Monday, April 7, 2008

My Town Monday: Chandler, Arizona



Well, I'm totally s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the My Town Monday idea by posting about Chandler, AZ.

However, I was just in Chandler, AZ for the weekend, and I did take some pictures. And, hey, I'll be back to San Diego posts next week. Deal?

From Wikepedia, Chandler is named after Dr. John Alexander Chandler, the first vet in the Arizona Territory. He settled in the area around 1891. At first, Chandler's economy was based on growing stuff like cotton and alfalfa. But in the 1910s, ostrich farms started popping up to supply ostrich plumes for women's hats.

And, now Chandler has an Annual Ostrich Festival. It's usually held in early March, and this year was no exception despite the fact that my trip was planned for April.

The AOF (sorry, but I'm getting a cold and must conserve energy) looks fun with a parade and bands and food and rides and face painting and EXOTIC ANIMAL RACES, including camels, zebras and "our frisky ostriches"!!! (quotation from the Chandler Chamber of Commerce)

Even though I totally missed the AOF, there were still all sorts of life-sized artsy ostriches hanging around on sidewalks and in store windows.

Here are a couple of them. Please remember I previously mentioned that my camera is lousy (Pentx Optio E10--don't buy one). Plus the photographer isn't all that skilled. (Just ignore the wrong date. I don't even remember changing it! Which rogue button did I push? I may have thought I was answering my cell phone!)







Dreamin In Style
by Cheryl Fecht








Eat Fresh Buy Local
by Ruth Knowles





So....does an ostrich really bury his head in the sand? Whaddya think?

Travis Erwin is the mastermind behind the My Town Monday posts. Click over to his blog for a list of participants.

I will blog later this week about getting together with Rachel Vater. It was FANTABULOUS.

And speaking of fantabulous, we have a new book launch over at the Class of 2k8's blog. Please click over and congratulate Zu Vincent on the release of her debut young adult The Lucky Place.

23 comments:

  1. My boys love the "birdie pictures" and now want to go...

    Thanks for sharing.

    I should do this for Ottawa - there are a million amazing things to do here...I gotta get my act together and dive in!

    Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Hi Barrie
    Thanks for dropping by my blog! I love the premise of your book. I have an almost 11 year-old who has just discovered reading (after years of nagging and a fortune spent in Amazon) and I know Sherry will be right up her street. Good luck with it!

    Chandler looks like a great town. I LOVE the painted ostriches. Puts me in mind of the Lions of Lyon. Wonderful concept! Sounds like we are similarly photographically challenged. I know my point and click camera doesn't do me any favours but the more complicated the camera the more blurry shots I get. I leave the arty shots to the Hubby.
    Got to go walk the manic dog now. (Why am I not thin?)
    Jane Volker

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  3. Everything counts in My Town Monday, since we are all world citizens, Barrie.

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  4. Greetings from NY.
    I really don't know the American west as well as I should - though I once took a bus from the Grand Canyon to LA.
    Good to see photos of foreign places.
    We go back to Maroc on Thursday.

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  5. I think MTM posts can be about anywhere you've been or want to go.

    Love the pictures.

    Terrie

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  6. I definitely want to visit Arizona one day. Particularly to see the Grand Canyon, and the Sedonia area. My wife, Lana, has seen Sedonia and her descriptions make me want to go.

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  7. Barrie: Nearby the town I live now is an emu farm - you can see the emus grazing from the highway - but they're raised for food, not feathers!

    Charles: I have family in AZ now, so I hope to visit there myself. Sedona sounds wonderful.

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  8. an ostrich festival? well, that's certainly something you don't hear about every day! :)

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  9. Chandler, Arizona was named after a Vet and celebrates an annual ostrich festival. For some reason, Barrie, I love knowing -- and won't forget -- that. And those painted ones beat Pink Flamingos any day! *VBG*

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  10. While working for a feed store as a teenager I got pecked by an ostrich making deliveries so I tend not to like the birds. But Ostrich fajitas are actually quite tasty.

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  11. Ostriches freak me out.That looks like a funky town, though - and that's a fun idea for a festival.

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  12. Yes, tell us all about your fantabulous (?!) get-together with your agent.

    And the photos look pretty good - I mean palm trees always look good.
    -gabe

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  13. Excellent info, I know how you feel about the camera, I have one I can work and I'm sticking with it!!
    The ostrict are funny, we had painted cows on a patch of grass off of Trafalgar square in the centre of London a couple of years ago, also an odd idea!!

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  14. The annual ostrich festival! HA! Love it!

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  15. Ms. Summy, Sherry from "The Journals of a Meandering Muse" suggested I check out your blog since you write young adult fiction. (I'm attempting to.) It's great to find you, and I have to say, I love that ostrich!

    I have a question for you that I've had trouble finding the answer to on the web: how many words in general does a young adult novel have? I'm thinking perhaps it could be a little shorter than an adult novel? Thank you for your time.

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  16. Who knew the ostrich festival was held in Chandler? I wonder if they raise them for meat now.

    Sure looks warm and cozy there. Hope you got lots of research accomplished.

    brian_ohio

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  17. I wish I had a painted ostrich in my living room, I really do.

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  18. I love those ostriches. Here in DC we had the whole painted cow thing going on...I don't know if they are gone, or if I just grew accustomed to seeing them every weekend.

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  19. Barrie,

    That's so interesting about the ostriches. I work in Fullerton, CA which was once a sheep herding area and for a while they had full-sized, decorated sheep all over downtown. Most were auctioned off for a good cause, but two ended up at the local library.

    I'll have to check out My Town Monday. Sounds like a cool idea.

    Linda
    http://flightsafancy.blogspot.com/

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  20. Camels at the AOF? Sounds like my kind of place...you know how I love camels. I also saw that you used the word that I used to describe your book FANTABULOUS! Glad you had a good time and you made it back safe and sound sorry you have a cold.

    XO
    YPN

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  21. Love the ostriches! And *jealous, jealous, jealous* over Rachel Vater.

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Comments are always welcome!