Desert Messenger

20 www.DesertMessenger.com High Spirit Flutes January 1, 2014 Voices from The Past in Quartzsite, AZ Excerpts from "In the Shadow of Saguaros" Harry is back! by Rosalee Oldham Wheeler (formerly of Rice Ranch) NEW LOCATION! Tyson Wells Showgrounds Row P-23 www.HighSpirits.com Nominated for 2008 & 2009 Indian Summer 970-319-5375 Music Awards 70 South Kofa • Quartzsite, AZ Contact: Loretta Warner 928-927-8543 Storage units conveniently located in Quartzsite available at reasonable rates. Open year round. Fenced location with on-site security. For information regarding sizes and rates, please contact Loretta Warner at 928-927-8543. Don't kill that rat - follow him! In 1939, when we moved to Quartzsite, as a young wife with a baby I knew I had a lot to learn about; living on the desert, surviving the summer heat, working our beekeeping business, recognizing the plants from which our honeybees gathered nectar, getting by without electricity or running water, and identifying the insects and animals of the Sonoran Desert. Ah yes, the animals. When Judge Charles Mott sold us his place and beekeeping outfit, he agreed to stay on to help us "learn the business," which that wonderful 83-year-old gentleman surely did and much, much more. He loved the desert and was resisting a planned move to Pasadena to live with his daughters. Judge Mott knew more about the desert and its plants and animals than anyone I had ever known. He could rattle off information about a plant or animal as if he had memorized it from some encyclopedia, but he didn't own one. For instance, one evening after dinner and before the oil in our kerosene lamp burned completely out, I thought I saw something dart across the floor of our kitchen/dining/living room. I was pretty darn sure that what I saw was a rat—but much smaller than the rats that were as big as a cat lurking around Grandpa Venable's barn near the Mississippi River back in Pike County, Illinois. I grabbed the baseball bat that Charles kept behind the kitchen door, poised to whack the rat. To my surprise, Judge Mott called out, "Don't kill that rat, follow him!" In disbelief I cried out, "What! Why?" And that's when we began SEE RATS PAGE 37 Ma & Pa's "A Little Bit of Everything!" Downtown Bouse, Arizona Tons of New and Used Hardware, Plumbing and Electric; Odds and Ends Galore! TOOLS! Antiques, Incense, Indian Jewelry, Books, VHS Tapes, Rocks and Cacti. NEW Arizona T-Shirts and Tank Tops $3 each or 2/$5* (While supplies last) PROFESSIONAL PROPANE SERVICE AND QUALITY SUPPLIES! Custom Made Hoses, Regulators, Fittings, Hose-by-the-Foot, New QuickRelease Fittings, Extend-a-Says, and Tanks in Various Sizes for Sale 5 Gal Exchange Tanks - RV & Home Service, New Valves Installed, Certifications, Testing & Inspections on Heaters and Propane Systems We also BUY-SELL-TRADE Estate Sales, Yard Sales, Consignments FREE Appraisals! Open 10am – 4pm Wed. thru Sunday - Closed Monday & Tuesday 928-699-1338

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