As I said in a previous post, the reason I was coming to Tucson was to see Cousin Ann. She is a very special person in my life. Ann and my mother grew up together and it is so much fun to hear the stories of the 'old days'. Let's just say that these girls might not have been as prim and proper as they seemed when I was growing up. I would go over to see Ann every day while I was in Tucson. I was not allowed to go into her apartment because of Covid, but she lived on the ground floor with a veranda. Ann sat on one side of the veranda and I sat on the other side properly attired with masks. They also took my temperature every day before I could see her. I think seeing Cousin Ann was the highlight of my Tucson time.
Cousin Ann
she would hate that I put her picture in the blog
but I just think you can see what a strong, sharp woman she is from the picture.
Cousin Ann recommended this book and loaned me a copy. It only takes about 15 minutes to read but it is so wonderful, so gentle. Next time I can get mail, I will be ordering me a copy. No matter what page you open the book, there are words that you need to hear.
Since I've been to Tucson several times, I was looking for something a little different to do this time. I found the Ignite Sign Museum. I think I was expecting it to be a Neon sign museum, but they had signs of all sorts. The museum is in a large warehouse filled with displays. They also had a large outdoor area where they displayed signs to big too be inside. They had a short little movie about neon and argon where they talked about the history of neon but also about how they get colors which I found interesting.
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| The Vice Corner |
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| Remember the old Arby signs? One of the first dates I ever went on was to Arby's with one of these signs. |
Even better than the sign museum was a little religious shrine called El Tiradito or the Wishing Shrine.
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| Only Shrine in the United States dedicated to a sinner |
Here is the sordid story (source: Wikipedia)
But the sins of this 18-year-old ranch hand, who was often seen frequenting Tucson downtown during the 1870s, while he was employed on his father-in-law's sheep ranch, north of the town, were sins of his heart, mind, and his actions with a married woman, who was no less than his own mother-in-law. El Tiradito is a story of the west, a curse, and a love triangle. Juan Oliveras was in love with his mother-in-law. El Tiradito, also known as the Wishing Shrine, is the burial site of the lovesick Oliveras. Juan, his young wife, and his wife's father, all lived on the father-in-law's large sheep ranch. Juan had become infatuated with his mother-in-law, who lived in her husband's large main home in Tucson.
One day Juan went into town to secretly visit his beautiful mother-in-law. That same day, his rancher father-in-law also went into town on business and surprised his wife and son-in-law having sex in the rancher's own bed. After many strong words and accusations, a violent fight ensued. Juan got free and fled out the front door yelling for help. But his enraged ax-wielding father-in-law soon caught up to the young man and began attacking him, hitting him repeatedly with the sharp axe blade until Juan died in a large pool of his own blood in the dirt street. The blood-spattered father-in-law fled, and, knowing he would hang for the murder if he was caught, saddled up his best horse and quickly made his escape in a 60-mile ride down to Sonora Mexico before the Tucson Marshals could arrest him.
The rancher's wife was so despondent that she committed suicide. She was found hanging from her balcony that night by a passing freight wagon. The murderer made it to Sonora México, but within days he attempted to return to his Tucson area ranch to herd his animals down to Sonora. Riding his horse on the trail north, up to Tucson, near Tubac he was attacked by a band of Apache Indian raiders. They scalped him, stabbed him, shot him repeatedly, took his guns, took his horse, took his clothes, and tied him naked to a large saguaro cactus along the Nogales to Tucson wagon trail, to die. By morning the southbound stagecoach going from Tucson down to Nogales came upon the gruesome sight of the barely recognizable dead man. His body was cut down from the giant saguaro cactus, wrapped up in a canvass tarp, and lashed down on the back freight area of the stagecoach, which continued on its scheduled run down to Nogales, Sonora, where the body was buried.
Despite pleas to the Tucson Catholic Church officials from some of the barrio's residents, the Catholic Church refused Juan Oliveras burial on church-sanctioned or owned cemeteries due to the adulterous nature of the young man's sins with the married woman while he himself was also already married to another woman. Instead, Juan was buried on the exact spot where his body was thrown by his enraged father-in-law after he had hacked him to death with the axe. That act gave the present site its name, El Tiradito, ('The Little Throwaway'... 'The Castaway.')
Soon, the weight of the multiple tragedies of the deaths of both of her parents and her spouse, as well as the betrayal by her husband and mother drove Juan's own young widow to desperation and beyond. Pregnant with Juan's child, and now living mostly alone on the nearly abandoned ranch north of Tucson, that had belonged to her dead parents; she untied the bucket from the rope going down into the ranch's deep water well. The beautiful widow tied the rope snugly around her neck, climbed onto the large rocks surrounding the well, and jumped down into it, snapping her neck instantly. Neighboring ranchers found her limp body almost a week later when they visited the ranch to ask her if she wanted any help to move into Tucson. Her body was buried right there on the ranch next to a large old mesquite tree that remains to this day.
The 'Curse of The Wishing Shrine' centers predominately on its visitors' motives for their visit, and their own lives. It is said that if one visits with a clear open heart that forgives, they will pass, and they may even get their wish fulfilled. For others, it may just be the beginning of history repeating itself, depending on what they themselves bring to the shrine. Also, it is said that if you light a candle at the shrine and it remains burning all night long without going out by sunrise, your wish may be granted, depending on your motivations.[2]
My birthday occurred during the week I spent in Tucson. I decided that, as a birthday present to myself, I would get my RV washed and waxed. I had been trying to do it a little section at a time, but it was going so slow and it was so tedious. So I splurged and it was wonderful. After all the dust storms I had been thru, plus the northern bugs that I had to drive thru to get south, the camper really needed it. When they came to do an estimate, I asked them if they would wash and wax my truck also. No problem. Then I told them it was my birthday and did he have a birthday discount. He did!!! I don't think he really did, but I kept bringing it up so I think he finally gave in just to keep me quiet.
Angel doing his magic - yes, his name was actually Angel
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| Aren't they pretty? |
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