Flash Floods and Cat Fights

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

There is a low, rolling thunder in the Valley of Hell this evening, and the winds have just a hint of a coming rain. Rain could happen, the odds say it won't, but rain could happen. It rained up north in beautiful Sedona today, and the resulting flash flood stacked up cars in the parking areas of the Talapaque Village - just across the highway from the UFO Store and the Psychic Emporium. An argument could probably be made for alien or psychic involvement in this surprise flash flood, but I'm too damned tired to propose one.

Fortunately there were no deaths or serious injuries in the flash flood, but I understand that some people had to be rescued from their cars.

Arizona is a dry, parched land. (Did you know that?) The ground is so dry and so hard, that only a very slow rain stands any chance of soaking in. Hard and quick rains run off into the streets and parking lots. Flash floods are a very real threat in the desert.

And in the news closer to home...

Scroungy Bastard came running home as I pulled in after work. I didn't feed him right away because I had to rush in and look something up on the Internet for my Dad. Before I could get back to taking proper care of my dependent kitty, I heard an awful screeching and snarling racket on the back porch. Although I have not seen any other cats loitering around this end of the trailer park, I know a cat fight when I hear one - and this was a dandy!

By the time I got outside, both cats had disappeared and there was literally fur floating in the air - and there were two small deposits of cat poop on the porch. Had Scroungy Bastard been scared shitless? It took about an hour for him to make it back home, and he arrived without any obvious scars. I broke open a can of Friskies Gourmet and then stood guard while he chowed down. Poor baby!

If I had a gun I would probably shoot that other cat. But, of course, if I had a gun that would make me an Arizona moron and I wouldn't have the ambition to load the gun or shoot it. And there wouldn't be any way in hell that I would waste that expensive cat food on a cat! Seafood Supper on a shingle, anyone?

Edgar Cayce, the UFO Store, and Powerball Numbers Not to Play This Week

by Pa Rock
Life's Bystander

I had a reader comment last night regarding the emporium for psychics and the UFO Store, so I thought it might be appropriate to expound a bit further on those shopping adventures. The actual name of the psychic emporium, if I remember correctly, was The Crystal Palace. It was a fairly new building with a big porch and some outdoor seating for bored spouses, most of whom were of the husband variety. Inside the air was heavy with incense, and there were numerous new age trinkets for sale including crystals, key chains, lucky charms, angels, and things of that ilk. There were also lots of books on the spirit world and psychic phenomenon.

A sign directed customers upstairs for psychic readings, but I really wasn't up for learning the future. I would rather be surprised!

There were several books on the psychic whiz-bang of the late 1800's and early 1900's, Edgar Cayce. Those drew my interest because I have some personal knowledge of the amazing Mr. Cayce. Before moving to Arizona, I worked at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, for two years and rented an apartment up the road in Hopkinsville, KY, the hometown of Edgar Cayce. Each year the community hosted a special day devoted to Edgar Cayce, an event that I studiously avoided. Activities included a lengthy tour of Hopkinsville and vicinity that focused on the old haunts (pun intended) of Cayce. The tour was followed by an evening performance of a play on the life of Edgar Cayce that was penned by a local scribe.

While I'm not a believer in this paranormal claptrap, my good friend and co-worker at Ft. Campbell, Sandy Price, was. She lived in Clarksville, TN, but drove up to Hopkinsville to enjoy the Cayce fest the second year that I lived there. Sandy talked me into joining her for the play that evening, something that I wanted to do because I desired to get a look inside of the historic (and very run down) theatre that was hosting the event. To my complete surprise, the play was actually quite good, and I came away with a certain appreciation for the skills (or charlatanry) of Edgar Cayce.

As a point of local pride, the Cayce family still has a pharmacy in Hopkinsville.

But there was nothing for me in the Crystal Palace, and I walked across the parking lot to the other attraction on the wrong side of the highway - The UFO Store. The store had some tourist attractions in the parking lot including a UFO Recovery Vehicle - an old pick-up with a sign that identified it as such, a small flying saucer that was big enough for two small humans, and some sort of rocket that might accommodate one petite human.

The inside of the store was filled with little, plush ET's - green in color, UFO tees of various descriptions, books on UFO sightings, and lots of stuff on Roswell, including laminated copies of the front pages of Roswell newspapers at the time of the crash and the great government cover-up. I purchased two postcards based on the famous Shepherd Fairey posters of Obama. Obama's face, of course, had been replaced with that of a Hollywood standard extra-terrestrial, and the slogan at the bottom said "Believe." I also bought a couple of aliens-as-cowboys postcards by local artist Xandy Lifson.

I spent quite a bit of time perusing the wares of the UFO Store, but I could find no local connection to Sedona. What the hell, though, do you need to have a UFO land in your backyard in order to believe - or turn a profit?

With one final nod to the paranormal, I would like to advise anyone who has read this far to stay away from the numbers 28 and 37 for Wednesdays $245 million Powerball drawing. I bought two sets of three tickets each today - at different quick stops. The Powerball numbers on the first were 28, 37, and 16. The Powerball numbers on the second were 28, 37, and 38. So 28 and 37 ain't gonna happen, and 16 and 38 don't look so good either. Trust me.