Weird and Wacky Tucson

I have discovered over the past seven months that Tucson is a freaking weird place. Some people think it's a good weird, but I have generally concluded that it's more of a bad weird. Here are my thoughts:

1. Pebbles, pebbles, pebbles. They are inescapeable. As there is nary a blade of grass to be found in this town (minus a few apartment complexes, golf courses and small sections of U of A), the general landmass is covered in small brown rocks. These rocks easily get caught in the tread of your shoes, meaning that there are flipping pebbles all over my apartment all the time, on my car's floor mats, and generally anywhere else you can think that your shoes tread upon. Plus, most driveways or parking areas are full of these damn pebbles, and it's one of the first things I noticed upon returning to Tucson from winter break. I couldn't even roll my suitcase from the car to my apartment door! I never thought I'd utter these words, but I really miss pavement. Grass too.

2. There is a bizarre affection for vertical blinds. No matter how old or new a home or apartment is, there is at least a 75% chance the windows will be reeking with vertical blinds. Reeking of the 80s that is, which is when every other city in America realized how totally passe' they looked by the time we hit the 1990s. Tucson keeps chugging though! Here is a photo of the window of a brand new house they are building next to my apartment.


Can you believe they put vertical blinds in a brand new custom home? Yuck!

3. There are more helicopter chases in Tucson than in any other city in which I've lived. For the record, I have lived in many cities, including a residence in Adams Morgan, the heart of Washington, D.C.'s nightlife. OK, fine, it's not Southeast D.C., but still, if there were to be helicopter pursuits/searches in Northwest D.C., I believe Adams Morgan would qualify for a likely venue. Which brings me, weirdly, to Tucson. Not a hot nightlife scene, quiet, dark (no streetlights here), and seemingly peaceful. But when the bewitching hour of 11pm rolls around, especially on Friday nights, this place sounds like a scene from "Cops." So weird.

4. I would like to see demographic statistics of this place because I swear that 50% of the population is under the age of 25, and the other 50% is over 45. Where are mid-range people? Where, oh where?

5. Finally, I am going to address the issue of Tucson's old cars. Today, I decided to scout around my neighborhood on my bicycle after class. Mind you, I only tapped into about six total blocks of street area, yet check out the treasure trove of 70s and 80s automobiles I found in such a tiny radius. The really amusing bit is that my grandmother's old 1988 Honda Accord (with flip-up lights, thank you very much) that I drive here is actually young compared to some of these machines. Here is a photo record of my findings... again, one day --- one neighborhood... the number of old cars simply boggles the mind:

First, the Japanese collection (there are far more old Japanese cars around than American cars, and I attribute that completely to the superiority of Japanese engineering):


My god, what is this car? Its shape says "Datsun" to me, but the back of the car had NO make or model on it so I'm just venturing a guess. Definitely 1970s vintage.



Lo and behold, it's another Datsun. I believe I checked the back of the car, and this is a Datsun 610 Wagon, year unknown. Anyone want to venture a guess?



Oh look! It's a Honda Prelude circa 1979! We had a little 1980 Honda Civic when I was growing up, but I think this is an even older model (when the Civic had that really round little back on its hatchback). Can you believe how much the Prelude has changed? I took this pic in a church parking lot, and the only other car in the lot had all of these crazy Jesus stickers all over it. It reminded me of the Koresh compound so I snapped the picture and scrambled away so as not be questioned by the firebrands.



Here is the Datsun pick-up truck, likely from the early 1980s. Note the "Datsun" logo on the front grill. My dad had a truck just like this when we lived in Florida in 1980, but his was a green Toyota.



This is a Toyota Celica circa 1980 (I must admit to taking this photo in the airport parking lot... but this is the only one taken outside of my small neighborhood). This was the car I had in high school, except that mine was colored butter yellow.

The American Collection:


I was quite sure this was the sedan version of the AMC Eagle (better known as the car given away by Wink Martindale on "Tic Tac Dough"), but upon closer inspection from the chain link fence surrounding this pebble-strewn home, I concluded that it was some type of Chrysler. If anyone can enlighten me in the comments section, I would be a better person for it.



This baby here is a Chevy Nova. Too cool for school.



I love this one. Although it doesn't appear driveable, I have a special affinity for the old Thunderbird because my aunt and uncle had a green one back in the early 80s. I distinctly remember riding in the back seat and being totally psyched about my "mini-window" that I could peer out of.



Let us not forget the 70s workhorse, everyone's favorite: the El Camino. I'm not sure if its owners were protecting the hood from the sun or if they were covering up a gaping hole that spelled out "no engine, " but either way, I had to include it.

6. On a final happy note, I purchased a very eccentric plant over the weekend at the Phoenix Botanical Garden. It's latin name has "fenestreria" or something like that in it (meaning window), but its common name is "baby toes" because it looks like, well, baby toes. However, I assert that it looks much more like a little sack of french fries. Apparently, it gets light through the ends of its stalks, which have these little clear windows. It's really bizarre but oh so cute. It looks bigger in this photo than it really is. It's only about 3 - 4" high and the pot's diameter is only about 5". Here he is perched on my bathroom window sill:


Meow!