to plot a silver screen gala.

Because, as they say, the show must go on.

CONTINUED ON PAGE �� >>> �ENSESMAG.COM • JULY ���� • PORTFOLIO • ��

... FROM PAGE 13 Intention & evolution The Prescott Film Festival wasn’t so much channeled from a muse as it was extrapolated from a musing.

“A friend and I were walking downtown in the summer of 2008, and we just started talking about film festivals,” Stephenson said. “We decided Prescott is just so darn cute that it needs its own film festival.”

Others had toyed with the idea — the web domain “prescottfilmfestival. com” was already parked, though it expired a few months thereafter — but Stephenson was uniquely positioned to make it a reality.

With some two-and-a-half decades in the film industry, the native Arizonan had the proper grooming and connections, not least of which was Patrick Schweiss, executive director of the Sedona Film Festival, whom she tapped for advice during the festival’s nascent stages.

The Prescott Film Festival started as a monthly series in 2009. The founder and cofounders were Helen and Don Stephenson, Ron and Debbie Hammer, and Jared Haxton. The first film they screened was “American Harmony,” a documentary about barbershop music.

The annual festival proper didn’t start until 2010. After scattered screenings across the community, the festival found a home (and office) at Yavapai College, where it resides today.

Backward & forward Turns out not everyone is as big a film buff as Stephenson.

“I just love movies and wanted to see every single possible one I can squeeze into the festival — it’s my Christmas,” Stephenson said. “It was a weird realization that other people didn’t want to sit in a theater from nine in the morning until nine at night for multiple days.”

Two other lessons learned en route: More days don’t equal more viewers, and too many venues dilute audiences.

Another miscalculation was 2013’s Sci-Fi Minifest; panels were well attended but ticket sales didn’t merit another orbit. (Note to SF fans: Alan Dean Foster is slated to discuss the lasting legacy of “Dune” alongside the screening of “Jodorowsky’s Dune” at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26.)

Two film themes that play well in Prescott, though, are horses and mental health. (Per the former, two 3D screenings of “American Mustang” kick off the festival at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 23 at the Harkins Theater in Prescott Valley.)

According to Stephenson, the biggest risk this year is “Oxymorons,” a one act play starring Ed Asner and Mark Rydell, that runs 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 24. ($20-$35.)

“Having a celebrity is always a good thing,” Stephenson said. “And sometimes, like with these guys, it just falls into our laps.”

14 • PORTFOLIO • JULY 2014 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

The finer points The fifth annual Prescott Film Festival runs Wednesday through Sunday, July 23-27. Most screenings are at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center or the SNW Community Room (in the library building).

Individual screenings cost $10.

Ticket stubs grant you access to free workshops and panel discussions. A five-day Movie Mogul All-Film Pass runs $100. If you want the royal treatment, the $340 Platinum Festival pass further includes reservations for “Oxymorons,” cabaret parties, the awards dinner, a wine tasting, and the director’s loft, plus a poster, wine glass, and entry to all 2014 Prescott Film Festival events.

Helping hands The Prescott Film Festival commands somewhere between 100 and 150 volunteers. No one is paid — not the board members, not the executive director, no one.

“We’re all enthusiastic about independent films and we all care about this community,” David said.

After moving to the area a few years ago, David assumed that he’d have to drive to Phoenix to see independent films. When he found out about the Prescott Film Festival, he and his wife signed up as volunteers. Within three years, he was donating his time as the program director.

“By jury day, I’ve already put in six

or seven months of work, probably four hours a day, looking for films, watching them, scoring them, and handling the administrative side of getting them to programmers,” David said. “It’s a big commitment.”

Which is why he was so insistent that his notes be considered on the festival’s jury day in May following his heart attack.

And, David added, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

“I don’t feel like I was under any stress, and I in no way blame the festival,” he said with laugh. “It can be hard work, but it’s fun.”

Jury duty “You’re all here to go beyond the numbers,” Stephenson told five jury members during an ardent debate about one of the films that became one of the festival’s roughly 70 screenings.

And, though many scores and other statistics were bandied about that windy May afternoon, a lot of the exchanges were a matter of aesthetic and social calculations.

A glimpse: “That was quirky and beautifully shot.”/“Isn’t it a little too weird for Prescott, though?”

“I can’t remember that one.”/“That’s a bad sign.”/“But I think our Peregrine people and literary people will like it.”

“That one was really cleverly done.”/ “But we’ve got to balance comedies and dramas.”

“Do we want our audience bored for 15 minutes?”/“But it’s so good after that.”/“Typically, you’ve only got your audience for a minute and a half.”

Inevitably, votes were cast, awards were awarded, and the raw materials for the fifth annual Prescott Film Festival were processed.

Weeks later, Stephenson reflected

Wednesday Two Showings – 3:30 and 6:30 pm “American Mustang” (in 3D) and “Wild Horses” (short film) Special Event at Harkins Theater in Prescott Valley

Harkins Theater PV

Thursday YCPAC

YCPAC = Yavapai College Performing Arts Center SNW = SNW Community Room Building 15, Room 209 = Workshop classroom

SNW

10:00 am The Forgotten Kingdom Grace of a Stranger

12:30 pm Zig Zag Kid A Person Known to Me- Parcel No. 5: 'A Thrilling Existence'

YCPAC

10:00 am Go with Le Flo A Lovely Treat

12:30 pm Lad: A Yorkshire Tale My Right Eye (The Apple of My Eye)

SNW

10:00 am Dramatic Short Films program

12:30 pm Digital Dharma Counting Happiness

3:30 pm Druid Peak Moses on the Mesa

Friday 3:30 pm Wrenched Alone

7:30 pm Oxymorons (live) Good Men (short film) Starring: Ed Asner and Mark Rydell 6:30 pm Surreal Short Films Program

6:30 pm One Chance Special Guest: Michael Menchel, (Producer)

9:00 pm 5th Anniversary Cabaret After Party

3:30 pm Hank & Asha Sheltered Love Bldg 15, 3:30 pm 5:00 pm Rm 209 Breaking In: Writing for Television Screenwriting Saturday YCPAC 10:00 am 12:30 pm 3:30 pm 6:30 pm 9:00 pm The American Unsound Arizona Short Films Jodorowsky’s Journey to Oz Nurse Dotty program Dune Cabaret After Final Flight Special Guest: Party Alan Dean Foster SNW 10:00 am 12:30 pm 3:30 pm Comedic Short Walking the Camino: Six The Cowboys Films program Ways to Santiago Special Guest: Mark Crossings Rydell (Director) Bldg 15, 10:00 am 12:30 pm –Photography 3:45 pm Rm 209 Go 1 on 1 with at Its Best Dune: Its Lasting Filmmaker Levin 2:15 pm - Make 'Em Legacy Ache, Make 'Em Heal Sunday YCPAC 12:30 pm 2:30 pm 6:30 pm Antarctica: A Year on Ice Wine Tasting Cabaret Awards Party American Wine Story SNW 10:00 am 12:30 pm 3:30 pm High School Student The Girl on the Train Commencement Short Films Crochet Noir Walk the Light Bldg 15, 12:30 pm Rm 209 Storytelling Workshop Color coding: Special Event Narrative Documentary Shorts Program Party Workshop

on that work and thanked a litany of people without whom the festival wouldn’t be possible.

The real stars of the show, though, are, of course, the films themselves.

Films have the power to change people’s lives. If that weren’t the case, there’d be no reason for the festival.

“For some people, movies are an escape, but for other people they’re a way to delve deeper into the world,” Stephenson said. “We want to entertain you, but we also want to challenge you. Independent films have the power to take you in so many different directions.”

***** Visit the Prescott Film Festival online at PrescottFilmFestival.Com or Facebook.Com/PrescottFilmFest.

Robert Blood is a Mayer-ish-based freelance writer and ne’er-do-well who’s working on his last book, which, incidentally, will his first. Contact him at BloodyBobby5@Gmail.Com.

LEFT TO RIGHT, FROM TOP LEFT: Retired stuntman Joe Pronto discusses how to take a screen punch during a 2012 film festival workshop; fiddler Joe Livingston entertains at a cabaret after party in 2013; Prescott Film Festival founder and executive director Helen Stephenson poses for a photo in Sedona; the fifth annual Prescott Film Festival’s tentative schedule.

First through third photos courtesy of Prescott Film Festival.

Fourth photo by Amelia Sedan.

Fifth image courtesy of Prescott Film Festival.

15

News From the Wilds Prescott weather Average high temperature: 89 F, +/-2.8 Average low temperature: 57.8 F, +/-2.7 Record high temperature: 105 F, 1925 Record low temperature: 34 F, 1912 Average precipitation: 2.88”, +/-1.72 Record high precipitation: 8.8”, 1908 Record low precipitation: 0”, 1993 Max daily precipitation: 2.96”, July 24, 1970

Night skies The rainfall of the July monsoons is one of the most important ecological events of the year for the Central Highlands. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

By Ty Fitzmorris

By

the beginning of July, all of the denizens of the Central Highlands are at their most parched and sun-scorched. During a rainless, hot June, with relative humidity reaching as low as one percent, many plants withered, while birds, mammals, and insects scoured the landscape for food and water. But one day in early July, the afternoon stormclouds build to a deep, rumbling gray, and break open, and massive, round raindrops fall on the thirsty land as the wild creatures emerge from their dens to marvel.

Though the climate of the Central Highlands can be harsh for part of the year — dry and fire-scorched in early summer, cold and snowy in the winter — these tough times are typically followed by some of our most resplendent seasons. So it is with the annual drought of June, which is followed by the coming of the monsoon rains in July. Especially in years like this one, in which fire danger is very

high and the forests are kindlingdry, the first rains are a real cause for celebration.

They are, however, something of a mixed blessing — they will bring a second wave of growth and flowering, but in the short term they bring lightning, which, when combined with the low fuel-moistures from a dry June, might lead to a proliferation of new fires. Lightning-storms are some of the most awe-inspiring sights in the natural world, and, interestingly, they are a source of nitrogen for our nitrogen-limited soils.

The energy of the lightning strike combines nitrogen with ambient oxygen, forming nitrogen oxides, which are bound into the soil, increasing plant growth.

When

the rains come, we enter the second massive proliferation of life in the Central Highlands, which will continue until September. Birds fledge their young while reptiles hatch, and some mammals, such as the bats,

�� • FEATURE • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

give birth, while others begin their mating seasons, as do the Badgers. A second “spring” of flowering happens now, led by the deep purple four-oclocks (Mirabilis spp.), varicolored penstemons, golden columbines, clovers, and monkey-flowers. But most noteworthy is the explosion of insect life during this time, especially at night. Beetles fly in huge diversity, from the massive Grant’s Hercules Beetle (Dynastes granti) to the Glorious Scarab (Chrysina gloriosa), considered to be the most beautiful beetle in North America.

Thousands of species of moths, from giant Saturn moths to small birddropping mimic moths to beautiful Cecrops-eyed Silkmoths are also flying now, and can be drawn to porch lights for close observation. During the daytime butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, and cicadas abound, while the ants launch their nuptial flights. The dazzling diversity of life in the Central Highlands in July is extraordinary, and is one of our most wonderful times of the year.

• July 12: Full Moon at 4:25 p.m.

• July 26: New Moon at 3:42 p.m.

• July 28: Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower peaks after midnight. This shower should produce a large number of visible meteors since the twoday-old New Moon will set early and leave dark skies for meteor spotting.

• July 29: Alpha Capricornid Meteor Shower peaks after midnight.

The overlap of these two showers during a dark time of the month should produce some extraordinary meteors. The Capricornids are characterized by slow meteors, most moving at no more than 15 miles per second, and can produce brilliant fireballs.

***** Ty Fitzmorris is an itinerant and often distractible naturalist who lives in Prescott and runs Peregrine Book Company and Raven Café as a sideline to his natural history pursuits.

Contact him at Ty@PeregrineBook Company.Com with questions or comments.

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

Visit: Little Granite Mountain Trail, No. 37.

Common Merganser young learn to fish by watching their mother but are still unable to fly. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

By Ty Fitzmorris High mountains • Ravens teach their young to fly now, waiting for the approach of monsoon storms and flying in the rolling blasts at the leading edge of the storm system. Ravens are unusual in that they fly preferentially in storms and perform extraordinary aerobatics in gales and high winds.

• One-month-old Elk calves begin travelling with their parents and start to lose the spots that have helped hide them during the first few weeks of their life.

• Badgers (Taxidea taxus) begin courting and will soon form pairs and mate.

These remarkable creatures are important predators of pocket gophers, venomous snakes, and mice and rats.

• Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) flowers, attracting fritillary, checkerspot, and, most notably, Monarch butterflies.

Visit: Maverick Mountain Trail, No. 65.

Ponderosa Pine forests • Bergamot (Monarda menthaefolia) flowers. The beautiful lilac flowers of this plant draw in native bees in large numbers, giving it its other name, Beebalm. The flowers of Bergamot are edible, and spicy to taste, used in salsas, while the leaves are fragrant, and often used as a mint-like spice.* • Several species of ants have their

annual nuptial flights within days after the first rains. Some species are so consistent that they fly almost the same day every year. Early in the morning, winged males and females fly in tremulous clouds from the previously unobtrusive colony entrance.

After mating, the males die, and the females shed their wings and start their own colonies.

• Wiry Lotus (Lotus rigidus) flowers.

These very small snapdragon-like flowers are bright iridescent yellow, but change color to orange and then to red after they are pollinated. Their yellow appears bright to us because it includes a certain amount of ultraviolet pigment, and human vision sees just barely into the ultraviolet spectrum. Bees, by contrast, see ultraviolet clearly, and flowers of this color are called “Bee-purple.”

Visit: Miller Creek Trail, No. 367.

Pine-Oak woodlands • Young Western Screech Owls begin to lose their down and molt into their adult plumage. During this time, they stay near their parents and hunt with them just after sunset.

• Longhorn Oak Borers (Enaphalodes hispicornis), large, lumbering black beetles with long antennae, emerge from their underground pupae and begin looking for mates.

These beetles are harmless, though they are large and somewhat alarming.

Pinyon-Juniper woodlands • Juniper berries proliferate on some trees while other trees have none.

This is because some of our species, such as One-seed Juniper (Juniperus monosperma) and Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana) have their male and female flowers on separate plants, while others, most notably Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) have both on the same plant. These berries, which are actually cones surrounded by fleshy tissue, are important food sources for many birds and mammals.

Visit: Tin Trough Trail, No. 308.

Grasslands • Young Sonoran Mountain Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis pyromelana) hatch after the first rains. These snakes are harmless to humans, though they somewhat resemble the venomous Sonoran Coralsnake (Micruroides euryxanthus). Their identities can be determined by the simple rhyme “Red on yellow kills a fellow, red on black is a friend of Jack.” If the red on the snake’s body borders yellow, the snake is the venomous Coral Snake, if the red borders black, then the snake is the more common Kingsnake. Either way, all of our Prescott snakes like to be left alone, and will move away from people given the chance.

• Bluestem Pricklepoppy (Argemone pleiacantha), also known as “tissue-paper flower” for obvious reasons, blooms.

• Parry’s Agave (Agave parryi) seed pods begin to grow by the end of the month.

Visit: Mint Wash Trail, No. 345.

Rivers, lakes, & streams • As the monsoon rains arrive, our intermittent creeks, such as Granite, Butte, Aspen, and Miller Creek, begin running, sometimes in turbulent flash floods.

• Young Common Mergansers are nearly grown, though still unable to fly. They will stay with their mother and learn to fish for several more months before striking out on their own.

• Arizona Blackberry (Rubus procerus), which is, in spite of its name, not

native to Arizona, begins bearing its delicious berries along the perennial streams of the Verde Valley.* • Golden Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha), one of our most beautiful flowers, appears now.

• Grand Western Flood Plain Cicadas (Tibicen cultriformis) emerge at night from their larval homes in the roots of cottonwoods, sycamores, and willows. These alien-like creatures climb up trees and buildings in the thousands and slowly shed their larval skins, as the winged adult breaks through. Once their wings harden, the cicadas fly into the treetops. This is by far the most conspicuous insect in the Central Highlands, and very little is known about its ecology or biology.

• Dragonflies abound above creeks and lakes. Look for Giant Darners (Anax walsinghami), Flame Skimmers (Libellula saturata), and Twelve-spotted Skimmers (L. pulchella).

Visit: Willow Lake Loop Trail, off of Willow Creek Road in Prescott.

Deserts/Chaparral • Prickly pears, mesquites, and mimosas bear their seeds and fruits while Western Pipistrelles and Western Mastiff bats bear their young and horned lizard eggs hatch.

• Couch’s Spadefoot Toads (Scaphiopus couchi) emerge at night, sometimes in the hundreds, to eat, mate, and lay eggs after the beginning of the monsoon rains. The tadpoles can mature in as few as eight days, a crucial desert adaptation since pools rarely last long.

• Tarantulas emerge in sometimes large numbers with the rains. These spiders are harmless to humans, but should not be handled due to stinging hairs on their abdomens.

• Rainbow Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus pectinatus) and Buffalo Gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima) flower.

Visit: Agua Fria National Monument. *Always consult with a trained professional before ingesting any part of a wild plant. This information is not intended to encourage the attempted use of any part of a plant, either for nutritive or medicinal purposes.

17

S I D Missed connections

A sociological expirement and solicited art project

By Markoff Chaney

I

US S YO HI UR P GO LD

am not a flirty ingénue. In truth, I’m male — a balding, slightly overweight and middle-aged male, at that.

Regardless, I posted an ad on the Craigslist Prescott personals under the “missed connections” heading, woman-for-men, to see what women posting there could expect from Prescott men. Keep in mind that I didn’t post under the “casual encounters” section, which may’ve been appropriate given some of the replies “I” got.

I could prattle on about the sociological implications of this little thought-into-reality experiment, including, but not limited to, what it reveals about gender dynamics, attraction, and the willingness of strangers to send pictures of their genitals to people who don’t exist.

But, instead, I present the experiment and scantily clad results here

GOLD SILVER

GE T

as a kind of found object art. No, better yet, solicited art. Art un jean, if you will.

To reiterate: This never happened.

But these people think it did. Or they wanted it to. Or something like that.

Enjoy or enjoin.

The replies: No. 3 Is this Vanessa The replies: No. 4 Different guy but I noticed you.

***** The post

(Shirtless man with tattoos and wet hair in a bathroom selfie omitted.)

Looking for you, stud ;) - w4m (Prescott) Saw you at the liquor store and wish you’d said hi.

Think we could have a good time ;) Me: Dyed blue hair, low cut tank top and yoga pants, lots of tattoos.

S A L ELL OA OR N ON IT

GUNS COINS

You: Short blond hair, big muscles, black shirt.

Come fi nd me, big boy.

OMG, did I just type that?!! ***** The replies No. 1 How are you doing sexy?

I am going to Flag for work tomm. and would love to stop on my way back and hang out with you if interested and dont fi nd him? Dave XXXXXX-XXXX

“WE CAN’T SAY NO” BEST PRICES PAID WWW.THEGOLDGUYONLINE.COM BEST PRICES IN THE U.S.

928.776.4653

703 E. GURLEY STREET, PRESCOTT, AZ 86301

(Phone number, dick pic, and a pair of selfies omitted.)

The replies: No. 2 Hey, send me your pic.

�� • FEATURE • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

The replies: No. 5 Hey. What’s up.

I liked your post - I hope you didn’t fi nd what you were looking for - because I think I can surpass your expectations.

I am a decent looking (I am guessing that, because I usually attract attention from ladies - not trying to), 6’0”, 190-200LBS fit, strong, naturally athletic and toned, intelligent, funny, reasonably charming white dude.

I have been bored as hell up here. And have been getting restless.

I would like to meet someone who is funny, sweet, dirty, smart, sexy, beautiful, and knows how to have fun.

Dyed hair - awesome, tattoos - great, liquor store - nice, low cut top, yoga pants - perfect.

If you like to smoke good weed - listen to good mu-

sic, watch good movies, and like good food - and like kinky marathon sex - that would be perfect.

If this sounds interesting, or like something you would be into exploring, get back to me.

The replies: No. 6 I’m not him but let’s chat The replies: No. 7 hey its justin. im not ur guy but i got a XXXXin package.. im looking for a girl to go out and do stuff with. i live in prescott valley on opposite side of XXXXXX XXXXXX. text me XXX XXX (Package size, location, and phone number omitted.)

The replies: No. 8 Hey The replies: No. 9 Hey i might be who your looking for The replies: No. 10 You go to beauty school ***** Markoff Chaney is an Earth-based whodunit pundit and (Fnord) Discordian Pope. He has lotsa bills and no sense.

Contact him through his “missed connections” ad on Craigslist Prescott.

That is, assuming he’s actually a man who’s pretending to be a woman and not a woman who’s pretending to be a man who’s pretending to be a woman. Or a robot. ...

Dear Prescott,

A northern neighbor mails a missive

By Jacques Laliberté

$5 off any service ≥$30! ***** A 20-year resident of Prescott, Jacques Laliberté has written for and designed several publications, as well as his own Art-rag. See his fine art work at Society6.Com/DazzlDolls.

Call 778-0860 & schedule an appointment today!

515 E. Sheldon St., Prescott, www.erasalonandspa.com

�ENSESMAG.COM • JULY ���� • FEATURE • ��

The transcontinental railroad built in the United States in the 1860s was a remarkable engineering feat unlike anything else to that point in history.

Equally amazing was the fact that all of its bridges, landfills, tools, hardware, and rises were completely constructed by hand.

ODDLY ENOUGH ... Snowsheds were built along the railroad’s mountain passes to keep the rails free of snow during the winter. One shed ran 28 miles without a break, making it the longest building in the world. Unfortunately, being made of wood, some of these structures caught fire from the wood- and coal-burning trains that passed through or by them. *****

The French first used pencil-sized darts called fléchettes in 1914. These needle-sharp darts were carried in canisters slung under the fuselages of airplanes and released from the cockpit.

ODDLY ENOUGH ... When dropped from an altitude of 1,500 feet, a fléchette could drive completely through the body of a horse. ***** Russell Miller is an illustrator, cartoonist, writer, bagpiper, motorcycle enthusiast, and reference librarian. Currently, he illustrates books for Cody Lundin and Bart King.

get noticed in

5enses prescott’s PREMIER art & science rag Call 928-613-2076 or email 5ensesMag@Gmail.Com for ad rates

�� • FEATURE • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Holistic Fitness

By Lauren Antrosiglio

Have

you been on a diet lately?

If not, you probably know someone who has, and with reason. According to the Center for Disease Control, over two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) are overweight or obese. To make matters worse, we’re constantly bombarded with advertising for fast food and unhealthy processed foods. On one hand, the media tempts us with unhealthy foods and drinks, and, on the other, the media propagates images of “perfect” bodies for us to strive for.

As a result, the diet industry is booming, our pockets are emptier, and there are tons of new — and potentially dangerous — diets popping up. For your consideration, here’s a guide to the five worst. …

Atkins & Zone diets These diets were made popular in the ’90s. Thousands of people rushed to the grocery store and bought a bazillion hot dogs, hamburgers, pepperoni, cheese, and processed meats in hopes of losing weight. What they did, instead, was clog their arteries and set up themselves for failure.

No faddies, please

Time to drop the top 5 worst diets The Atkins and Zone diets not only contain almost 75 percent saturated fat, but they put your body into a state of chronic ketosis. Ketosis is the body’s natural response to a form of starvation in which our body does not get enough plantderived foods. Putting your body in this state for extended periods of time increases your risk of cancer and puts major strain on your kidneys, possibly causing irriversible damage.

People lose weight on these diets, but when the diet is over, the weight usually comes right back — along with a decreased state of health.

HCG & “doctorsupervised” starvation diets HCG (human Choriogonadotropin hormone) is produced during the first few stages of pregnancy by the mother’s body. HCG shots are approved by the FDA for fertility, but the latest craze is getting these for weight loss. There’s no scientific evidence to back up diet-related claims, and the health professionals administering the drug put patients on a 500-calorie-aday starvation diet. Other diets in this category require that you spend hundreds of dollars a month on their special food, but you still don’t get enough calories, and you are not allowed to exercise while on the diet. So, here’s what happens: You lose 3-4 pounds

of water weight, followed by maybe 10 pounds of muscle because your body is in starvation mode and burning muscle for energy. Rather than going to a “doctor-supervised” weight loss center, make an appointment with a doctor you know and trust.

The one food diet The cabbage soup diet. The baby food diet. The rice diet.

The list of one-food diets is endless, and so is the list of people who have tried these diets and either gotten sick or lost weight then gained it right back. Whatever the food, each diet claims that the one food you are eating is somehow going to help you lose weight, but in reality, the diet is deficient in many important nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. In addition, diets like the cabbage soup diet also fall into the starvation diet category, so you can add loss of muscle to the long list of reasons not to try them.

The Master cCeanse Yes, detoxing can be healthy. No, surviving on water with maple syrup and lemon for two weeks is not healthy. Your body requires key nutrients and vitamins to detoxify — none of which are provided in the Master Cleanse KoolAid. Moreover, simple sugar damages your liver during detoxification.

The water diet/fast This is starvation at its worst. The water diet requires drinking a certain number of glasses of water (usually iced) and either eating nothing or a couple of apples or some other fruit or vegetable. A water fast is just having water. Both of these wreak havoc on your body and burn up muscle faster than you can imagine. And, as with all starvation diets, you’ll gain the weight back, plus more.

Dis-honorable mentions • The sleeping beauty diet: Taking sleeping pills so you sleep for two days a week and therefore, aren’t eating during that time. Was this diet created by Courtney Love?

• The tapeworm diet: Getting tapeworms on purpose? I have no words.

• Six weeks to OMG: Only cold baths and showers, no fruit, and candy bars? OMG is right.

Short-term diets don’t work.

The key to weight loss is finding a healthy way of eating that becomes a lifestyle, eating mindfully (put down the remote), and maintaining a balanced exercise regimen with cardiovascular exercise and strength training.

Sorry, there’s no panacea. ***** Lauren Antrosiglio is an ASUdegreed personal trainer in Prescott who specializes in weight loss, increasing muscle mass, rehabilitative fitness, functional exercise, and senior fitness. Contact her at Info@ PrescottPersonalTraining.Com.

Beat the heat with:

• Hats • Hydration • Sunscreen • Shady hikes • High-elevation destinations Gear up and discover more at:

Granite Mountain Outtitters 320 W. Gurley | Prescott 928-776-4949

�ENSESMAG.COM • JULY ���� • COLUMN • ��

Diagnosis: Technology

By Paolo Chlebecek

What

actually happens when you press that magical button on your smartphone and say, “Find me a Cajun restaurant”? Press on and find out.

The two most popular options for this kind of request are Seri on Apple iOS devices and Google Now on the Android platform.

Siri was not actually developed by Apple. Instead, it came from a vast Artificial Intelligence initiative started in 2003 that was financed by the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) then run by SRI International. The design intended to help military personnel with office work and decision making. The result was called Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes (CALO), an artificially intelligent assistant that could learn from the users and vast amounts of data available to it.

Google Now, or Google Voice Search, is an intelligent personal assistant developed from Google Labs that allows someone to use their voice to make a Google query. I enjoy the fact that while there’s no official name for it currently, but it was originally codenamed “Majel,” after Majel Barrett — the wife of Gene Roddenberry, who is well known as the voice of the computer systems from Star Trek movies and TV shows. Google uses the Knowledge Graph, which is derived from many sources, including the CIA World Factbook, Freebase, and the well-used Wikipedia. As of 2012, its semantic network contained over 570 million objects and more than 18 billion facts about and relationships between different objects that are used to understand keyword searches.

Hold the phone New technology learns old tricks

Teaching

a computer to recognize speech is no easy feat.

The English language has a lot of homonyms — words that sound the same but mean different things, like “to,” “two,” and “too.” Also, if someone speaks with an accent or a regional dialect, they may pronounce words dramatically different from standard pronunciations. Then there are words like “route” that have alternate pronunciations. (You can say “root” or “rout”; both are correct.)

Again, programmers try to build models that they can feed lots and lots of voice and other data so the models will learn about the structure of speech from the data.

So when it comes to your voice, keep speaking. The computers love to learn it.

Maybe, in time, they’ll love us, as well. ***** 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 and 3 pm every weekday.

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

When

you press that button on your smartphone, it doesn’t actually use the phone to analyze your voice and understand it. Your phone simply doesn’t have enough horsepower to accomplish this amazing feat.

So how much computational power does a speech recognition system need?

It’s taken many, many decades of “compute time,” or processing cycles to compute the language model for English as it is right now. It grows and gets better as we use it because the system gathers more data from our voices. For example, just to train one language model for English they might use 230 billion words’ worth of data, which could take decades of time if it were running on just one computer. Both Google and Apple use thousands of computers simultaneously, though, so they can keep training and updating all the time.

�� • FEATURE • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Nerdology Developed by Bell Laboratories in 1952, “Audrey,” the first speech recognition system, could only understand numbers as spoken b y a single person.

A decade later, at the 1962 World’s Fair, IBM unveiled “Shoebox,” which could understand 16 words.

Announces A New Name

Same Friendly Staff, Two Great Locations, One Name: SWC SWC Prescott

SWC Tempe

New Patient Special

FREE GRAM with the Purchase of 1/8th

123 E. Merritt St. Prescott, AZ. 86301 928-778-5900 Mon-Sat 10:00-7:00 Sun 12:00-7:00

Follow Us On

2009 E. 5th St. Ste. 11 Tempe, AZ. 85281 480-245-6751

SWCARIZONA.COM

Mon-Sat 10:30-6:00 Sun 12:00-6:00

Turtle Paw Productions Medical Marijuana Evaluations Flameworking Studio Save

$25

Full Service Certifications & Renewals

Intro to flameworking class

$75 per person $125 per couple

2500 N. 5th St. Prescott Valley

Brought to you by ...

Smoke N Thingz

928-759-5564

6350 E. Highway 69 • Prescott Valley, AZ 86314 928-775-0322 • smokenthingz@yahoo.com

y Pay Why h orPea?y WM More?

Prescott - Prescott Valley alley

928-399-7850

Must M ust present coupon at clinic appt. One coupon per patient.

No cash value. Recent med records required. Expires 07-31-2014.

ArizonaMedicalMarijuanaClinic.com

providing home loans and refinances the right way.

The Fairway.

GREAT RATES PROGRAM OPTIONS Personal service rapid turnaround

Prequalify now

same day PreQualification on a refinance or new home loan!

CALL (602) 576-1929 Shane Christopher Loan Officer

NMLS ID 1060530 9308 E. Raintree Drive Ste 100 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 shanec@fairwaymc.com

MORTGAGESBYSHANE.COM

AZ Lic #0904162 NMLS ID#2289 This information is not intended to be an indication of loan qualification, loan approval or a commitment to lend.

Other limitations may apply. Š2013 Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation FIMC (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org) Equal Housing Lender.

Gene Twaronite’s The Absurd Naturalist

By Gene Twaronite Gardening is always a challenge.

Even in the mildest climates, with abundant rain, keeping our plants alive and looking good is no small achievement. But there are places in this world with such extreme limiting factors as to sorely test even the most determined gardener.

Consider Antarctica. You wouldn’t think water would be a limiting factor there as the continent contains 70 percent of the world’s fresh water.

Only problem: It’s frozen. There’s not a lot of soil, either. 99.68 percent of the land area is covered by an ice sheet. The mean summer temperature, by the way, is negative 30 degrees C — a considerable stretch for even the cold hardiest garden plants.

Gardening on a live volcano also poses challenges. While volcanic soils can be quite fertile, gardeners should be advised to wait at least until the lava cools off and hardens a bit. Although a common roadside plant called noni is one of the first plants to colonize lava flow cracks around Mount Kilauea in Hawaii, no species of plant can tolerate molten rock (so far as we know). It’s also really tough on gardening shoes.

Sometimes

the challenge lies in a place not commonly thought of as a potential garden. Sitting on a jetliner one day, I got to thinking about the depressingly boring landscape of its wings and why no one ever plants anything there. While I can understand some of the gardening problems posed by traveling at 600 mph at an elevation of 30,000 feet, that’s no excuse. Think of how much more pleasant air travel might be if we had nice hedges and beds of colorful flowers to look at

Gardening in difficult places against the backdrop of clouds. All plants would have to be kept severely pruned back, of course, in the name of visibility and aerodynamic efficiency, but every garden has its compromises.

And think of how much more pleasant our daily commute might be if we allowed ourselves a little garden inside our cars. It wouldn’t have to be grandiose.

Perhaps a neat little rock garden of low-growing plants on the dash, and maybe some beds of daylilies in the back seat. Particular emphasis should be given to plants requiring a minimum of deadheading and pruning as these can get a bit tricky in heavy traffic.

Even

our bodies present abundant opportunities. Just think of all the unused spaces and orifices in the average body. For instance, instead of bemoaning a lack of hair on one’s head, consider the possibility of trying out new kinds of vegetation there. With a little site preparation and adequate irrigation, the hair challenged gardener could grow a nice head of fescue or bluegrass — a far superior alternative to most toupees. For a more exotic, full-headed look, one could try pothos or Algerian ivy.

Speaking of ivy, it would be a far more welcome sight across the dinner table than the ugly growth of chest hair curling out from under your open shirt. And think of all the little pockets of opportunity in our clothes. I can imagine a time when no well-dressed man or woman would dare venture out into open society without strategically placed flowers and ferns growing from every pocket, hem, and trouser cuff.

haul up tons of soil, water, and fertilizer, especially if they want trees and turf. And they’ll need more gravity, too. For some reason, plants are fussy about growing under weightless conditions.

Who knows, maybe we can even get some gardens going on Mars. True, it makes Antarctica look like a resort. The average temperature at mid-latitudes is a chilly negative 50 degrees C. The thin atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide. And what little water there is remains frozen beneath the ground or at the poles. We’d have to find ways to heat things up to melt the ice and get some oxygen into the atmosphere. But I’ll bet the soil’s good. Maybe we could send gardening robots there to prep things first.

If we can put a man on the moon, we can plant some petunias on Mars. ©Gene Twaronite 2014 ***** Gene Twaronite’s writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines. He is the author of “The Family That Wasn’t,” “My Vacation in Hell,” and “Dragon Daily News.”

Follow Gene at TheTwaroniteZone.Com.

Perhaps

someday we’ll even have gardens in outer space. We could start with the International Space Station. Sure, they’ve got a few experimental plants up there, but how about a nice rose garden or veggie patch for those astronauts? They’ll have to make the station a whole lot bigger, and

�ENSESMAG.COM • JULY ���� • COLUMN • ��

Plant It & They Will Come What: Scenic trip to Skull Valley for a presentation on Fiona Reid’s milkweed-growing and seed-collecting project along with education on the status of Monarch Butterfly migration in Arizona, plus butterfly tagging, if possible.

When: 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, July 19.

Where: Painted Lady Vineyards in Skull Valley.

Worth: $25 (Highland Center members), $35 (nonmembers).

Why: Milkweed is vitally important to Monarch Butterflies, which are important, prolific pollinators.

Web: HighlandsCenter.Org, SWMonarchs.Org. What else: This is the field trip component of the June 24 talk “Insights into the Outdoors: Plant It and They Will Come: The Importance of Milkweed to the Dwindling Monarch Population” by Fiona Reid (former Highlands Center education director) and Gail Morris (Southwest Monarch Study). Registration required.

Transportation not included.

Katie Lee What: Wilderness activist, author, and screen acress Katie Lee shares excerpts from “The Ghosts of Dandy Crossing,” her latest book, a triple love story that takes place at one of the famous places that was drowned by Lake Powell.

When: 2 p.m. Saturday, July 19.

Where: Peregrine Book Co. 219A N. Cortez St. Worth: Free.

Why: This native Airzonan polymath and performer is in her nineties going on 30 and has much to share.

Web: PeregrineBookCompany.

Com, KatyDoodit.Com.

133 N. Cortez St., Historic Downtown Prescott 928-776-8695 Facebook.Com/pages/Snap-Snap/316941635545

�� • FEATURE • JULY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Huckeba Art Gallery where Ancient

227 W. Gurley St. Prescott, AZ 86301 928-445-3848

www.huckeba-art-quest.com charlesnjill@yahoo.com

meets Abstract

The Birthplace of Chromatextures

71O TO 42O SMOKESHOP 520 W. Sheldon St. Suite #6 Prescott, AZ 86301 928-277-8349 from710to420@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram & Facebook @710to420