In the footsteps of Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp and Spanish missionaries

Tombstone, "The Town Too Tough To Die", wasn't all that tough today, as it was mostly empty. Maybe because it was a Sunday and I was there in the morning when all those chuch-going folk were someplace else. But it was fun to walk down Allen Street, browse the stores in the old buildings, and see the old courthouse. I admit I was tempted by some of the nice Western shirts and the Stetsons, not to mention the store full of cowboy boots, but I managed to restrain myself. Loved the old cemetery - Boot Hill - and seeing the graves of the people who were shot in the OK Corral way back when.

I decided to have a late breakfast at a small-town Denny's around noon today. Nothing special, except for the fact that I was the youngest person in there by at least 20 years. I was just wondering why when I twigged that church must have just ended - the priest was sitting in a corner booth. He was greeted by half the people in there, so I figured it was probably the parish hang-out for the older folks. Still, a good place to have a cheap, fast breakfast.

My next stop was the Mission San Xavier del Bac on the San Xavier Reservation, where the local Pima or 'O'odham live. The mission church is the best-preserved and considered one of the most beautiful in the U.S. Looking at it, one can certainly see why. It's a snow-white Spanish Baroque-style building in the middle of a very arid strip of land, beatifully embellished inside and out by 'O'odham craftsmen. It was pretty crowded around the church (Sunday!), with lots of folks coming up from Mexico - which is just a few miles down the road - and from around the reservation. There are lots of stalls outside selling yummy fry bread, and it's a good place to sit for a couple of hours - in the shade, if possible - to just watch the people milling about.

The church itself is impressive, even to an old atheist like me. It's pretty clear that the people who worked on it believed in something, and it was also very clear that most people who were there today believe in the same thing. An older, not entirely sober man came up to me outside the entrance and informed me - completely out of the blue - that he was afraid of going inside because it was too beautiful and he was afraid that seeing it could change his world. Which apparently wouldn't have been a bad thing, considering that he had "failed his lady and failed his kids, and done bad things" (his words). I never thought I'd ever tell someone that I've heard that good old JC was supposed to be a forgiving guy but he looked like he needed to hear something like that. Weird moment, really.

I had to go through another checkpoint today, and this time the border patrol guys took a close look at my car. Who knows, maybe I look like I'm smuggling illegal immigrants across the border in my car ...

And, finally, a funny thing here in Tucson: the I-19 that leads down to Mexico has metric signs. Who'd have thought I'd see the words "Next exit, 1 km" in the States. Must be the Mexican influence.

Oh, one other thing: I seem to have become addicted to The Weather Channel. I have been watching it almost exclusively for the past two weeks. Fascinating stuff.

Tombstone













San Xavier del Bac