A thunder gourd?

As long as I had to take an almost hour’s drive to town (Yuma), I thought I’d visit a couple of local interesting spots along the way.  One I visited last weekend when I had to get a new battery for the car, but the other one I’d just seen off the roadway.

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Right along US 95 is the sign for the Pause, Rest, Worship Church.  It was built in 1995 by Loren Pratt as a memorial to his late first wife.

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                                                                       This church is tiny!

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The church was destroyed by a freak microburst storm in 2011, but an outpouring of donations helped rebuild it complete with stained glass.  On the pulpit, there is a Bible and a notebook where prayer requests can be written.

IMG_0832Outside, the small place of worship is surrounded by gorgeous blooming bougainvillea bushes.  It was a peaceful spot in the midst of farm fields.

I continued on to stop at Walgreens and Fry’s grocery store.  Last week when I was at Fry’s, I wanted to get some pork ribs for grilling, but I felt $7.99/lb. was too expensive.  This week the price was the same, but if you bought one full rack of ribs, you got two more for free.  So, I ended up with 14 lbs. of ribs for $2.14/lb.  I like ribs, but I’m thinking I ended up with more than enough to last me the five months I’ll be here!  It’s a good thing there’s a small chest freezer for volunteers to use to take advantage of good sales.

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On the way home, once again on US 95, I stopped for the second time at From the Farm.  When I first stopped here on Sunday, I thought it might be a vegetable stand.  Turns out it’s more than that.

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There’s a garden area that has various ornaments from Mexico (I think).  See that cool frog on the left?  I thought my brother Kurt might like that to put on a section of the wall surrounding his pool.  He’ll have to let me know.  In the middle of this area is a ‘shack’ where you can also eat your lunch at a table in the shade. 

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Inside, you can order a lunch, buy local jams, honey, and pickles, and shop for antiques and local artists wares.  There was no fresh produce.  I got the tour of the store on Sunday by the owner along with some free samples.

I ended up buying a jar of dill pickles, and let me tell you that if you like pickles with a little kick, this is the place to get them.  I think it’s the red pepper flakes in the jar that spice them up.

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There are also four kinds of iced tea and lemonade that you can buy.  When I was there on Sunday, the guy gave me a sample of artichoke tea.  I’m not a tea drinker, but I had to give it a try.  He told me to just take a little sip, and then give the glass back to him.  I did.  It tasted like tea.  Smile with tongue out  Then he put in a squirt of lemonade, and it made all the difference in the world to me.  It was very refreshing and tasty.

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I had never heard of artichoke tea, and he went on and on about its virtues.  So today I purchased a full glass of the tea/lemonade mixture.  It does quench your thirst in the desert, and just look at all the benefits.  Winking smileI also found out that this is a U-pick farm, but crops won’t be ready for three or four weeks yet.

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Now here’s the real reason I stopped here once again today.  It was to get a Thunder Gourd.  There is a local artist that paints and carves these gourds.  These gourds just caught my fancy on Sunday.  I thought about it all week, and decided to get the one with the lizard painted on it.  It’s not just pretty.  There is a kind of skin covering the bottom that a coil hangs out of.  If you twirl the gourd in a circle, it makes the most amazing sound.  I just love it.  I hung it from the visor of the driver’s seat, and every time I go up front I twirl it to hear the ‘thunder’.  Emma is not as fond of it as I am…  It’s hard to describe the sound.  I guess you’ll all just have to come to visit so I can play it for you.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

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