Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Sedona, AZ - Traffic infested tourist trap

In August 2006 I drove from Baltimore, Maryland back home to L.A. It was a blast and I'm happy to say that America is as friendly as ever. I met some really great folks.Thanks for a great journey! The sad thing is that we've become way too homogenized. We've become McMerica. I passed through Sedona, Arizona and was so impressed I doubled back for more, humor that is. Sedona is a traffic infested tourist trap that uses those vortexes to suck as much cash from the believers as possible. It's modern snake oil huckstering personified. Don't get me wrong, I did have an epiphany, just not the one you'd expect. I'm not sure if it happened under the "Turquoise Arches" or the "Sacred Cellular Spire." Mine was from the beautiful countryside and it's relation to the old daily Krazy Kat cartoon strip of George Herriman that ran from 1916-1944. It was originally in the bottom margin of Herriman's the "Dingbat Family" comic strip. It was set in Coconino County, Arizona where Sedona is located. In his strip it was Kokonino Kounty and was populated by Krazy, Ignatz the mouse and Officer Pup as the main protagonists. The background drawings of the strip were stylized versions of the plants, mesas, buttes, and rock formations found near Sedona. As I drove through the Coconino National Forest to Sedona, I instantly saw where his inspiration came from. That was my revelation. As for Sedona, they really did pave paradise. The last photo is 10 or so miles from Sedona and is below the town of Jerome, an old copper mining town nestled in the hills above this plant. I couldn't find out what is was and the locals I asked didn't know either or weren't talking. Hmmm...