When I moved to Arizona nearly five years ago, it wasn’t all that much different from my home on California’s central coast. The climate is definitely drier, but very similar. It’s a western state so there was no culture shock there. And there was plenty ‘o’ Mexican food to be had just like my home in sunny C.A.
But there were some things that took some gettin’ used to.
Take, for instance, the rear auto window dedication. You know what I’m talking about? Apparently Arizonans are big fans of this practice, though I can’t make any sense of it myself. I’ll be driving down the road and there, on the car in front of me, I see:
In Loving Memory of Mama.
6-12-54 to 9-1-2005
She’s Been Given Her Wings
What?!
Seriously? Who does that? What’s wrong with a headstone? Or do you really think that honor and respect is brought to Mama via the dusty back window of your 2002 Buick?
Moving right along though.
I also am amazed at the vendors who set up shop right there on the roadside. I’ve seen everything from rugs, to metal yard art, to locally harvested honey to slot machines. Yes. Slot machines. Because if that’s not a spur of the moment purchase I don’t know what is.
Not all of the strange sights are bad necessarily.
Just this weekend we were stopped at a red light and noticed some nice folks in neon vests camped out in the median. They had positioned themselves at a few of the major intersections in town and were offering cold bottled water to motorists.
How cool is that? I was telling Torri that visitors to this fine city of ours would be so impressed with our hospitality. Don’t ya think?
Unfortunately though we also seem to have our fair share of homeless people. They, too, camp out at major intersections and don the neon vests. Instead of giving out bottled water, they sell newspapers. Where they get the newspapers from is beyond me but at least they’re trying right?
Last week I saw one homeless lady trying extra hard.
She wasn’t selling newspapers; she had a different approach.
An approach that involved a pillow shoved up her dress in a misguided effort to appear pregnant. She even delivered her best rendition of a pregnant waddle. If the corners of that pillow hadn’t been so obvious she may have convinced a passerby (traveling at a very high speed and in need of vision correction) or two.
Lots to see here in the desert southwest.
I’d be happy to play tour guide should you ever venture my way. :)
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh I am cracking up. That rear window dedication- I’ve seen some before. Oh my.
And I was just really missing you yesterday. Even told Maria that.
Steph
haha this is hysterical — those window dedications always are so classy . . .
Those window things crack me up too. I mean I get that someone has lost a loved one. And I get that they don’t want to forget them, but in the back window of the truck? Seriously? I don’t get it either. Oh, and the next time we find ourselves in AZ, I’m totally lookin you up. I think we’d be fast friends. And because, I’d really love to see that laundry room live and in person. =)
You are too great! My husband and I were just talking about those windom dedications and the roadside ones yesterday while we were out and about.
Bottled water? That is pretty swanky…and to think that I was impressed by the lemonade stand at the intersection of Kolb and Valencia!!! I guess that I’m missing out.
See, and I thought the window memorials were a southern thing. What is up with that? Very odd. So tell me…do you have truck nutz out there too?
And I do want to visit you one day, though for sanity’s sake the kids will need to be older. We want to drive west and do the big griswold-type Grand Canyon vacay, and I’d like to go to several other western states as well.
I was laughing at this – we have the same things in New Mexico…except the people with bottled water want donations. Oh and the most popular vehicle color is primer gray!
I see the rear window dedication in Northwest Indiana, and I almost drive off the road every time trying to read it and figure out the purpose of it. I just don’t get it!
Never seen a fake pregnant homeless lady. Maybe that’s why my school corporation requires so much documentation before allowing a maternity leave… they must think I’ve got a pillow under my dress.
Apparently Georgia and Arizona are one in the same.
This is so funny. Too bad you didn’t have your handy little handbag camera!
And that Random Act of Water Bottles has been done by that church for years! Whenever I am there in the spring I always see my friends on the corners passing them out!
You should have yelled out the window as you drove by “your pillow is showing!!!” If it were me it would have cracked me up. I always crack myself up. Maybe I’m the only one I crack up.
Ahhh…AZ sounds like a great place!
What an odd custom… I’ve never seen window tributes here in the Inland Northwest – guess we’re not hip to those cool big city trends yet. ;) I’ve also read on another blog about how people are putting monograms on their back window, which is yet another thing I don’t get.
Have a lovely Mother’s Day weekend! You deserve it!