Scott’s Arizona Timeline

Art, in many localities, is given a budget by city hall. Artists are commissioned to produce public art for public consumption. Public art springs up in parks, in downtown open spaces near city halls, by busy streets and intersections. The art is most often not controversial and makes people think about something other than themselves. […]

Lonesome George is a famous tortoise from the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific, many hundreds of miles off the Ecuador coast. He was the last of his species and died in 2012 at the ripe old age of 100, one of many species of living things to become extinct throughout the history of this planet […]

This place is made for kids. There are no sharp edges, nothing to scrape or cut, no nails, splinters, burrs or broken glass. The brightly colored posts can be walked around but are not easily climbed, colors are primary, and water falls from the triangular sails like a cool rain. The shapes here are organic […]

In the front courtyard of a vacant home for sale in Fountain Hills, Arizona, a bird has made her nest in a God’s flowing hair. She, quietly, doesn’t move as I peek through windows into sad, empty rooms where someone used to live. By the time this house is sold, her eggs will be hatched, […]

  This morning, the Fountain goes off at nine sharp, when all the local businesses open. Ducks cruise past it like little feathered boats as a steady geyser of water is propelled several hundred feet into the air.  I film the eruption from several directions and barely get it all into my camera viewfinder.. It […]

At closing, Portillo’s, in Fountain Hills, is almost empty. The eatery specializes in Chicago food, hot dogs, polish sausage and Italian Beef. The restaurant is gleaming and has checkered tablecloths, old style movie posters and employees dressed in sporty uniforms. It is a place that Vinnie and the boys would come to eat after taking […]

The things of man start with an idea. Either you are hungry, uncomfortable, scared, envious, or in love.  Sometimes you are just bored and want to change because you can. Chip and Lori want to live simple and live free.  ” It’s an experiment, ” Chip says, and, thankfully, his wife is going along with […]

Where country begins is ” when you start to see cows. ” We are not in prime cow country in this high desert Arizona.There is much better grazing in Texas, and, even better, in Uruguay.The grass here is sparse amid cactus, junipers, washes, arroyos, ditches, and dirt roads. This land we are driving through, to […]

An Eagles hit in the early 70’s was titled ” Take it Easy. ” “Standing on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona” was a lyric that became a real park at the Corner of Kinsley and East 2nd Street in the real town of Winslow. Winslow isn’t big, just a small town on old Route 66 […]

Imitation is, a famous wit explained, the greatest form of flattery. Elvis Presley was a star and shone bright in Tinseltown for decades. In his Elvis impersonator show, Danny Vernon croons, tells jokes, moves his hips, loves on the audience.  Some of these fans saw Elvis himself in Las Vegas, watched his hips while he […]

Shuffleboard is more cut throat than it appears. Before these players take a shot, they consult, put chalk on their hands,look at the weather, visualize their stride. You are the one responsible for propelling your disc down a slick, treacherous court. You live or die by your own hand. In this game, strength is not […]

We have borders. Our skin is our closest border, a barrier that keeps bacteria and viruses out, gives us our particular shape and size, allows us to be flexible and move with agility. Our minds have borders that allow us to go as far as we think we can. Countries also have borders that make […]

  After Spanish explorers conquered Central and South America, they scoured the present states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Utah and Nevada searching for lost cities of gold. Motivated by faith, Spanish priests established missions for the conversion of natives to Catholicism. These missions, outposts of European civilization, still operate, draw modern men seeking […]

The Pima Air Museum is an equal opportunity museum. It has fighter planes, bombers, helicopters, experimental dreams, cargo planes, There are hangers filled with donated airplanes of every vintage, staffed with volunteers, and a large open field where aircraft have been retired from service. There are early primitive planes, and then more modern sleek riveted […]

  Interstate 10 runs through Tucson and angles northwest to Phoenix. Once you leave Tucson, the first spot of interest, higher than rabbit’s ears, is Picacho Peak. This peak is actually a group of peaks ringed by saquaros. For miles surrounding this congregation of peaks,there is nothing but dead flat dirt, mesquite, cactus. At the […]

It is nine in the morning and I see some walkers, a few bicycles, a golf cart, an older lady buttoned up in her custom get about on the Rincon RV Park streets. The speed limit is 10 miles per hour and a familiar saying is posted everywhere – ” Remember, only you can prevent […]

The best way to understand the Sonoran desert is to drive to the end of a dirt road, take no water or matches, leave your phone in the car, don’t tell anyone where you are, wear light clothes and no hat, and hike till you get lost. The second best way to understand the Sonoran […]

Farmers Markets are popular. This market, on a Wednesday, opens at nine and features a smattering of produce, vendors selling chili rellenos and rice bowls, massage therapy in a chair, potions and ointments made from cactus and other desert plants, jewelry and yard ornaments,information on real estate and medical insurance. This morning, happening at the […]

Most people love trains. Just to the southeast of the main office at Rincon West RV Resort,in Tucson, runs the Rincon Railroad. Sitting on a little hill, train conductors sit in lawn chairs with wireless controllers and run their trains through their make believe town. A train schedule is posted at the station, and, on […]

The N.A.U. auditorium is filled with parents, friends, graduates, speakers, security, and interested observers. The event is graduation for the 2015 class of NAU Lumberjacks who have spent their last several years sharpening axes, learning to identify trees, and borrowing money to pay for the experience of reading, writing, attending lectures, doing group projects, and […]

A cool morning in Surprise, Arizona, you can hear paddles striking balls several streets away from the Happy Trails pickle ball courts.  “There are 15,000 pickle ball players in this area,” a woman educates me as she sells new pickle ball paddles and takes names for her E-mail list at her vendor stand by the […]

Surprise, Arizona didn’t start where it is today. Back in the day there wasn’t much here but tumbleweeds, cactus, rugged mountains, ranches, farms, a few dirt roads and lots of dreams. The Happy Trails Resort was once nothing but a set of plans for RV lots, park models, a clubhouse and pool, and a golf course. […]

I-10 takes you to Los Angeles if you stay on it all the way. Out of Wilcox, Arizona the Interstate takes you along a steadily winding uphill road that goes from long flat expanses to foothills and into rugged mountains. Several miles before you get to Texas Canyon, a collection of rock formations that look […]

Golf and sunshine walk hand in hand in Arizona in 2015 like a retired couple on a perpetual honeymoon. The Happy Trails RV Resort surrounds a golf course and its golf holes wind through the development like a snake doing a break dance. The greens are good but fairways need attention with new owners cutting doglegs […]