On The Road Again…

Today is Easter Sunday, but it wasn't much of a holiday for us with Eddie still sick. This afternoon I drove over to the Mission San Xavier del Bac on the Tohono O'odham reservation. The first time we were in Tucson, in 2004, we were staying here at Beaudry for a Country Coach rally, and we rode our bikes to the mission. I wanted to go back and take some photos, since most of the photos from that first Arizona trip were lost in a hard drive crash.


Yesterday I read on a website that there has been renovation going on at the mission for several years, but during March and April the scaffoldings would be down, so it seemed like an excellent time for a visit. Unfortunately, the website was wrong! The afternoon light was not good for photos of the mission anyway, but I did get some interesting shots.


I was surprised at the number of people visiting the mission on Easter Sunday. Some were obviously tourists, but the majority appeared to be Mexicans or Native Americans visiting the church for prayer. The sanctuary is adorned with a statues of saints, and features a relining statue of St. Francis laid out as body in a casket.
Pilgrims come to venerate him and ask him to answer their prayers (prayers can also be submitted via the web at www.sanxaviermission.org/Saint.html).


On the grounds of the mission is a courtyard with craft shops and a row of booths selling Indian Fry Bread. The craft area is in disrepair, as it was during our visit four years ago. Two stores were open, and there was a Native American artists working in an outdoor booth. I asked him if I could take his photo, and he was most obliging. While he was working he told me that he was a modern Indian (his words) as he was using an electric drill and not traditional tools. I told him he was a modern man!

He said I had to see what he was working on — a silver piece with the Mission San Xavier del Bac etched on its face. A complete series of photos of the artist, Joe Begay, are posted on my Photo Blog.



After talking to Mr. Begay, I bought a fry bread taco and found a shady spot in a courtyard to eat it. Delicious, and way too much for one person to eat. Eddie and I always share snacks, and I missed not being able to share it with him.




Several very friendly dogs always seem to be hanging around the mission, and one of them followed me and stayed very close while I was eating. When I finished, without sharing it with him, he just wandered away.


The Tohono O'odham Reservation is sandy, desolate land. It covers almost 4,500 square miles, and there are three tribal casinos. Unfortunately, the casino earnings have not done much to improve the lifestyle of the residents of the reservation.