An observation. (2)

[Sister Fracture]

If one doesn't drive north of Lambert, east of Pantano, west of I-10, or south of Barrazo-Aviation highway/Broadway or Speedway, one doesn't really understand how close to the essence of Tucson the inhabited portions of The City are.  The Fearful are too busy ignoring their lot, being messy, being normal, being human.  The City's truth gets covered by what might laughingly be called 'civilization.' 

These things, ideas, of being normal, being civilized, they are imaginary in the face of Tucson.  Even inside the perimeter outlined here, Tucson shows through the cracks in humanity. 

During off traffic hours, one might think that the city has been abandoned. Empty roads, cracked and decaying, emanate sullenness and quiet horror, especially when the marks of the sausage creature are present.  Some great travesty might have taken place, robbing thousands of their lives.  Truly, such is the state of being in The Hive sections, very nearly literally.

The very houses themselves look as though they have lost all hope.  Shabby and slumping, they sit dark and gloomy.  The feeling is often magnified when the people who own the things inside the houses come and go, or play in the street with the other children of adults who own the things in the other houses.  The weeds choking these yards give a quaint touch of despondency.  I cannot call them homes.  The Fearful have no homes, because their life in Tucson is only ever temporary.  "Houses," they call their domiciles.  Never "home."  Never home.

[Murmur]

 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

This is beautiful in its barrenness. And very true, from what I've seen.

[Freeky]

That's the weirdest thing, Nigel.  I have to drive through that area once every other week or so, and it really is equal parts beautiful and depressing as hell.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That's the weirdest thing, Nigel.  I have to drive through that area once every other week or so, and it really is equal parts beautiful and depressing as hell.

They all look so much the same. I could never tell where we were; how close or how far from wherever we started or where we were going. And in the medians, prickly pears.

[Doktor Howl]

That's the weirdest thing, Nigel.  I have to drive through that area once every other week or so, and it really is equal parts beautiful and depressing as hell.

They all look so much the same. I could never tell where we were; how close or how far from wherever we started or where we were going. And in the medians, prickly pears.

Our state flower is an ashtray.

[Freeky]

That's the weirdest thing, Nigel.  I have to drive through that area once every other week or so, and it really is equal parts beautiful and depressing as hell.

They all look so much the same. I could never tell where we were; how close or how far from wherever we started or where we were going. And in the medians, prickly pears.

Our state flower is an ashtray.

[Freeky]

That's the weirdest thing, Nigel.  I have to drive through that area once every other week or so, and it really is equal parts beautiful and depressing as hell.

They all look so much the same. I could never tell where we were; how close or how far from wherever we started or where we were going. And in the medians, prickly pears.

There's a lot of subtle differences in different parts of town.  Mostly the differences are which mountains look how, and can you see the freeway?  And you need a good sense of direction, too.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

I've seen places like this. And felt a subtle pull. You're no better than this. You can try but it doesn't mean anything. You'll never escape, might as well move in. Tucson is an insidious creature.

[Freeky]

It is, and it gets everywhere because it IS everywhere.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

And spreading farther, deeper every day.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

For most of us, it's do we go outside? For Tucson, it's do I go outside and survive today.