from Mary in Bisbee, AZ

It's been awhile. I do love that we are all reaching out to one another now. I 

do wish we had a different Potus. Duh.

Dear Ones - I am sending good wishes and good thoughts your way.  

I went to Mexico yesterday for my eye exam - At the Border entrance 

there were two Mexican  public health nurses with a huge bottle of Purell 

where our hands and arms were cleansed.  A doctor was standing by with a 

stethoscope.  Everybody at the doc’s office was wearing gloves and masks.  

Even the girls at the desk.  I carried my antiseptic wipes with me and 

wiped down every surface - behind me -- double duty, since they were 

wiping down everything meticulously also.

When I came back through the entrance to America, there were absolutely 

no precautions.  I was shocked.  Everybody was using their bare hands to 

open the gates.  I asked one of the Border guards about why they weren't 

using the same precautions the Mexicans were using, and he said that they 

didn't have instructions or permission.....Then he said  "Why do you think 

we are all wearing gloves?”

So much for our government's oversight....

So far, there are no known cases in Cochise County, but Bisbee isn't taking 

any chances -our library is shut down, the gift shop down at the San Pedro is 

closed.   However, we are going to be working outside today to finish putting 

in our butterfly garden down there.  

I read that you are all on 'shelter in place' orders.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.  I will check in again this afternoon.

report from Bisbee, AZ

Folks around here are marveling at how quiet it is here at the Border in Southeast 

Arizona.   Both crossings - Douglas and Naco are quiet  - with people coming and 

going and business as usual. (No national guards have been spotted) Tuesday I 

went to Aqua Prieta to get my eyes checked; and had a conversation with my 

doc's assistant about "Manifest Destiny" (he brought it up).  Thought it explained 

a lot about the American government's attitude.

Yesterday my dental hygienist - who is Mexican American - marveled at how 

heartless the Trump administration is - and with the blessing of some many 

people - none of whom we know.  We saw the CNN interview with the 

horrid old people in Mesa, Arizona and  decided that Mesa is one place 

you don't want to go -- not even to stop for gas. She told me about growing 

up here before 9/11 and how everybody just walked back and forth across 

the border, shopping and visiting.   Then the Feds came and built the fences 

and everybody had to get a Border pass card to go back and forth.  All of it 

irrelevant to life down here -- and a big inconvenience.  A couple of weekends 

ago, there was a communal Border concert in Douglas and Aqua Prieta - 

singing and dancing and sharing food through the fence.  (My next door neighbor 

did her fire dancing as part of the celebration)  Of course it got no news coverage 

whatsoever...…

Meanwhile we are heartsick at the plight of all the refugee children and parents - who are considered an "infestation" by our president.

Now I'm going out to fill my bird feeders and water my garden.  

back to Bisbee

Here, from an email from my friend Mary:

Since I don't do 'social media' I'm sending out my occasional group 

news concerning life down here at the Border in Arizona.  There are 

lots of wrong assumptions about the Arizona folks living at the 

Border in Arizona. As one woman recently put it - "We don't 

want folks in the Rust Belt thinking they know what's good for us.  

We've got it good down here.  Just leave us alone."  

A lot of us cross the Border for vision care, dental care. derm care  

and prescriptions.  Everybody on the other side has always been 

extremely polite and kind.  The hateful rhetoric coming out of Trump's 

mouth and echoed by his followers makes life tense down here and 

we don't appreciate it.  

See link below to local news

Nogales mayor weighs in on border wall and immigration

news from the border

(an email from Mary in Bisbee, Arizona)

What a glorious moon!  It was so bright that my varmint cats 

stayed inside, fearing the coyotes who were roaming about in 

the ditch out front, tracking the javalinas.  At 4am the 

hummingbirds were already up (thinking it was dawn?)  

In the light of the setting moon, the neighbor’s little female 

Arctic wolf jumped her fences and was taking a leisurely stroll.   

Later, my best friend Nelson and I went down to Douglas to 

shop at the Border Walmart.  We grabbed some shopping 

carts from the parking lot, because so many of them are 

left at the entrance to Mexico.  The store was filled as usual 

with Anglo’s, Mexicans and a mixture of various other 

ethnicities.  There was no descernable tension because of 

the election.  It was the same as always.  Voices talking in 

both English and Spanish.  As we left, we joined a group 

admiring the a beautiful 2 week old Mexican baby boy.   

We then went to The Border Dennny;s so that Nelson could 

indulge in his favorite pancakes.  This place was also filled 

with a variety of the human species. All this was happening 

a stone’s throw from the big ole double fence where people 

were crossing freely back and forth with no hassle.  

The politicians up North and in Middle America are all 

yammering about the Border "crisis", but nobody comes 

down here to look around or talk with us.  There are so few 

of us right at the Border compared to the rest of the state 

and country – what does it matter what we think?  As one 

man put it,  ‘The bad part is nobody cares what we think.  

The good part is nobody cares what we think.  We pay taxes 

so that they will leave us alone.”  

The Tohono O’odham nation has announced that they will 

not allow a wall to be built on their land at the Border.  

Meanwhile, life goes on in these sparsely populated mountains.  

It’s a mixed bag down here and we are for the most part a 

pretty polite, yet sometimes, guarded, group of high desert 

dwellers.

A bumper sticker I saw recently on a pickup truck is indicative 

of the complexity of life down here:

  ARMED LIBERAL.

I wish peace under that great big ole momentous Moon shining 

blessings on us all, man and beast.

Mary

from Bisbee, Az

Yes, I still hear from my friend Mary who is very happy in her small but
vibrant town that is so close to the border with Mexico. She sent this
photo saying that this is rather common (the lightning and rainbow), but
not easy to capture in a photo and this one is terrific.

it's been too long...

...since we heard from Mary in Bisbee. Here, from a recent email:

This morning after gym, I stopped by the coffee shop downtown and
spent some time talking with the old guys that I fondly think of as the 
Old Bull Shitters Club.  We discussed all the recent horror and sadness
in the world at length; and then decided we needed a little bit of news 
closer to home  - and so  one of the men read us the Bisbee Police Beat
report for the week.
For your information and edification - small town mountain news:
     There were the usual dogs running wild, skunks under houses, loud 
drunks in front of St. Elmos, javalinas trapped in yards, rattlesnakes 
behind computers, feral cat attacks, children throwing rocks, and then these bits:
 - A man called from Van Dyke Street stating he brought a woman with 
him back from Tucson, doesn't know her name or whereabouts, but 
knows that she owes him money.
- A person reported that a man was sitting on the recycle bins on Mason
Addition Road, then fell in and hit his head, causing bleeding on his face.
- A male subject, looking all beat up, loaded his backpack up with beer at 
Safeway and left the store.
- A subject on Barnett Road, upset over the gas company starting work 
early, brandished a weapon, then went back inside.
- A man wanted to file a complaint because he couldn't get his girlfriend out of his head.
And finally -
-  A caller on Spring Canyon stated he couldn't find his way out of Bisbee.
Hope you have a very fine weekend.
And now - for work in the dirt.
Mary

the fire without

My friend Mary has been emailing me about the huge fires in
Arizona and I wanted to update my readers too. They are
awaiting the rains, but the good news is that the human
spirit remains beyond amazing:

Good Morning!

The sun is up. The air is still. The fire is still burning in the Huachucas and will probably go the whole length of the mountain chain - but in some places it has leaped over canyons, leaving them intact except for the tops of trees. Since the wind died down three days ago the firefighters have managed to keep it from leaping across Highway 92 again. We are no long breathing smoke over in Bisbee. But we are aware of the burning. The fire in the Chirachauas on the east side of the county is likewise contained but burning across the whole mountain chain. Of course both these fires are going to have a long lasting effect on Cochise County. But people are in amazing spirits. When I was at the Safeway yesterday, one of the checkers had lost her home. And here she was at work. She said, "Oh, well. It's just things. We got our animals out safe. So, all we lost were things." This is one of several conversations I have had that show me a surprising side of the people that I live among these days.

baseball in Bisbee?

(a v. cool email from my friend Mary...baseball is such a strange game
and it hooks us in different ways, different places in the country.)

I've been watching the baseball playoffs. - starting from the end of
each series. Funny, I didn't follow the season, then I sort of turned
on the t.v. and flipped by a game in progress and thought 'Oh. SF!
I didn't know they were in the playoffs!' and stopped and got caught

up in the drama that is baseball. So all of these faces and playing

styles are new and fresh and (wow) a surprise. I watched Phillie
beat the Giants - what a struggle! The Giants' pitcher looked like
a little gawky teenager (until he pitched that ball!) ; and the young
catcher Posey looked like he needed permission to be out after dark.
The Phillie pitcher Halliday looked like he was ready to kick
somebody's ass at any minute. I found out later that he was playing
in pain with a pulled groin. I'm looking forward to seeing the game
in Phily tonight.

My friend Nancy Reed (and part time Bisbee dweller) worked for
the Texas Rangers, so last night after she called me to tell me they
were playing, I watched them beat the Yankees. It was all over at
the end of the 5th inning. The Rangers had effectively out-batted
and then psyched out the Yankees ( Ranger pitcher Lewis leading
the psych assault); and then Cruz's homer later in the game was
just the icing on the cake. When I started watching the game, I
was just watching dispassionately, and didn't care who won - but
around the third inning I inexplicably started inwardly cheering
for the Rangers (it's that part in me that takes in scarred stray cats
with attitude).

So, now I'm hooked. I hope the Giants win in Philly - mainly
because I have developed a motherly feeling toward Lincecum
and Posey. What a pair!

So, its' Fall here in the mountains at the Border and I am watching baseball!

and Falco makes three

It's been too long since we visited Bisbee, Az. and my dear friend
Mary. This is her photo of a storm gathering and when one lives
in dull fogged-in San Francisco, it looks unreal. I had the privilege
of reading Mary's novel-in-works when she lived here ~ as you
can see, she is an extremely gifted writer. It's a treat for me to
share her email with you this morning.

I have a foundling kitten that was pulled from a ditch of rushing muddy water during a monsoon downpour by a woman out near a place called Elfrida. Somehow I ended up with him.

Monsoon Report from the Mule Mountains - 2010:
It is such a strange year - record heat since 1962 - we stagger under the oppressive weight of the unrelenting heat, incessantly complaining to each other and swatting at the ever-present no-seeums which swarm around us. But then the monsoon rains arrive in the late afternoon. The rain itself is preceded by a stunningly beautiful sunset and, often, rainbows, with distant rolling thunder and lightening. The rain suddenly arrives here at Black Knob announcing itself with a blinding crack of lightening and a clap of thunder which shakes the house and sends my outside cat, Jack, running home through the first heavy drops which soon turn into a fierce downpour accompanied by the sound of the rushing stream that the road in front of my house becomes. All three cats (Jack, Sami and kitty Falco ) and I huddle inside (me with a flashlight at hand, candles at strategic places) in the stifling heat as night comes, while the house lights up and the thunder rolls and the rain pounds down. (and the electricity flashes off and on). Sometime around midnight the storm moves on, the excitement is over and we all sleep. The next day when people are out and around - again in the mind-numbing heat - they exchange anecdotes with friends and strangers of the storm at their house, appreciation of the beautiful sky and gratitude for the rain - especially after last years drought. We are all looking forward with anticipation to what this evening will bring. We know we will have a gorgeous sunset, We will look for the rainbow. We hope we will have rain. I love this place!!!

from the eye of the storm

Mary's photos: Out of Sight (above) and
End of the Road (below)

(I asked my friend Mary in Bisbee, AZ for her thoughts. And yes,
I too wish she had a blog. Fascinating. Thanks, Mary.)

Dear Mary Ann

I really don’t think I have anything intelligent to say that is worth

publishing about the whole situation. I live right on the firing line

so to speak. It's a very complex issue down here near the Border.

I think that people who don’t live near the Border and are applauding

this bill probably are just prejudiced against Hispanics; and likewise

the people from other states who are depicting Arizonans as a bunch

of racist gun-totting morons are prejudiced against anyone isn't a

textbook liberal. After all, the proposed law is only saying the local

police will enforce a federal law already on the books.

Around town in several shops down here there are boxes for people

to put in clothes and other necessities for the Deportee Center on

the other side of the Border in Naco (where they exit this country

after being deported) and I have put jeans and shoes and socks in

there. But on the other side of the issue, shortly after I moved to

this house, which is about five miles from The Border as the crow

flies, I was forced to use a loaded gun to drive away some very

dangerous looking 'coyotes' who were trying to break through

my front door. (this was before I had security screens put in).

Last winter I called the Border patrol to help some guys who

were at my door and seemed to be in trouble in the middle of

a fierce winter storm. The Border Patrol took them to the

hospital down the road where they were treated and one of

them was hospitalized.

Also, I'm not sure how much different things will be down here -

the local police routinely pick up illegals - there is a whole section

in the Bisbee weekly paper called "Border Patrol Assists" where

these events are listed - this is in the Police Activity section

(everybody reads this section to see if they know anybody who

got in trouble the week before - although a lot of it is small

stuff like removing skunks from under a house, rattlesnakes

from behind a dryer, etc).

As I understand it, all non-citizens in this country are supposed

to carry papers that say they have permission to be here -

i.e. visas, etc. - so the only difference is that this state law gives

Arizona police the power to enforce this national law which is

already on the books - but is not being enforced. Also, I believe

people have to be stopped for already breaking a law before the

police can check whether they are here illegally.

As it is now down here, the cops turn the illegals they stop over

to the Border Patrol, who dump them back across the Border

to Mexico through the little town of Naco - unless they are guilty

of a crime - then I'm not sure what happens to them. However,

I'm thinking if our cops start arresting these people and keep

them under local control- where will we keep these people?

How would they process them?

We already take care of scores of ill and injured border crossers

in our small local hospital and the Federal Government refuses

to repay the cost (around $350,000/yr) - and this is a poor

town. I just don't think we can afford to process and convict

these people who are probably mostly guilty of small crimes

and are here illegally.

I think the problem is that there are more and more criminals

crossing the border - not just normal poor folks looking for work.

The rancher who was shot and killed recently had a reputation

for helping illegals who were in trouble while trying to cross the

desert on his property. An old man out in Elfrida, a small

settlement East of here, was also helping some illegals recently

- i.e. he let them stay on his land to rest up - but they repaid him

by overpowering him - stealing money and his truck. All these

events make for a very troubling situation down here. People

want to do right toward their fellow man but are now having

second thoughts.

Folks pass by my house all the time after crossing the Border.

I have watched folks being picked up in cars, trucks, vans.

I have watched long silent lines passing in the night on the

road behind my house. I see bottles, other trash and back

packs that they have left behind. (See attached photos) I have

never called the Border Patrol on these folks. When I talk my

neighbors. they say the same thing: they never call the Border

Patrol unless they feel threatened.

The statistics for last year in this sector alone (Nogales east to

New Mexico border) are 300,000 illegals caught and returned

to Mexico last year. The newspapers were applauding that

the count was down from 375,000 the year before!

Yet – for the most part it is very quiet and peaceful here. I love
living here and actually feel safer and less threatened than I
did walking the streets of San Francisco. Although I am worried
about the large pack of coyotes that have taken over the territory
and can be seen and heard in the night running in the gully in
front of my house- I worry that they will catch and kill one of
my cats.