Monthly Archives: February 2010

Picture Rocks Fire Department Rocks!

28 Sunday Feb 2010

Posted by in American habits and customs, Animals in the U.S., Arizona, Italian women, Uncategorized

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Our friends Elena and Michela, sisters, arrived from Italy for a visit a couple of weeks ago.  It was their first ever plane ride and, obviously, their first visit to the USA.  We ran ourselves ragged seeing the sights the Phoenix-Tucson area offers, and each day I asked them what had impressed/amused/irritated them the most.

The answers were pretty much the same each day – everything is bigger here than in Italy (cars, roads, even the host at communion); everything is so clean. Elena was fascinated by the Adopt-a-Highway program, something which does not (yet) exist in Italy.

But the thing that amazed them the most, over and over, was how friendly and welcoming people here are.  (Interestingly, when we moved to Italy we were struck by how very welcoming people there were to us.)   Elena and Michela both enjoy meeting new people in new situations.  Michela has a special gift for drawing people out.  Her secret?  She just walks up to people and starts speaking to them in Italian; they are completely charmed.  Then it’s my turn to insinuate myself as translator, and before you know it, we all have some new friends.

Nowhere was this better illustrated than in Picture Rocks, north of Tucson.  The famous Mrs. Harris took Elena, Michela and me to the fascinating and beautiful Arizona-Senora Desert Museum.  If you’re ever in Arizona this is so worth a visit –  you can learn about all the Sonora Desert plants and see all the animals that are residents, including (among many others) the Harris Hawk

and the dozy mountain lion.

But the really exciting part of the day happened as we were on our way home.  A big red fire engine pulled in to the gas station where we stopped to tank up.  As Michela is an avid amateur photographer, Mrs. H marched up to the firemen and asked if it would be alright if Michela photographed the truck.

Of course! was the answer.  They couldn’t have been nicer.  They opened up all the doors and secret compartments of the engine so she could photograph them, and explained what all the different tools were and how they are used.  Then they got permission from the Fire Chief to give Michela a ride to the fire station in the truck.

(Not the best picture ever taken of Michela, but one that shows her glee.)

Back at the fire station the kindness escalated.  We were all given Fire Department tee shirts – deep blue, my color!  Then they found a helmet for Michela to try on, and before we knew it, she was all kitted out in complete fire-fighting regalia.

We were given a tour of the whole building – including the kitchen where the smell of cooking brisket got our appetites revved up.

Some of the firemen who weren’t present at the moment were summoned, and we took pictures of the whole  group in front of the beautiful fire engine.

They showed us the small plastic name tags that they each have attached to the inside of their helmets with velcro.  Anyone who goes into a burning building removes his name tag and leaves it with those remaining outside.  That way, as one of the firemen told us, “they’ll know whose mother to call.”  It was a reminder that much of their work is hot, dirty, hard, dangerous and unhappy.  They each removed their name tags and velcroed them to a strip of cloth for Michela to take back to Italy, a symbol of a new friendship – it was a real hands across the ocean moment.

Picture Rocks Fire Department employs about 64 people, men and women, and covers an area of about 64 square miles.  They are very likely to be called out numerous times daily, because in addition to fighting fires, they are the emergency response team.

All in all we spent about an hour and a half at the fire station – it was the highlight of the sisters’ visit to Arizona, and certainly one of the most interesting and moving experiences I’ve ever had here. Every member of the team was generous and kind to us, for no reason other than that that’s how they are. It was humbling.

And oh yeah – they gave Michela the helmet to take home, too – a real helmet that had been damaged and can no longer be used.  Our friends left on Thursday evening, and they had an interesting time packing around that helmet.  But they, and the helmet, have arrived safely back in Rapallo with some memories which we hope they will never forget; we know we won’t.

Here are a few more photos from our visit to the Picture Rocks Fire Department which, I have to imagine, is the best Fire Department in the world.

Fire Chief: Kathy Duff-Stewart - 27 years service with the department!

Fire Chief Kathy Duff-Stewart, 27 years service with the department!

Home Away from Home

14 Sunday Feb 2010

Posted by in Arizona, Shopping, Uncategorized

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Though I don’t do it often, I love to shop; the words ‘retail therapy’ resonate with me in same way ‘comfort food’ does. Both can offer a brief vacation from whatever ails your spirits.

It was therefore with a light heart that I set out with my Light Rail buddy for a little bit of therapy.

photo courtesy of evliving.com

Look familiar? Do they ALL look like this? My friend A. and I visit Ikea in Genova when we need furnishings or other items for the house, and they seldom disappoint. For clean design and reasonable workmanship, materials and price, it’s hard to beat Ikea. (Note – in Italy we call it Ee-kay-ah, here in the US it is called Eye-key-ah.)

Once inside I was transported immediately back to the familiar territory of the Genova store – it was all identical, except for the language of the signs.


Our first stop, because we got a late start, was the cafeteria, which serves the same Swedishy dishes we eat in Italy – smoked salmon, shrimps on a boiled egg with mayo, meatballs. We opted for the shrimp salad and something that I’ve not seen in Italy, a thick cream of mushroom soup – all yummy, as usual, and a good lunch for just over $5.

After we picked up the few odds and ends we ‘needed’ we made a stop at the food store, which looked almost identical to the one in Genova, though perhaps not quite as large.

But wait – there’s something missing!  Where’s the coffee bar??  It’s not there!  Instead there is this:

No doubt you can get coffee there, perhaps not cappucino though.  And I dare you to try to find the hot dog at the coffee bar in Genova!

So they do make some accommodation to location, evidently.  But the stores are enough alike that I suffered a moment’s complete disorientation when we emerged into the bright Arizona sun.  Where was our car?  We always park underneath the store… and why does the parking lot look so different?  Oh yeah, that’s right, we’re not in Italy, are we.  But it’s nice to know that whenever I get really homesick for ‘over there’ I can just drive down the I-10, walk into the Phoenix Ikea and become confused enough to think I’m a continent away.

Luciano

08 Monday Feb 2010

Posted by in Cats

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He was an expatriate cat. Born somewhere in about 1990, he was abandoned in a state park in Norfolk, Connecticut. Friends who lived adjacent to the park were able to lure him into a cat carrier with food – he was such a scrawny adolescent boy – and they gave him to us because the Captain had a hankering for a marmalade kitty.

He lived in our bathroom for a week; I spent several hours daily just sitting on the floor, talking to him softly, coaxing him to come for a treat, a little scritch, and finally to sit in my lap. Turns out he was a lover. And a talker. That’s how he got his name. He used to walk down our long driveway with me every morning when I went for the paper, and he sang the whole way down. So we named him after Pavarotti.

When we moved permanently to Italy he moved too, becoming a very cosmopolitan cat. He never let it go to his head, though. He stayed his usual lovable, talkative self, and he grew hugely fat, like his namesake.

He used to love to sleep on the roof of the rustico below our house. There was just one problem – while he could get up on the roof, he couldn’t get down, so his penchant for going there always ended up with me at one end of a long board and him delicately tiptoeing down towards me from the other.

He was such a well behaved and lovable gentlemen that friends were always willing to take him in for several months when we began to return to the States for annual visits. That was lucky for us, and even luckier for him. This year he was with two young women who adored him and cared for him beautifully. They asked to watch over him, knowing that he had renal failure and that it was likely he would die while we were away.

That’s just what happened today. He slipped away in his sleep at the age of 18 or 19, and has been buried next to the dog Balto, who probably would’ve eaten him in life, but who will guard him in death. He had a pretty interesting life for a cat and I think it was a good life. I know he made our life much better just by being the cat he was, and we will miss him so much.

Hiking Dogs

02 Tuesday Feb 2010

Posted by in Animals in the U.S., Dogs, Hiking in Arizona, Photographs, Uncategorized

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Lucy

It’s great fun to see dogs out hiking the Arizona trails with their people friends.  Whether large or small, one thing they all have in common is a great big doggy smile; they all seem to love being out in the desert.

Most of the dogs we meet are family pets and have the usual background story. Every now and then, though, we meet a special dog, like Josie.

Josie

Evidently there are packs of dogs roaming wild in the parks.  They have either gotten lost or have been taken to the desert and abandoned by people who no longer want them.  It is natural for dogs to form packs, and that’s what these solitary dogs do.  Josie had been a pack dog, but had been injured, become infected, and was near death when a ranger came upon her and carried her out.  Her owner, a friend of the ranger, quickly volunteered to adopt Josie.  Friendly and affectionate, it seems that Josie knows what a lucky dog she is.  “She’s the best dog I’ve ever known,” says her owner, who feels pretty lucky too.

Sometimes we see pack dogs of a different type, and these I don’t photograph.  These dogs ride in a pack on their owners’ backs or chests.  Somehow, cute as they are, they just don’t belong in a group called “Hiking Dogs.”

I began photographing dogs on the trail a year or so ago, and at the beginning I didn’t keep track of where we were or what the dogs’ names were.  I’ve tried to be more careful about that recently, but sadly, some of the dogs I’ve captured are unidentified. Here’s a web album where you will find some more portraits of hiking dogs – select ‘slide show’, F11 for full screen (I’ll continue adding photos as I take them on future hikes, so check back again sometime).

Most of the people we encounter with their pets are delighted to be photographed, and almost to a one they tell their dogs, “You’re going to be famous!” when I explain the project is for a blog. Well, the dogs will never know that’s not true, will they!

Sage