Shameless promotion

Since I can't come anywhere close to the talent that my Dad has, I thought I could shamelessly promote his works of art.

I'll post more pictures of things that he sells more of. But all of what he makes are each handmade. Everything except the javelinas are also hand painted.

Anyway, he has made these bunnies from time to time. In December, he arranged the bunnies around a tree in the front yard. He saw a Harris hawk dive for the bunnies. At the last seccond, the hawk realized something was up since the bunnies weren't moving and flew away. That inspired him to make this:
You can see one of his bunnies about to be grabbed by a hawk. He doesn't like how visible the fishing line is holding up the hawk.

Here is a more upclose shot of the front of his hawk. The funny thing is that I started to see the real hawks gather in a nearby tree the weekend this was hung. Wonder if they worry someone is invading their turf.

Here's a shot from behind the hawk. You can sort of see how each wing took two days to hand carve and paint.

These images are copyright by my Dad. If you like what you see, please comment. I'll be posting more pictures here as I get them.

Committaphobia?

Tucson seems to have issues when it comes to big improvement projects.

Seven years ago, a ten year bond package was approved to build condos and new business to revitalize the downtown area. The project is called Rio Nuevo. The only thing I see after seven years of tax collecting is a sign and a park. Now, they're considering keeping the tax for thirty years.

Then there's the I-10 widening project. I-10 running through metro Tucson is three lanes (no HOV). In the morning, it backs up four or five miles. So a project was drafted to widen I-10 through Tucson and was supposed to get started at the beginning of the year.

It was going to be a difficult project. They were going to close most of the on and off ramps through metro Tucson so that the entire project could be done in two or three years instead of ten years. Plans were drawn up to allow for ambulances to access the off ramps to be able to get to the metro hospitals. Local newspapers had published articles warning of the closures. Some of the gem and mineral shows had posted detours for the construction.

But I knew something was up when there were no posted signs on I-10 around Tucson warning of the upcoming construction. Sure enough, January has come and passed with no start date in sight. The reason - to conduct a fesibility study to build extra lanes UNDERGROUND. I laughed out loud.

For starters, the odds are very likely that they'll uncover Hohokam ruins if they dig underground. That will delay the project by a few years while the scientists do their surveys. Second, the ground isn't the best to support underground freeways. Oh, and let's not forget that the areas around I-10 in metro Tucson is all built up. Building on and off ramps to accomodate the existing ramps sounds like a logistical nightmare.

Sure enough, last week they concluded that underground I-10 will take an extra three years and cost an extra $200 million. So, the underground tunnels are scrapped. Now the plan is to begin the original plan "sometime this summer". Which is really a better idea. Snowbirds don't know how to drive already, and having such a complex construction project start when they're on the road was a bad idea.

I'll probably be living in Phoenix area by the time they get started on the construction project. Which is fine with me, the current exit I take to get home will be closed in this plan.