2016-11 5enses by 5enses

ALAN DEAN FOSTER throws stones in a not-glass house P.8

ROBERT BLOOD plays at an Eastern tale with Baul Theater Co. P.9

JAMES DUNGEON raises a brush for Skyview School art & dance with Arts Prescott Co-op P.16

NOVEMBER 2016 | VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 | 5ENSESMAG.COM

Magical Fairy Coats Now accepting commissions for fall and winter designs.

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5enses

November MMXVI Volume IV, Issue XI

Jennifer Temkin

In which:

4 5 5 8 9 10 12 + 14 6/7 16 18

knows a rose by any other name still, in fact, smells as sweet (as a rose)

COVER IMAGE: “Flight Risk,” digital art by Dale O’Dell, DalePhoto.Com.

Morganthal Persival Wheysleywillow III

calls out a pretty rare pretty bird

Kathleen Yetman

Find out more about “Encore,” a group art show at The Raven Café featuring “Flight Risk,” on pp. 10-11.

vegs out and garnishes your plate with a leafy food sure to brighten your mood

Alan Dean Foster

builds the case for sticks and stones for won’t-break-as-easily-homes

Robert Blood

plays with the idea of transcendence courtesy of the Baul Theater Co.

James Dungeon

is a ﬂy on the wall at a best-of-recenthistory show at The Raven Café

Ty Fitzmorris

“I dream my painting, then paint my dream.” ~Vincent Van Gogh

ﬁnds that the outdoors are still great despite their becoming greatly still

Paolo Chlebecek

Left Brain/Right Brain

wisens up to smart tech and turns you on to a world that’s always listening

Robert Blood s s

“Contemporary Eclecticism”

Discover events around Greater Prescott via a pop-sci metaphor

by Prescott Area Artists November 25—December 20 Reception Friday, November 25th 5 – 7

Oddly Enough

Smart, quirky comics about the strange-but-true by Russell Miller

In the ‘Tis Art Center Main Gallery 105 S. Cortez St. Prescott www.TisArtGallery.com

Adorn Your Lifestyle

@ Snap Snap Buy | Sell | Trade •

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928-776-8695

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5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2016 • CONTENTS • 3

Plant of the Month

Wood’s Rose Courtesy photo.

By Jennifer Temkin

tt! displays in all of Presco ht lig t es rg la e th of e On ent! A must-see holiday ev

Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary

& animal sights Opening Thanksgiving Weekend!

November 25 and 26, 2016 And continues every Friday & Saturday night from December 2 through December 31

6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

1403 Heritage Park Rd.; Prescott, AZ 86301 • www.HeritageParkZoo.org Phone: 928.778.4242 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported by the community.

4 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2016 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

s you hike in the ponderosa forests of the Central Arizona Highlands during fall, you may notice bright red little fruits in the understory along the trails. You just might be looking at the hips of Wood’s Rose. Roses are one of the most recognizable flowers worldwide, but many people are unaware that we have native roses growing wild nearby in our forests and along creeks in our riparian areas. They may not be as showy and extravagant as the cultivated roses you find commercially in a myriad of colorful varieties, but they’re spectacular in their own right. Our native rose has something to offer for all seasons. In early spring, the new shoot growth provides forage material for wildlife such as mule deer and antelope. As the thickets of wild rose leaf out, they provide dense habitat and coverage for small mammals and nesting birds. In late spring and early summer, the ends of their reddish prickle laden branches are covered in 2-inch pink, fragrant flowers that attract native bees with their protein rich pollen. As summer progresses, the pink petals fall from the flowers, and their fruits, rose hips, begin to grow and ripen. Rose hips are enjoyed by a variety of mammals, large and small, and many species of birds. There is a long history of Native American use of wild rose hips for food and medicine. They are very high in vitamin C and are commonly used in teas and jams. Fall brings amazing color to the foliage with shades of red, yellow, and orange. As fall turns into winter, the rose hips persist and provide a needed source of food for wildlife when forage is scarce. The contrast of the deep red

hips on snowy white branches is quite beautiful.

ood’s Rose, Rosa woodsia, is a common shrub that is native to the western half of North America. The genus Rosa translates to the color red and the specific epithet woodsii refers to an English botanist named Joseph Woods who was known for his early 1800s study of roses titled “Synopsis of the British Species of Rosa.” This thicket-forming shrub usually gets 3 to 5 feet tall and can spread to more than twice as wide. Its branches have alternate pinnate leaves consisting of five to nine leaflets with serrated edges. Typical to members of the rose family, Rosaceae, their flowers have five petals, five sepals, and numerous stamens. Wood’s Rose is a great native plant to add to your home landscape to attract birds and create habitat for wildlife. It grows spreading from the roots to form thickets, so it works well for erosion control on cliffs or along fence lines. In full sun you will get more flowers and fruit, but this species tolerates a good amount of shade. It is adapted to a wide variety of soil types and moisture levels, and does especially well in disturbed areas. This is one of the hardiest native shrubs you will find at your local nursery for the Highlands. ***** Visit the Highlands Center for Natural History at 1375 Walker Road, 928776-9550, or HighlandsCenter.Org. Jennifer Temkin is the Highlands Center operations director and a native plant enthusiast.

Bird of the month

Vegetable of the Month

Sora Photo by John West. By Morganthal Persival

Wheysleywillow III f you are looking to expand your “Big Year” list, the Sora is a great candidate worth considering. Sora are the most common and widely distributed rails in North America, yet few individuals will ever see one. It a small, secretive bird with a triangular shaped body, deep rear end, gray body, short, bright yellow bill, strong legs and a short tail with white on the underside. Adults are 8-10 inches in length and weigh no more than 4 ounces, with black faces and bibs, which are missing in the immature, who display a buff y, brownish chest. Sora breed in shallow wetlands and marshes throughout North America, nesting in dense vegetation. They lay 10 to 12 eggs, sometimes 18, in a saucer-shaped nest built from marsh vegetation. Eggs hatch over several days, and both parents incubate and feed the young, who leave the nest when able to fly within a month. Soro feed primarily on seeds and aquatic invertebrates, but have been sighted in grain fields during migration. These omnivores help check the populations of insects and invertebrates they eat, as well as plants they consume. Survival of the species is a challenge for because of the many predators that prey on them, especially their eggs and young which are vulnerable to snakes, raccoons, and many others.

ora are uncommon transients that visit our region during summer and winter, and there have been sightings at Willow and Watson Lakes, Granite Creek and Granite Basin Lake, and the Upper Verde. (For sighting information the website eBird at: EBird.Org/ebird/ map is a great resource.) Considered a special treat by birders when these ellusive birds are sighted, they are often identified only by their unique call, a long descending whinny, starting quickly and then slowing: WHEE-ee-ee-eeee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee, or an ascending koo-WEE. Call broadcasts greatly increases the chances of hearing and possibly spotting a Sora, since they will often investigate the source of a call. ***** Visit Prescott Audubon Society at PrescottAudubon.Org. Contact them at Contact@PrescottAudubon.Org. A retired Capital Hill Veteran’s and Social Securty benefits advisor, Morganthal now enjoys the serene and pristine nature of Northern Arizona. An avid Audubon supporter, his love of nature is best framed by the words of Conservationist John Muir, “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings: Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine into flowers, the winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms, their energy and cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

Kale Photo by Kathleen Yetman.

By Kathleen Yetman ale is a cultivar of Brassica oleracea, or wild cabbage, along with cabbage, broccoli, and cauliﬂower. The origin of wild cabbage is controversial with several theoretical locales including the coast of southern and western Europe, the eastern Mediterranean, and Asia Minor. Evidence shows that kale has been domesticated for at least 2,000 years; both the Greeks and the Romans grew kale as a food. Kale is grown year-round in Northern Arizona and is a fairly easy crop to raise for the home gardener. Plants are generally started from seed in the ground and can handle a wide range of temperatures. Kale plants can withstand light frosts, which makes the leaves taste sweeter. If a kale plant survives through the winter it can reach heights of six or seven feet. The most common varieties in the United States are Red Russian kale, Lacinato (Dinosaur) kale, and Siberian or curly kale.

any people’s ﬁrst introduction to kale may have been as a garnish on their dinner plate. These purple, red, and white varieties are just as edible as their green counterparts. Kale recently enjoyed

a few years in the spotlight of American cuisine, making it a hip vegetable and touting its many health beneﬁts. The leaves of kale are host to many nutrients; they are a great source of vitamins A, C, K, and B6, folate, and manganese. Kale is also a good source of thiamin, vitamin E, iron, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus. Kale is eaten worldwide and is prepared in many ways. Some popular preparations are steamed, sautéed, baked, and juiced. Kale leaves can be salted, oiled, and baked into “chips.” The leaves can also be eaten raw, however massaging them with oil and/or lemon juice is recommended to help aid its digestion. ***** The Prescott Winter Market is 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays through April 29 at the Yavapai Regional Medical Center Pendleton Center parking lot, 930 Division St. The Prescott Valley Market is 3-6 p.m. Tuesdays through April 25 at the Harkins Theatres parking lot, at Glassford Hill Road and Park Avenue. Kathleen Yetman is the managing director of the Prescott Farmers Market and a native of Prescott.

5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2016 • FEATURE • 5

Left Brain: November’s mind-full events Events

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

“New Perspective on Central Arizona Landscapes” • 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17: Matt Turner guest talk. (Prescott College Natural History Institute, 312 Grove Ave., 928-350-2280)

“Earth's Atmosphere: Astronomy Frienemy” • 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2: David Viscio discusses the chemistry and physics of Earth's atmosphere, which nourishes and protects life, yet inhibits our ability to examine the universe. A monthly Prescott Astronomy Club meeting. (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Building 74 Lecture Hall 107, 3700 Willow Creek Road, PrescottAstronomyClub.Org)

“Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” • 9:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 18: Discuss “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” by Annie Dillard. A monthly Natural History Book Club meeting. (Prescott College Natural History Institute, 312 Grove Ave., 928-350-2280)

“Who Did You Say Was Here?” • 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3: Author and editor Lisa Schnebley Heidinger discusses the treasure trove of stories she ammased while writing and editing “Arizona: 100 Years Grand.” (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500) “Engineering Eden” • 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3: Reading by Jordan Fisher Smith from his new book that braids together a young man's quest, the history of ecology, and the changing way we see nature. (Prescott College Natural History Institute, 312 Grove Ave., 928-350-2280)

4 5

Willow Lake bird walk • 8 a.m. Friday, Nov. 4: Local, guided bird walk at Willow Lake with Eric Moore. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP)

“Out of Darkness: Walk for Suicide” • 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5: First “Out of Darkness,” a one-mile walk for suicide including guest speakers sharing their personal stories, community resoucres, and activity tables for hope and healing. (Granite Creek Park, 554 Sixth St., 928-225-5096) “Who Did You Say Was Here?” • 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5: Author and editor Lisa Schnebley Heidinger discusses the treasure trove of stories she ammased while writing and editing “Arizona: 100 Years Grand.” (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385) “Marijuana Reform” • 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5: Mikel Weisser, state director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, discusses marijuana reform. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) “Starry Nights” • 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5: See the Moon, Mars, Andromeda Galaxy, Ring Nebula, Dumbbell Nebula, and double stars. (Vista Park, 1684 Saraﬁna Drive, PrescottAstronomyClub.Org)

“Mantle Transitions & Deep Focus Earthquakes” • 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8: Thomas Sharp, professor at Arizona State University, shows how subsurface minerals behave and how their reacitons to heat and pressure may cause earthquakes over 200 miles below ground. A monthly Central Arizona Geology Club event. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

9 10

“Concord — 20th Century Icon” • 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9: Capt. John Hutchison, former British Airways Concorde pilot, talk. An ERAU Prescott Aviation History presentation. (ERAU Davis Learning Center, 3700 Willow Creek Road, 928-777-6985) Aspen Spring bird walk • 8 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 10: Local, guided bird walk at Aspen Spring with Ryan Crouse. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP)

Ron Koertge & Marsha de la O • 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18: A pair of evocative, award-winning authors and poets discuss their books. A Yavapai College Literary Southwest Series event. (Yavapai College Library, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-445-7300)

10, 12, & 16 “Hot Season” • Nov. 10, 12, & 16: Susan DeFreitas discusses her newly released, debut novel, “Hot Season,” set in Deep Canyon College, a ﬁctionalized version of Prescott College, drawing on her experiences as a student and 14 years as a Prescott resident. Visit SusanDeFreitas.Com for more. (Prescott College, 220 Grove Ave., 877-350-2100; Peregrine Book Co., 219 N. Cortez St, 928-445-9000; and Prescott Valley Library, 7401 E. Civic Circle, 928-759-3040) IMAGE: Courtesy photo. “Death Cafe” • 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10: People gather to eat cake, drink tea, and discuss death. Hosted by Dani LaVoire. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) “Natural History & Fire Rotation of Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands” • 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10: Dr. Lisa FloydHanna, environmental studies professor, discusses natural history and ﬁre rotation. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

11 12

“Board Game Night” • 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11: Open game night for enthusiasts of all ages and origin stories, facilitating all tabletop, card, and board games. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

“Behind-The-Scenes Photography Tour” • 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12: A private hour of access before the park opens to the general public including special access for photos. (Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary, 1403 Heritage Park Road, 928-778-4242, $25-$30, RSVP) Highlands Center bird walk • 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12: Monthly Prescott Audubon Society bird walk. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550) Holiday shopping bazaar • 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12: Purchase and give a gift of nature while supporting the Highland Center at this annual sale. Gifts are

6 • EVENTS • NOVEMBER 2016 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

made with natural materials, upcycled materials, or have natural themes. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550) “Living History” • 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12: Costumed performers discuss ﬁnishing the harvest, animal butchering, plowing, largest bounty and variety of stored foods, picking, and husking corn. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-3122) “Yavapai County Government is Not in the Water Business, BUT ...” • 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12: Craig Brown and Tom Thurman, Yavapai County district supervisors, talk abut water and the constraints posed by Arizona law as well as Yavapai County drainages. (Granite Peak Unitarian Universalist Congrregation building, 882 Sunset Ave., 928-445-4218) “The Long Walk of the Navajo People” • 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12: Sharonah Frederick discusses how, in 1864, the Navajo people were forced to walk more than 450 miles to Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928778-1385)

“Results From the Mars Curiosity Rover” • 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17: Dr. Ryan Anderson, physical scientist and developer at the U.S.G.S., discusses The Mars Curiosity rover's mission, key ﬁndings, and recent activities on, well, Mars. A Third Thursday Star Talk via the Prescott Astronomy Club.

19 28

Granite Basin bird walk • 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19: Local, guided bird walk at Granite Basin with Micah Riegner. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP)

Verde Valley geologic excursion • 8:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 28: Join author and geologist Wayne Ranney, on an excursion highlighting the geology of the Verde Valley. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550, $75)

“The Rosenbergs: Guilty or Not Guilty?” • 2:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 28: Bill Weiss discusses the six-decade-plus-old Rosenberg case and examines the trial transcrips, the FBI ﬁles, and newly declassiﬁed arhives. A Bill Weiss Historical Lectures event. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Prescott Audobon Society annual potluck • 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1: Sixth annual Prescott Audobon Society potluck dinnner and volunteer recognition ceremony. (Trinity Presbyterian Church, 630 Park Ave., RSVP)

Multi-day “Public Health Symposium” • Nov. 2-4: A series of interdisciplinary lectures presenty by Yavapai College faculty. (Yavapai College, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928445-7300) Game On • 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Nov. 9 & 23: Play European-style board games. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500) “Conservation Biology Symposium” • 8 a.m. Nov. 28 & 30: Symposium culminating in a presentaiton by Prescott College students. (Prescott College Natural History Institute, 312 Grove Ave., 928-350-2280) Prescott Valley Farmers Market • 3 p.m. Tuesdays: Enjoy local organic produce and goods from local farmers. (Harkins Theatres parking lot, Glassford Hill Road and Park Ave., PrescottFarmersMarket.Org) Naturalist city & field walks • 9 a.m. Thursdays, Saturdays, and first and third Wednesdays: Naturalist field walks at city trails and the Highlands Center. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550) Prescott Farmers Market • 10 a.m. Saturdays: Enjoy local organic produce and goods from local farmers. (Yavapai Regional Medical Center's Pendleton Center, 1003 Willow Creek Road, PrescottFarmersMarket.Org)

November’s art-full events :niarB thgiR “The Audience” • 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3: Via satellite, The National Theatre of London’s production of “The Audience.” (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928776-2000, $10-$15)

“The Art of Brewing Your Own Kombucha” • 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5: Enjoy an orgnic taste-testing and recive numerous recipes for creating gorumet brews, including the how-tos and beneﬁts of this DIY ancient exlixir. Registration incldues $25-value starter kit. (The Essentials of Life, 3100 N. Navajo Drive, Suite B3, Prescott Valley, 928-2212533, $30, RSVP) “Youth Art Workshop: Scratch Art Petroglyphs” •10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5: Kids learn about the ancient Hohokam rock drawings, and make their own design using a scratch art board. Older students can etch a petroglyph in a plaster casting. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385, RSVP) “Opera’s Rising Stars” • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5: A showcase of merging talents on the national opera scene, featuring Julliard graduates, national award-winning singers, and younger performers whose talents have already led them to stages and accolades all over the world. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-7762000, $33-$48)

9 16

Open mic poetry • 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9: Monthly poetry jam presented by Decipherers Synonymous. (The Beastro, 117 N. McCormick St., 971340-6970)

Mario Kart tournament • Noon Wednesday, Nov. 16: Celebrate the birthday of Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario Kart franchise, by taking part in a Mario Kart tournament. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) Open mic poetry • 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16: Poet Dan Seaman emcees monthly open mic poetry. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

“The Bright Stream” • 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16: Via satellite, The Bolshoi Ballet’s production of “The Bright Stream.” (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-7762000, $10-$15)

19 30

“The Nine Houses of Mila” • 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19: Original play and music based on the legendary Tibetan Buddhist Story. Presented by the Baul Theater Co. (Embry Riddle, Davis Auditorium, 3700 Willow Creek Road, 928-771-0205, $10-$15) “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” • 7 & 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19: Richard O’Brien’s infamous show featuring special guest Frankies Fishnets. (Ruth Street Theater, 1050 Ruth St., 928-499-8664, $12)

O’Neill & friends • From Nov. 15: New art from Mary Kaye O’Neill and friends. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

ART WALKS

4FRIDAY ’S

Arizona Print Group • Through Nov. 16: Art show featuring pieces by the Arizona Print Group. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510)

COT T

Poetry Discussion Group • 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2: Monthly poetry discussion. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Prescott’s 4th Friday

PRE S

2 3 5

Events

MAG miniatures • From Nov. 18: Annual MAG miniature show. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510)

EVERY

Kewanyama & Ewing • Through Nov. 19: New art by Fil Kewanyama and Maryhelen Ewing. (The Raven Café, 142 N. Cortez St., 928-717-0009) “Alumni Art Retrospective” • Through Nov. 19. Prescott College 50th Anniversary show. (Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928-350-2341) “Encore” • From Nov. 19: Art show featuring work by artists recently featured at The Raven Café. (The Raven Café, 142 N. Cortez St., 928717-0009)

Beginning at 5 PM

Bloomenstein & Co. • Through Nov. 20: Portfolio class from Yavapai College taught by Laura Bloomenstein feautring two framed pieces by eight advanced students. (The Raven Café, 142 N. Cortez St., 928-717-0009) “Outside the Lines” • Through Nov. 22: New pieces by the Contemporary Printmakers of Prescott. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

4th Friday Art Walk • 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25: Monthly art walk including artist receptions, openings, and demonstrations at more than 18 galleries. There’s no Art Walk in December, so this is the last 4th Friday Art Walk of 2016. (ArtThe4th.Com)

Multi-day “Wildlights” • 6 p.m. Nov. 25 & 26: The opening weekend of one of the largest light displays in all of Prescott. (Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary, 1403 Heritage Park Road, 928-778-4242) Yoga classes • Mondays, Tuesdays, & Thursdays: Yoga classes including Ayurveda, over-50, mindful, and dynamic ﬂow yoga. (Flying Nest Movement Arts, 322 W. Gurley St., 928-432-3068, prices vary) Social dance classes • Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, & Sundays: Learn the Argentine tango, West Coast swing, tribal belly dance, Lindy hop swing, ﬂamenco, and Latin dance. (Flying Nest Movement Arts, 322 W. Gurley St., 928-432-3068, prices vary) Performance dance/movement arts classes • Wednesdays & Thursdays: Learn contemporary dance, movement for life, and normative movement. (Flying Nest Movement Arts, 322 W. Gurley St., 928-432-3068, prices vary)

Art “Holiday Gift Show” • From Nov. 1: Annual holiday gift art show. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510) Student juried art exhibition • Through Nov. 10: Edie Dillon is fall show juror for student art exhibition. (Yavapai College Art Gallery, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2031)

SWAA • Through Nov. 22: Art show featuring pieces by members of the Southwest Artists Association. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) “Masks & Impressions” • Through Nov. 23: Jewelry by Dan Ryan and photography by SOA. (Arts Prescott Gallery, 134 S. Montezuma St., 928-776-7717) “Contemporary Eclecticism” • From Nov. 25: Annual art show featuring eclectic works in various media. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-7750223) Charity show • From Nov. 25: Show beneﬁting Skyview School’s Art and Dance program. All artworked donated by gallery members, Skyview childrens, and local artists sold goes 100 percent to the school. (Arts Prescott Gallery, 134 S. Montezuma St., 928-776-7717)

“Adorn Yourself” • Through Nov. 14: New, wearble art and jewelry by Joan Knight, Susie Straussner, and Barb Wills. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) “Handmade From the Heart” • From Nov. 15: New art — clothing, jewelry, and surprises from the heart and hand — with love from the Laughing Giraﬀe and Friends. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

Set in stone

Weather the weather or whether or not

By Alan Dean Foster s I write this, Hurricane Matthew is set to hit the east coast of Florida tomorrow. Understandably, this puts me in mind of … no, not Disneyworld. I’m thinking about the science of … no, not Cape Canaveral and rocket ﬂight. Building materials. Not as exotic as reusable rockets (hi Elon, Jeﬀ ) nor as fascinating or as strange as metallic glass, building materials are something we deal with every day. Assuming you live in a building, of course. This being Prescott there are, alas, all too many who are forced to adapt to less solid living situations. But I digress.

he media is full of talk of advances in building materials. As an example, one architect wants to build tall structures, perhaps even skyscrapers, out of wood. While we’ve been utilizing wood in our dwellings for thousands of years, it wouldn’t be my ﬁrst choice for building materials for a home on the Florida coast. Yet Floridians and the rest of us persist, putting up hundreds of new homes a year in hurricane- and storm-prone areas that rely on wood frames. And every decade or so, along comes a Cat 4 shower like Matthew to blow them all down. You’d think by now that the insurance industry, if nobody else, would insist on some changes. And by changes I don’t mean stopgap, makeshift, temporary ﬁxes like requiring roofs to be fastened to the (wooden) walls. There’s something else we humans have been building with for thousands of years. There’s plenty of it around and we know how to work it. So … why aren’t more homes and businesses in hurricane-prone regions constructed of it? It’s called rock. Maybe you’ve heard of it.

here’s a home on Key Largo, Florida called “the rock castle.” Commissioned by a Dr. Engels, it’s no castle, but it sure is a survivor. It was built around 1925, survived the great hurricane of 1935, and still stands on Oceana street. Its “advanced, hurricane-resistant building materials”? Coral rock and concrete. In Aransas, Texas stands the Fulton House, originally the home of one George Fulton and now a state landmark. Aransas lies on the coast and is just about as ﬂat as a good chicken-fried steak. In fact, before we moved to Prescott, my wife and I looked at a piece of land in coastal Aransas. Forty acres, directly across an inlet from the national whooping crane refuge. Beautiful location, with one signiﬁcant drawback: the highest point of

Alan Dean Foster’s

Perceivings

land on the property was maybe a meter above sea level. A year later, Hurricane Allen roared through the area. No relation. Constructed with a shellcrete basement, steel reinforcing rods, and a lot of cut stone, the Fulton house has stayed in place, weathering hurricane after hurricane, since it was built … in 1877. Not a lot of surviving 1877 wood-frame homes in the area. In the Orkney Islands north of Scotland proper lies an excavated settlement called Skara Brae. While the roofs are gone, many of the exterior and interior walls remain. Living rooms, kitchen areas, even purpose-built shelving stands intact. North Sea storms may not be hurricanes, but for sheer ferocity I’m glad I don’t have to choose between the two. The inhabitants of now deserted Skara Brae understood the science of building materials and they built well. They used stone for its durability and perhaps also because there are essentially no trees in the Orkneys. Scara Brae was built around 3,200 B.C. I’m no architect and I’m no engineer, but it seems to me that if structures raised 5,000 years

8 • COLUMN • NOVEMBER 2016 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

I‛ve got a good feeling about this place.

ago and subject to horriﬁc storms can survive relatively intact until now, then that’s the building material we ought to be using in storm-prone areas. Even if it has to be imported from exotic locales like Vermont. I guess it all comes down to how long you want your house to last.

he Romans used stone and concrete and their structures have held up just fine (though admittedly not subject to hurricanes). In Cuzco, Peru, you can see Spanish colonial structures built atop original Inca foundations. While modern structures come tumbling down or are heavily damaged when earthquakes rumble through the Andes, those with Inca stonework foundations survive just fine. There’s a reason Macchu Picchu wasn’t built of wood. Even in Prescott, there are old stone houses still standing. I guess advertising and promotion by builders will always trump longevity in the construction industry. And of course, cost always seems to be the first consideration. On the plus side, I reckon Prescott is pretty safe from the threat of hurricanes (for now, anyway). But if I lived on the Florida coast, never mind in the Keys, I’d be checking out the cost of rock and stone long before I put up anything made of wood, even if I could get cypress. Especially if I wanted something permanent. Something, maybe, to leave to my kids. Everything old is, and sometimes should be, new again. ***** Alan Dean Foster is author of more than 120 books, visitor to more than 100 countries, and still frustrated by the human species. Follow him at AlanDeanFoster.Com.

Image components public domain. Illustration by 5enses.

‘The possibility of the play’

Baul Theater Co. presents ‘The Nine Houses of Mila’ By Robert Blood [Editor’s note: The following interview was culled from conversations between the reporter and VJ Fedorschak, director of the play, “The Nine Houses of Mila,” put on by the Baul Theater Co., 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 19 at Embry Riddle Davis Auditorium, 3700 Willow Creek Road, $15.] What can you tell us about the play? It’s “The Nine Houses of Mila,” and it’s about one man’s search for himself in the face of extreme trials. The character’s name is Milarepa, and the story of his life is one of the most beloved tales in Tibetan Buddhism. There’s this idea that in the midst of extreme trials we can be led to resolve them if we trust ourselves. And we need help. The Persian poet Rumi said something like, “Your need is the Way.” If your need is really sincere, you’ll be led to a source of help. And the Baul Theater Co., how do you come in? It started in 1988. It was an idea that coalesced among several people who were inspired by the possibility of transformational theater. We all recognized that some kind of magic can happen on stage, where people’s attention can be focused in a way that’s uncommon. Essential human qualities can be evoked that are latent in us for the most part — things like courage and compassion. Over the years we’ve performed several pieces including “The Elephant Man,” “The Magician of Lublin,” a play called “Buddha” by Nikos Kazantzakis, who wrote “Zorba the Greek,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and an original musical called “John T.” Some of the performers also did a show on a stage at the Renaissance Faire in Phoenix for several years, which was fun. The intent in some of the plays we’ve done, including “The Nine Houses of Mila,” is to bring the consideration of traditional spiritual teachings into ordinary life, where it really counts, in an accessible way. There are diﬀerent directors who have done this kind of work who I personally admire, like Peter Brook in the 1980s with “The Mahabharata.” There was a review in The New York Times that said he “did nothing less than attempt to transform Hindu myth into universalized art, accessible to any culture.” So, we have “The Nine Houses of Mila,” in which a guy is lost. There’s no hope for him, but he thinks, “Don’t I remember something? Isn’t there something that’s more than all of this? How do I ﬁnd that?” His need to search is so deep, and he gets help along the way, big time, from a crazy hermit named Marpa, in order to discover himself. Even though the play is based on a very old story, it’s modernized completely through the

A discouraged Milarepa (Sylvan Incao) is reassured by Damema (Karuna Fedorschak). Courtesy photo. music. Stan Hitson, a local musician who’s currently in the band Southbound, composed all of the music. There are 27 songs — the play is in two acts and about two hours long. So it’s a musical? Yes. It’s people singing to recorded music. The style of the music is rock ‘n’ roll, so in some respects it’s like a rock opera. The music takes you to so many emotional places. At one point, it’s full of revenge, at another it’s extremely remorseful, and at another point it’s hopeful. The instrumentation is guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and voice. There are some Eastern inﬂuences, like tablas and things like that. The music is the main way the audience and cast are transported. The costuming is Tibetan, and there are maybe a dozen people in the production, but just a few main characters. How long has it taken to put together this production? It was ﬁrst done in 2002. We performed it a few times since then, and just resurrected it recently. Our troupe has done that a couple of times. We’ve performed “John T.” pretty regularly. One of the

things about our troupe is that people come from diﬀerent backgrounds. One person is a fantastic singer who’s been in a blues band for over a decade. The guy who plays Mila, who’s very well cast for the part, played in the Denise Allen Band, which has toured in Europe. One of the players in our company has done some study of improvisational acting with Alan Arkin. Several of us took his workshop when he was in Prescott. One of the things he mentioned was that many actors get caught up in how their individual performance goes, but that there are those who are more focused on the communication of the scenes and the show. The BTC is about working together to try to bring something of value to the public. It’s been over six years since our last production of “The Nine Houses.” I think we’re a little more mature about it this time, more focused on deepening our roles and the audience’s experience. So in a way the production has been many years in the making.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 >>>

5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2016 • FEATURE • 9

By James Dungeon [Editor’s note: The following interview was culled from conversations between the reporter and Maria Lynam, one of the art directors behind “Encore,” which is Nov. 19-Jan. 8 at The Raven Café, 142 N. Cortez St., 928-7170009.]

There’s a mix of originals and giclées, so the price range is pretty wide — from an entry standpoint to things for serious collectors. We had to limit the size of pieces because of the number of artists we wanted to include. I think the biggest piece is 30” x 50”, and that’s the one by Dale O’Dell, and you really need to see it at that size to appreciate it. There are actually so many pieces in the show that we’re taking over the entire building. As pieces are sold, they’ll be taken oﬀ the wall, and we’ll contact the artist so new pieces can be brought in. So, of course, you can buy something and wrap it up for under the Christmas tree. … Personally, a lot of my friends are artists, and it’s a pretty tight-knit community here, and we end up giving each other our art for trade or as gifts. I can tell you, there’s nothing more satisfying than having original, local art in your home.

Encore , encore

How did “Encore” come to be? Betsy Dally, my business partner and the other art director at The Raven, and I decided on it early in the year when we were setting up the calendar. We wanted a group show around the holidays that featured all of the artists who’ve had shows at the Raven since we both started about a year and a half ago. … They’re all excellent artists, and there’s a variety of media such as mixed media, oil painting, photography, and 3D art. It’s an exciting show. One of the nice things about The Raven is that they’re kind enough to let local artists hand their work in their gallery. We have very few public spaces for art, and this is an important venue. Bringing back the people who’ve already participated with us seemed like a no-brainer. Also, always thinking about what patrons of The Raven want to see, it makes sense to bring these people back. We’ve had a lot of sales from these artists, and they provide a lot of variety.

‘En

Winter show highlights recent artists of The Raven Café

***** Maria Lynam, printmaker, MariaLynam. Com, “Trees” I’m primarily a printmaker, and I’m trying to develop different methods of doing prints that don’t require framing. There are two reasons for that. One, framing can get very expensive for larger pieces. Two, houses Hanging a show in Arizona are filled with light, and glare with such diverse from windows reflects pieces must be quite off any glass you put the challenge. on a piece, unless It is. David Bright you go with museum and Doug Wilson do frames, which are rethe hanging. David has ally pricey. … Anyway, been the art director I’ve developed my at The Raven in years own technique for past and works at the doing this. I gesso a Framer’s Market, and cradle boa or other one of Doug’s pieces hard surface, and put is that huge installathe media on it. Then tion hanging over the I press a relief print restaurant. They’re both into, carved from professionals. The other linoleum, and I let it thing is that with the dry, sand it back, and quality of this show, the do it again to build up bar, is set really high, so a relief image. Then, I you don’t have to worry paint or gold leaf it. I about putting a weaker have a reputation for piece next to one that “Trees,” by Maria Lynam. gold leafing, so I’m stands out from the Courtesy photo. trying to bring that crowd. There’s such disinto my printmaking and marry parate subject matter in this show; the two. I like making reliefs that me, I’d struggle for hours trying look older, more antique. My favorite thing is creatto decide how to hang a show like this, but we’ve got ing a piece that makes the views say, “How did she two guys who know what they’re doing. do that?” What else can you say about the pieces?

10 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2016 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

*****

Arlene Minuskin, photographer, “Call Waiting” I’m active in the performing and visual arts but I didn’t get into photography wholeheartedly until I moved to Arizona in 2000 to retire. … I don’t do a lot of traveling for personal reasons, so I think I’ve probably photographed every square inch of Prescott. As a photographer, I see things that are going to vanish. I know the expression is overused, but I look for a moment in time. Often, I don’t get a chance to set up my camera, so I have to shoot from the hip, sometimes literally. … For “Call Waiting,” I was in the Maryvale section of Phoenix, walking around in a parking lot at a strip mall, and I saw this woman sitting there, very intense, with her cell phone. I tried not to bee too obtrusive, and I went around her to photograph her. She never noticed me and I don’t think she noticed me or moved from that position for 15 minutes. The only thing I could see is her ﬁnger moving as she was texting. It was fascinating. She was sitting amongst these immobile pieces and she became one of them. *****

5 pieces from ...

ncore, encore’ at The Raven Café Jana Whittington, mixed media, JanaWhittington.Com, “Color of Time” My visual imagery is a mix of abstraction and realism. I’m trying to get to that space between memory and emotion. The other thing that inspires me is nature and the human condition, and the similarities and contrasts between the two. “Color of Time” is about myself and my family. I’ve gone through things in my life, and I’m old enough to watch my children and my grandchildren going through similar things. It’s a process, and there’s a very natural order to the time, and so “Color of Time” is a visual representation of that and the emotions or lack of emotions and the processes we go through, as well as the experiences, discoveries, and the problem solving. I hate to use the word “limbs,” but it’s the limbs of life. Come to think of it, I probably should’ve titled it that. … The other piece I have at the show has a similar theme even though it looks very diﬀerent. There are events that happen in life and we just go through them.

totally sure what you have until you load the images on your laptop at night. That’s the moment you ﬁnally know if you got the shot. *****

*****

Michael McDermott, photographer, FotosAlongTheWay.Com, “Serengeti Stripes” I’m a travel and a nature photographer, and “Serengeti Stripes” is one example of my nature photography. With travel photography, I look for images that draw an interest toward the abstract. When it comes to nature, as in this one, I wanted to get a herd of zebras, not just one, to create an abstract image that has some interest from a geometric perspective. … I spent two diﬀerent days with a herd of zebras on a photo safari in southern Kenya, and I had this shot in mind. It’s barely cropped, if at all. It came out almost exactly how I envisioned it. The animals don’t always cooperate in a herd like that, obviously, so it took multiple attempts to get the shot. With that kind of workﬂow, you’re shooting, sometimes at rapid speed, and you’re changing settings and compositions very quickly. You’re not

Dawn Reeves Elliott, assemblages/folk art, AlterEgoMexicana.Com, untitled assemblage I’m out and about all the time, and I love old stuff. I love the look of rust and weathered wood, and I like to use recycled or upcycled materials. So, I gather stuff from all over the place. My process is kind of crazy because I start laying things out and I think, well that looks stupid there, and it becomes a long process of trying to piece the best colors and shapes together. My pieces tend to look kind of religious because of the iconography I use. It just appeals to me. I go to Mexico a fair amount, which is part of where the influence of Mexican folk arts and the religious symbols come in. … One of the things I’ve come to really enjoy is that I may have a story or idea behind a piece but, when people see my art, that’s not necessarily what they see and tell me. In other words, it’s their story of the art. That’s a really exciting thing for me to hear because, hopefully, it means there are things in there that talk to them and touch them.

Dale O’Dell, digital art, DalePhoto.Com, “Flight Risk” “Flight Risk” is an image from my 2014 book “Quantum Realism,” and it’s another one of my fun Photoshop Surrealist composition. The idea is twofold. I’d been in Death Valley and gone out there specifically to shoot plains — salt flats, dry lake beds, and those sorts of things. The foreground of that image is in Badwater Bassin. That morning, the shade of the light was very blue and it made it look like as if that salt pan were a frozen ocean. When I got back, I just happened to have a glass bottle sitting around in the studio that my neighbor had loaned me. She’s a rock hound, and they’re always digging up old, vintage glass and such. Anyway, I see this bottle, flash back to the salt flats pictures and thought, we’ll we’ve got a interesting little juxtaposition here. Once those two were together, I just needed one more thing — so, I dropped in those birds. They’re seagulls that I probably shot in Alaska in the 1990s on film. So, yeah, that image is from three places. How do you be in three places at once? Only via digital art. ***** “Encore” runs Nov. 19-Jan. 8 at The Raven Café, 142 N. Cortez St., 928-717-0009. See more at each artist’s website. James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination. And he likes cats. Contact him at JamesDungeonCats@Gmail.Com.

*****

News From the Wilds Skyward

Young Cooper’s Hawks take advantage of the decreasing leaf cover as they learn to hunt on their first migration south. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

By Ty Fitzmorris ovember is the beginning of the long quiet of winter for the Mogollon Highlands. The cold has crawled from the cracks of night into the light of day, changing how all of the creatures of the region live. The coming season brings scarcity of food and water, along with low, sometimes killing temperatures, and every species, plant and animal, has their set of adaptations to these challenges. These adaptations are sometimes physiological and sometimes behavioral, though for most species there is a little of both. Mammals (including humans) and some non-migratory birds begin to undergo cold acclimatization now, which includes redirection of blood ﬂow away from skin, accumulation of insulative body fat and fur, and metabolic and chemical changes, all resulting in an overall increase in tolerance for low temperatures. Insects undergo a wide variety of changes — some, including bumblebees, generate propylene glycol (antifreeze) in their blood, which prevents them from freezing, while others develop the ability to raise their body temperatures far above that of the surrounding air, proving themselves anything but “cold-blooded.” Reptiles and amphibians are able to tolerate very low body temperatures without any injury, though some snakes, such as rattlesnakes, gather together in large numbers in caves to avoid the killing frosts. Many birds, including the swallows and warblers,

migrate south, both for food and to avoid the cold, while mammals such as Black Bears, Rock Squirrels, and Beavers, create dens in which to shelter. The winter adaptations that are often less discussed, however, are those that are evolutionary in nature, such as the development of life stages suitable for extreme conditions. The most conspicuous are plant seeds and insect eggs, which are excellent for dispersal but also are capable of extraordinary feats of survival. Seeds might remain dormant for decades in soil, waiting for perfect germination conditions, while some invertebrate eggs are tough enough to withstand the harshest of conditions and still hatch. It was this hardiness that led NASA to take the eggs of fairy shrimp far outside of our atmosphere, holding them with mechanical arms outside of spacecraft for long periods, and then hatching them with no apparent injury back on Earth.

hese quiet months are a challenge to the naturalist after the bewildering panoply of the growing season, but some of the more neglected aspects of the natural world remain for us to explore. Winter is a great time to study the rocks and landforms of the Mogollon Highlands, which form the basis for our ecoregion as a whole. Formerly called the Central Highlands, the Mogollon Highlands are deﬁned as the broad band of mountains and valleys between the Mogollon Rim of the Colorado Plateau and the deserts of the South, from the Chihuahua to the west to the Sonora to

12 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2016 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

• Nov. 4: Taurid Meteor Shower peak. This is a long-running shower, from Sept. 7 to Dec. 10, which occurs as we pass through two separate dust trails — one from Comet Encke and one from an asteroid that broke oﬀ of the comet, called Asteroid 2004 TG10. Meteors from this shower are typically not very bright, though the very young waxing crescent Moon will set early, leaving dark skies for viewing. • Nov. 14: Full Moon at 6:52 a.m. This is the second of three supermoons this year, the other two being in the preceeding and following months. During a supermoon, the Moon is slightly closer to the Earth, and may appear slightly larger and brighter than other lunar cycles, and also exert a stronger gravitational pull on the Earth, causing greater tidal swings. • Nov. 16: Leonid Meteor Shower peak. The Leonids are among the brightest and most reliable showers of the year, producing as many as 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is caused by dust particles from the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which last passed through our solar system in 1998, and will return next in 2031. The 33-year period of this comet results in a 33-year cyclonic peak for the shower, during which meteors are extremely abundant. The last of these was in 2001, during which time more than 30 bright meteors were visible per hour in dark locations. As with all meteor showers, best viewing is after midnight. • Nov. 25: New Moon at 5:18 a.m. the south to the Mojave to the east. The Mogollon Highlands, as a result, have plants and animals from all of these regions, though intermingled in ways that have remained largely unstudied. The three geologic processes that have affected our region most are the volcanism that has provided the extrusive igneous basalt cap of the Colorado plateau as well as the intrusive igneous granite that formed the Granite Dells and Granite Mountain; the spreading of the geologic plates, which have pulled the highlands apart, causing dropped blocks of crust to form valleys; and the movement of rock materials by gravity, water and wind, which carve the majestic valleys such as Sycamore Canyon, the Agua Fria, Walnut Canyon, and Oak Creek Canyon. ***** Ty Fitzmorris is an itinerant and often distractible naturalist who lives in Prescott and is proprietor of the Peregrine Book Company, Raven Café, and Gray Dog Guitars, all as a sideline to his natural history pursuits. He can be reached at Ty@PeregrineBookCompany.Com.

News From the Wilds, too A very brief survey of what’s happening in the wilds ... By Ty Fitzmorris High mountains • Young Ravens gather into large groups (called a “congress of ravens”), sometimes as many as 50-70 individuals, and can be seen at sunrise and sunset, flying from communal roosts to feeding sites. • Though Black Bears finished mating in the summer, they delay implantation until now, and begin their pregnancy as they enter hibernation. Visit: Spruce Mountain Loop, Trail No. 307. Ponderosa Pine forests • Mule Deer and White-tailed Deer ruts reach their peak now, as bucks finish rubbing the velvet from their full-grown antlers. Look for bare spots on saplings where male deer have rubbed off their velvet. • Arizona Black Rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerberus), along with the other five rattlesnake species in our area, begin looking for hibernacula in which to spend the winter, sometimes with many other rattlers. Rattlesnakes are much maligned, but are typically very interested in avoiding humans, and will not bite unless harassed. Visit: Schoolhouse Gulch Trail, No. 67. Pine-Oak woodlands • Young Western Screech Owls find temporary territories. These beautiful small owls, which weigh from 3.5 to 10 ounces, will prey on worms, insects, rodents, birds or even crawdads. Some have been observed catching rabbits and, rarely, ducks. • Galls on oak trees and shrubs are very visible now. The most common is the Oak-apple Gall, which looks like a red-orange peach, but is really an incubation site for an immature wasp. The wasp stings the plant, laying its egg in the growing tissue of the oak, and the plant grows this specialized structure around the developing larva. Oaks have over 300 types of galls, including some that look like furry animals, curled leaves, and gnarled twigs. Visit: Little Granite Mountain Trail, No. 37.

Fall colors move downhill through the Mogollon Highlands as cold air flows down the canyons along the Colorado Plateau. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris. Pinyon-Juniper woodlands • Javelinas switch to eating large amounts of prickly pear, along with whatever protein-rich plant food, such as acorns and pinenuts, still remains. Visit: Tin Trough Trail, No. 308. Grasslands • Pronghorn change their diets to shrubs and tough evergreen plants now that grasses have died back. Pronghorn can digest many plants that are poisonous to cattle, and thereby graze grasslands evenly. This, in turn, allows for a greater diversity of plants to thrive where Pronghorn graze, since no one species can outcompete others. Visit: Mint Wash Trail, No. 345. Riparian areas • Many of the creeks in the Prescott area dry up until the snows of winter arrive and melt. • The leaves of trees in lower-elevation riparian areas change now, reaching a riotous diversity of color before dropping. • Hermit Thrushes, one of the last of the songbird migrants to migrate through our region, stop over only long enough to regain lost body fat and drink water. These relatives of American Robins migrate according

to the magnetic field of the Earth, and keep a straight, unwavering path, flying night or day. The only time they change course is when they pass near lightning storms, in which case the Hermit Thrushes fly directly toward the storm. • Ducks and other waterfowl begin to arrive at our man-made lakes, such as Watson and Willow near Prescott. These lakes have become important migratory stop-over points for many species, and will host thousands of individuals of many different species from now until February. • Beavers cut branches from Aspens and riparian trees, pushing them into river-bottom mud to store for midwinter food. Because Beavers slow down the flow of rivers and distribute nutrients in riparian areas, they are very important for maintaining river health in the Southwest. Visit: Lower Wolf Creek Falls, No. 384. Deserts/Chaparral • The leaves of Ocotillos (Fouquieria splendens) change color and fall. This species, along with Yellow Palo Verde (Parkinsonia microphylla), has photosynthetic bark, and only grows leaves during times when water is abundant. They then drop

Weather Average high temperature: 60.6 F (+/-4.2) Average low temperature: 27.4 F (+/-3.1) Record high temperature: 83 F (1933) Record low temperature: -1 F (1931) Average precipitation: 1.22” (+/-1.36”) Record high precipitation: 8.68” (1905) Record low precipitation: 0” (15 percent of years on record) Max daily precipitation: 4.3” (Nov. 27, 1919) them as drought periods return. • Phainopeplas, the sole member their family (the Silky-ﬂycatchers) in North America, return to the desert from the uplands. These pitch-black birds would seem to be incongruous in the hot desert, but thermal studies have shown that their black plumage actually functions to decrease their skin temperature, in much the same way that the black robes of the Bedouins of North Africa diﬀ use incoming solar heat. Visit: Agua Fria National Monument.

Diagnosis: Technology

By Paolo Chlebecek mart Phones, Smart Watches, Smart Speakers, Smart Cars, Smart Homes, and Smart Stars. Well, maybe not the latter. Anyway, what’s all this emphasis on “smart” things? Am I so dumb that I need to have all these so-called smart devices? Anyone who knows me knows I favor tech gadgets. I have most of those items listed in the paragraph above. It’s my job, after all, but not my entire life. As I’ve said many times: Take advantage of technology, don’t let technology take advantage of you. Ahh, but how? That’s the trick.

ack in 1971, a GreekAmerican engineer, inventor, and businessman by the name of Theodore “Ted” Para-

That’s smarts!

Thinking about thinking tech skevakos ﬁrst came up with the idea of transmission of electronic data through telephone lines, later known as Caller ID. That concept of intelligence, data processing and visual display screens into telephones continued to evolve. By 1994, we had the IBM Simon. The Simon was the ﬁrst commercially available device that could be referred to as a “smartphone,” although it was not called that back then. Not just for placing and receiving cellular calls though, Simon could also send and receive faxes and emails. In addition, a calendar, address book, appointment scheduler, notepad, world time clock, and calculator — the ol’ Simon could handle it all with its touch screen display. Everything we take for granted on any smartphone now. It’s still rather impressive for 1994. But, the term “smart phone” didn’t appear in print until around 1995, when it was used to describe AT&T’s

Mila

The Nine Houses of Mila

a musical re-telling of the most beloved tale in Tibetan Buddhism: the life and spiritual trials of the great yogi Milarepa.

Original play & music. Presented by the Baul Theater Company.

NOVEMBER 19 - 2016 Embry Riddle Davis Auditorium 7:00 pm Tickets: $15 / $10 under 18 Sold at: Allans’s Flowers, 1095 E. Gurley Vigraha Gallery, 115 E. Goodwin Credit card payments: 928-771928-771-0205, Tues-Fri

14 • COLUMN • NOVEMBER 2016 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

PhoneWriter Communicator.

ast-forward to today. What most of us keep in our pockets is hundreds if not thousands of times more capable then many early satellites — even than the Voyager 2 launched in 1977. Speaking of which, it’s still out there, 10 billion miles (16 billion kilometers) from Earth, faithfully transmitting signals back to us for at least another decade or two. Setting back down on Earth, we have many, many choices for smart devices. A dizzying array of devices are waiting for our collective wallets. It’s very hard to choose, if we choose at all. So what are the advantages of said smart devices? Simply said, it depends on what you want out of them. For example, I keep my ringer oﬀ on my phone most of the time and use my smartwatch to alert me during business hours. It saves my phone battery and is very discreet. You may also like such devices as the Amazon Echo. It can really make any home a smart home. From telling you the weather and news, to ordering what you need from them, all from a simple command. It kind of feels like Star Trek, and yes, you really can say “Tea, Earl Grey, hot,” like Capt. Picard. [Editor’s Note: 5enses has no oﬃcial position on which Star Trek captain is the best, even though it’s clearly Capt. Picard. Please direct hatemail about this topic directly to 5ensesMag@

Gmail.Com.] And as long as you have a compatible smart teapot, it will receive the instruction and begin brewing. I use mine to control my lights by saying, “Alexa, turn on (or oﬀ ) my house lights.” She responds by saying “OK” and then they are on (or oﬀ ) in a second. She even can adjust the temperature from my smart thermostat, the Google Nest. Pretty cool, indeed.

“W

ho cares? I don’t need all of that.” I know some of you are muttering that to yourselves. And, indeed, maybe you don’t. But, eventually, it’ll be a standard on new homes. Integrating smart locks and smart thermostats and all of the other devices are a booming business. No, smart devices can’t think for us yet. But “they” are working on that. Sound scary? Sure! In fact, Prof. Stephen Hawking recently said, “I think the development of full artiﬁcial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.’’ Yikes! Maybe keeping your dumb phone is a good idea after all. ... ***** Paolo Chlebecek is founder and owner of PaoloTek, which he started in 2003. He loves to be helpful to people and our animal friends. Feel free to contact him at Paolo@ PaoloTek.Com.

$5 off any service ≥$30!

515 E. Sheldon St., Prescott, www.erasalonandspa.com

That can be a challenge, from a production standpoint, but we’re up for it. I really trust the people who are coming in, that they’ll be prepared, and it’ll go well.

... FROM PAGE 9 What have you taken away from being involved with this play? In directing, I try to get in touch with the essential communication of the play. If we can convey that, what transpires is something useful for both the actors and audience. When actors really give themselves to their roles, they can embody the qualities of the characters they portray in that moment. For me, Milarepa’s dedication to the spiritual path, really needing to ﬁnd the truth, and being willing to risk himself to ﬁnd out — that dedication makes me believe that much more is possible for us. We try not to say that people should have this or that experience from watching one of our plays. We’d like people to get in touch with something within themselves, something I think we all yearn for, in their own way. One of the things about theater is that it’s not so literal. If we try to make it all understandable, we may miss the bigger picture.

How does the story start? How is the viewer parachuted into this world? I don’t want to give away too much — I’d like a lot of this to be a surprise for those who don’t know the story — but it opens with a funeral procession for Milarepa’s father. He had entrusted his property to Mila’s uncle to keep until Mila came of age and so that Mila’s mother would be cared for, but the uncle stole the inheritance. The uncle takes everything and basically Mila and his mother are left destitute. In the play, he says

VJ Fedorschak. Courtesy photo.

Robert Blood is a Mayer-ish-based freelance writer and ne’er-do-well who’s working on his last book, which, incidentally, will be his ﬁrst. Contact him at BloodyBobby5@Gmail.Com.

he’ll give them one more night until they have to leave their home. And that’s what the uncle sings to Mila and his mother in one of the ﬁrst songs, Prescott’s “As Your Husband’s Brother.” The actor playing the uncle is a guy from Canada.

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Wait, so some of the troupe’s actors are from out of town? Yes, at least three of the cast are coming in from out of town. The theater company started here in Prescott, but some of the members have since dispersed. They didn’t retire so much as follow their own paths elsewhere. It took wanting to do this show to get everyone involved in another production. We’ll see where it goes from here. But to get back to your question, most of the parts are played by people who live locally, but there are some who are coming here from other places, like Canada and California.

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4FRIDAY COT T

We’ve skirted around the larger spiritual context of the story. Did you want to address that? I’d rather talk about the production itself, leaving room for people to experience the play in their own way. But I do think we offer something that is unique. It’s not so common in our culture to hear stories from spiritual traditions. These stories raise important considerations for our lives. It’s very common in India or Tibet, but not so much here, where we go to Harkins or Picture Show Theater and see a different kind of story. Which is fine. But there’s no alternative to that viewing menu. We’d like people to have that option, to support looking at our daily lives from the perspective of spiritual tradition. That’s the possibility of the play. That’s what’s unique about this.

***** “The Nine Houses of Mila,” by the Baul Theater Co., is one night only, 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19 at Embry Riddle DLC Theater, 3700 Willow Creek Road, $15. Advance tickets are available at Vigraha Gallery, 115 E. Goodwin St., and Allan’s Flowers, 1095 E. Gurley St., or. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m, via phone at 928-771-0205 for credit card sales.

PRE S

All protagonists are supposed to go through some sort of change. This play seems to highlight and focus on that change, itself. Mila’s story represents the transformation of a “tortured” individual into a “man of love,” as one of the songs says. He becomes appreciative of the world in a diﬀerent way, he sees it through diﬀerent eyes. He comes to appreciate the world as “sacred.” There seems to be the possibility of going through the process of change that Mila did. But it requires something.

All that rehearsal and work for just one performance? It’s the process of preparing for the show that’s important. Once we’re on stage is when the magic can happen. When you can surrender to the character you’re playing, when you let go, that’s when a play becomes real. That’s not something we feel the need to repeat for more than one performance. It’s really about the possibility of that singular moment, for one show.

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5ENSESMAG.COM • NOVEMBER 2016 • FEATURE • 15

All the art that’s ﬁt to print

Contemporary Printmakers of Prescott return to ’Tis

By Robert Blood [Editor’s note: The following interview was culled from conversations between the reporter and Barb Wills, group facilitator, and Maria Lynam, both of the Contemporary Printmakers of Prescott, whose show, “Outside the Lines,” runs through Nov. 22 at ’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223.] How did this group and show come about? Wills: There was a discussion in an advanced printmaking class at Yavapai College. We talked about the fact that the work that was going on there was so individual that it’d be nice to get the community to see what printmaking is all about and what goes on at the college in the art classes. We started out in 2014. I put together a submission for a printmaking show, and we’ve done it every year since. This is our third annual show. We also had a printmaking show at the Yavapai College gallery in March. Lynam: We got the opportunity through Barb, who’s on the executive board at ’Tis Gallery, so she ﬁgured all this out. ... We’ve done that show every year since then and we’ve also shown at The Raven. We’re all passionate about printmaking. It’s so interesting because there are 20 or so of us and, when you look at our work, nothing is derivative. Everyone has their own vision, their own approach to a subject, and nobody copies that. Wills: The group is people from their 30s to their late 70s. The only requirement is that everyone has taken all three levels of printmaking oﬀered at the college. There are 22 of us, plus the instructor, so that’s 23 artists total in the show. What are the basics of printmaking? Wills: You’ve got your base materials, which

FROM TOP LEFT: “Art Cyanotype,” a cyanotype print by Brenda Diller; “Layered Structures” by Barb Wills; “At Sunset,” a monoprint by Maria Lynam; courtesy images. are what you’re going to be printing on, which can be paper, or metal, or fabric, or wood, or a lot of diﬀerent things. Then you have the inks which are going to transfer the color and image from your plate. Your plate is where all the art takes place. You can etch into a copper plate, or cut into a wooden plate, or you can manipulate a monoplate, plus there are a multitude of digital processes. There’s also screen printing and also plates that develop in the sun called solar plates. What’s the range of pieces at the show? Wills: You’ll see a linocut of Bob Dylan, an intricate print of a quarry in Minnesota, and some real ﬁne line relief prints that are similar to the grid structure of an Agnus Martin. You’ll see monoprints of sweeping landscapes that were literally composed on a piece of plexi, and you’ll see reduction prints, which is when, every time you print one color, you cut away more for the next color so you can never go back. You’ll see

16 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2016 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

some etchings, which are made by using ferric chloride to etch lines into copper. It’ll be a really good overview for someone who doesn’t know the range of printmaking and wants to see what all the possibilities are. Lynam: Barb is exceptional at printing on fabric — that’s her area. We also have a gentleman in the group, Bob Edwards, who does very fine, very detailed woodcuts then collages them on the press. We’ve also go Steve Straussner, who does a combination of screenprinting and linocuts. He’s doing a series called “Idols, Heroes, & Villains,” that’s portraits of political and social figures from the 1970s, and it’s up to the viewer what category they fall into. What’s been your progression as an artist since you started printmaking? Lynam: I had no idea what printmaking really was. I’d met a woman in an art class and she had this cool little notebook and I asked her where she’d gotten it. She said, “I made the cover in printmaking,” and I said, “Do you think I could do that, too?” And I just signed up. That’s how I got started. I had no idea about all the different types of materials that you can get into. As I progressed, I learned all the different types of processes. That’s really the way you should do it. Learn everything, and once you have that under your belt, you can start combining media. You can start with a monoprint, where you apply ink to a plate and then you print on paper, then you could do an etching and sketch into copper, ink that, then print on top of the monoprint, then, if you wanted, you can add some add something via Chine-collé or collaging materials. You can have many, many layers when you’re printmaking. A lot of people who don’t do printmaking don’t understand that; they think it goes through the press once, and you’re done.

Wills: I’m a retired high-tech engineer, so I went in in 2004 knowing nothing about printmaking. My expectation was that I would learn something about art and meet other people interested in art. So, that’s how I started. I only knew color theory from the perspective of physics; I didn’t know how to mix colors and I’d never used a printing press before. It was all new for me, which was kind of exciting. You’ll ﬁnd a lot of people come to printmaking from painting or photography, though. … I started with relief plates. It was surprising for me to see what happens to the image on the inked plate when you roll it through a press and apply pressure and transfer it to whatever you’re printing on. What can you say about your own art today? Wills: I do a lot of walking and hiking, and that’s where all my imagery comes from — the layers, lines, and shapes. Coming out of the high tech industry, I worked with a lot of multilayered circuits, so I tend to see the world in layers. When I started printmaking, I saw things as circuit structures. You don’t realize how much of what’s in your mind and what you visualize comes out when you start working with your hands. … Since 2004, I went from printing on paper to teaching myself how to print on fabric and coming up with my own recipe for an ink was permanent that worked on fabric and with a woodcut plate. Being an engineer, you live and die by experimentation, and that discipline helped with that process. I kept thinking, if it takes two years, then it takes two years. You have to keep trying things. I progressed. Lynam: Right now I’m exploring digital methods. My backgrounds are either completely digital or they’re monoprints, then, after I print, I include collage. My pieces are considered multimedia. I’m trying to combine printmaking and other mediums, including painting. Right now, I’m working on a series where I start out by making my own linocuts, then I stamp them into a media that’s plaster-like, so I create a raised surface, then I sand it down and do it again, then add layers until I’m happy with it. Then I usually add gold leaf and paint into that. It’s a process I’ve developed myself. I try to avoid pieces that require framing because that can be quite expensive. That’s how this process started; trying to avoid that

expensiveness. Anyway, I know what I’m trying to achieve, so I take my time, sand back, and reapply in certain areas as I go. It takes time to work that way, but that’s how I work. Why forge a group from people who took a specific series of college classes? Lynam: At the college, we have three presses available to us. It’s a great place to work, and we’ve had excellent instructors. Every new instructor has brought something else to the table. Our current instructor brings more of a professional printmaker’s mindset and has taught us so much. Our prior instructor was a book artist, who brought that skill to the table and also specialized in screen printing. Everybody works together, and it’s a great place to be. the show. We’ll have some information about signing Wills: We don’t want to be exclusive, and some up for printmaking at Yavapai College there. We’d of our younger members, when they hear that also love to have more people exhibiting with us. If if they move up to the last class they can be in we get more people to show, we’ll get more people to gallery shows, and that’s really exciting for them. the school and get more people to the group. Every year, we bring in one or two more people into the group, which only makes us better. At the ***** college, we have access to all the materials, won“Outside the Lines,” a show from the Contempoderful printing presses, and an instructor who’s rary Printmakers of Prescott, runs through Nov. a master printmaker with 15 years of university 22 at ’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., teaching experience. Even for people like me, 928-775-0223. who’ve been doing this for a long time, she can show us little refinements of things we’ve never Robert Blood is a Mayer-ish-based freelance heard before. It’s also nice being around people writer and ne’er-do-well who’s working on his who are interested in the same thing. … A lot of us last book, which, incidentally, will be his first. come out of bureaucratic and corporate jobs, so Contact him at BloodyBobby5@Gmail.Com. the last thig we want to do is have a whole lot of Geologic Excursion to the Verde Valley with Wayne Ranney: 11/28 structure and meetings as a group. Once a year, I ask for updated images and bios for each member and update our show proposal with the help of Donn Rawlings. What do you want people to take away from the show? Wills: I think people just really need to take the time and look at the diversity of the work in

FROM TOP: Maria Lynam works on a piece in her studio; Barb Wills works on a piece in her studio; courtesy photos.

Highlands Center for Natural History

Nestled in the Lynx Lake Recreation Area, two minutes from Costco, The Highlands Center for Natural History invites you to experience the wonder of the Central Arizona Highlands.

Join Wayne Ranney, well-known geologist and author, on a full day excursion that will highlight the geology of the Verde Valley. Registration Required, $75 (10% discount for members)

NATURALIST WALKS - FREE! Thurs and Sat 9am at the Highlands Center NATURAL HISTORY AND FIRE ROTATION OF PINYON-JUNIPER WOODLANDS Thursday, Nov 10, 6:30pm FREE! HIGHLANDS HOLIDAY BAZAAR - Saturday, Nov 12, 10am-3pm Give a gift of nature while supporting the Highland Center’s mission of discovering the wonders of nature and becoming wise caretakers of the land.

Call 928-776-9550 for info or to Register

www.highlandscenter.org 17

Not-asholy days

ow indulgence became inextricably linked with thankfulness is a bit of a mystery. Luckily, there are plenty of other reasons to get energized this month. Consider celebrating ... Nov. 2: Look for Circles Day • A well-rounded pursuit. Nov. 5: Guy Fawkes Day • To foiled plans. Nov. 8: Dunce Day • Feeling cornered? Nov. 16: Button Day • Sew what? Nov. 18: Occult Day • Do What Though Wilt. Nov. 20: Absurdity Day • Albert Camus can-dos. Nov. 25: Black Friday • Contrast with below.

he octopus is a remarkable creature with a highly developed brain, extremely good eyesight, and a vast array of survival tricks. They can change color, skin texture and even body shape — quickly. They are known for squirting clouds of ink into the water which confuses predators visually, but also the smell of the ink resembles the octopus itself. This helps to cover its tracks. And, if the unfortunate octopus is damaged in the attack, it can regrow its tentacles. Octopuses can grow to the length of 30 feet from arm tip to arm tip, and it has recently been discovered that all octopuses are venomous. The tiny blue ringed octopus, though small, packs a particularly potent venom, making it one of the deadliest animals in the ocean. It can inject large doses of a neurotoxin called TXX. This animal’s venom has enough wallop to kill 26 grown adults in a matter of minutes. There is no antidote. ODDLY ENOUGH … The blue ring octopus is so poisonous that it can kill without even biting its victim. It can merely release its toxin into the water near its prey and the victim will die after pumping the poisoned water through its gills.

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almon belong to their own biological family, however, they are closely related to trout and char. Most salmon are anadromous, meaning they can survive in freshwater and seawater, although some salmon never leave freshwater rivers. Salmon which return to their spawning waters must completely transform from a freshwater animal to a sea creature, then back to a freshwater animal again. This is extremely hard on any biological system. Spawning salmon don’t eat while they are transforming and returning to spawn, yet they travel thousands of miles, swim up waterfalls, maneuver around large ﬁsh, whales, bears, sea-lions, and humans to get to where they are going. Females usually dig up to seven nests and deposit around 5000 eggs per nest. Then, like their deformed male counterparts, they die. The newly hatched salmon seek refuge in beaver ponds until they are large enough to swim to the ocean.

Nov. 25: Buy Nothing Day • Contrast with above. Nov. 28: Red Planet Day • A terra-informative celebration. Nov. 30: Stay at Home Because You Are Well Day • Enjoin or enjoy.

18 • FEATURE • NOVEMBER 2016 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

ODDLY ENOUGH … Some salmon don’t die, and they are usually females. It is rare, but some animals manage to live through the horriﬁc ordeal, run the gauntlet of salmon hungry predators multiple times, and return to reproduce. The known record for this repetition phenomena is three spawning seasons. ***** Russell Miller is an illustrator, cartoonist, writer, bagpiper, motorcycle enthusiast, and reference librarian. Currently, he illustrates books for Cody Lundin and Bart King.

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