Today, we bundled 6 things into a single day. We didn’t get home until late but had a great time in the process.
Our first goal was to get rid of our recycling. We recycle extensively in Des Moines but find it a bit difficult to do on the road. Since we have not been staying at campgrounds which recycle, we have been carrying around a few grocery bags full of papers, newspapers, clean cans, clean bottles and clean plastic containers. A few weeks ago we noticed several recycling containers near a park and today we are going right by that park. Let’s recycle. Since the neighborhood gets any money from the recycling, they can have ours.
In Phoenix is the Pueblo Grande Museum and the Hohokam village which instigated it. We had planned to visit this sometime while we were in the Phoenix area but for one weekend in December they hold an Indian Art fair and we decided to combine the two. The art fair is held in a dirt parking lot near the museum and there were venders throughout the lot along with food vendors on the side. There was also a stage where they had scheduled entertainment.
What beautiful art we saw here. There were jewelers, katsina makers, basket weavers, artists, potters, rug weavers, and a variety of other arts shown. Were these museum quality pieces - I’m thinking that many were. I know I sure liked them and appreciated the intricacies of them. One silver bracelet had inlays of stones with tiny holes drilled in them for silver points. Of course, the prices reflected the artistry and time needed to design and execute the piece. This bracelet was priced at $750.00. Well worth it in design but not what I was going to pay.
Here are some of the katsinas and here is a rug weaver plying her trade at the fair. She had no rugs for sale in her booth but had an album of her work and took orders.
We also enjoyed the music and the dancer who were both on the stage. The musician played the violin and an dilute to the accompaniment of a drum. He was quite a showman and his artistry is well known. He is going to play one of his own pieces with the Chandler Symphony in the spring.
But it was the Derrick Suwaima Davis, a hoop dancer that we enjoyed the most. He has won 5 World Hoop Dancing Championships. In the spring every year, the Heard Museum holds the hoop dancing championships. Now, I didn’t know what hoop dancing was but I’ve got a pretty clear idea now. What an unexpected treat to see this world champion hoop dancer at this smaller art show on a Sunday in December. Especially since we hadn’t expected this.
At one time he twirled two hoops on his arm, one above the elbow and one below. No big deal, you say. Well, the hoops were twirling in different directions: one going clockwise and the other going counterclockwise. Oh, yeah, did I tell you that he is dancing at the same time in and out of the other 3 hoops. Me? I always thought patting my head and rubbing my tummy was difficult.
At one point he has one hoop lying on the dirt, he steps into it and, quicker than my eye can follow, his feet have picked the hoop up and it is around his knees.
At another point, he has interlocked 4 hoops, placed them on the found and, as he is jumping over this ball of hoops, he jumps through the 5th hoop he has in his hand.
If you want to see his championship dance, log on to this site.
And, for more of hoop dancing and to see the 2011 winners, log on to this site. Check out the dance of Tony Duncan, the 2011 winner.
Meanwhile, if you’re ever in Phoenix in February, check out the championships.
When Davis was done with his hoop dance, we got to hear something from the other members of his ‘band’, one of whom was from Japan. He had come to America to become a rock star but is now playing instruments for Native American dancing. What a journey that has been. Of all the songs he chose to play from his native country, he chose - are you ready? - Sukiyaki, a hit from the 60’s.
Next we headed over to the Museum which was connected to the Hohokam ruins in the courtyard. The Hohokam numbering about 40,000 lived in the Valley from 1A.D. to 1450 and built some 60 - 130 miles of canals extending 1000 miles to irrigate their 100,000 acres of crops. This area used to be dotted with dozens of Hohokam villages and farmsteads, growing squash, corn, beans and cotton. All that is left now is a ball court where they competed, some adobe walls and some slight indentations in the ground where their canals used to be. What is amazing is that they built designed this massive canal system and built it using only the most rudimentary of tools: a digging stick, a stone hoe and a stone weight.
I found the usage of the stone weight the most interesting. Obviously canals need to be built on a slant so that the water moves around from the water source to the first field, to the next and around all the fields to the last one on the line.To get this slant correct and consistent so the water didn’t pool in one place took exact measurement and they did this with a stone hanging from a stick, a rudimentary transit which surveyors use.
There was a diagram of this area with what is the archeologists’ best guess of where some of their canals were. Note how extensive the canal system was. It is throught that the canals in Phoenix today are merely ‘re-digs’ of the original Hohokam canals.
There was also a mural on an opposite wall with a theorized Hohokam village and fields.
We left the museum and the grounds, walked through the lot where the Indian artists were packing up and headed out to our car. Our goal next was to see the Morman church in Mesa which has a huge lighting display each Christmas season. However, it was only 4:30, time for dinner and we hadn’t had anything since breakfast. We found the closest In-N-Out only about a mile away. Now, if you’ve followed this blog, you know that Gary and I like In-N-Out, the only fast food we will eat. It is fresh, it is good and it is inexpensive.
Now, fed, we are off to Mesa to see the huge lighting display of the LDS, Mormon, church. And, huge it is. Here are some pictures of what we saw. But what we enjoyed the most was the crowd. We hadn’t expected so many families milling about. There were many extended families, many mom/pop/child families and lots of couples also. And all were chattering, oohing and aching, pointing out their favorite lights and taking pictures. A friendly crowd. There was also a choir which sang. Here are some of the lighting displays.
And finally, after such a fun filled day, we headed home with a 6-Fer under our belts: recycling done, Indian Art Fair, a world champion hoop dance artist, the Hohokam Museum and Pueblo, dinner at In-N-Out and the LDS lighting display. This will be difficult to top. Especially since we’ve got 2 days of rain in the forecast. We’re thinking laundry, Christmas cards and bill paying.
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