Use What You Have

Last month, while in Arizona, we had the pleasure of spending some time in the old mining town of Jerome.

It was full of charm and signs of a bygone era.  While walking along the tiny streets Secret Agent Man pointed out a garden that I almost missed.  Being just my kind of thing, I am glad it didn't pass me by.  

With the town being built on a steep mountain side ~literally~ people used space with great diligence.  This tiny space was made into a garden, of sorts, using mostly re-purposed materials.  Not the shiny, store-bought things that look so neat and perfect.  But, real objects that, when put together, make things that bring a smile. 

I do think that might be St. Francis in the bathtub. 

A metal stock tank bringing joy as a fountain.

In the background sits an old hot water heater filled with glass balls. 

A little metal work collection with the man-in-the-moon watching over things. 

Quirky, most certainly, but most of all creative.  People using what they have, or find, to make eye catching displays.  I have to say that I think the mountain view helped just a tad. 

"Creativity is more than just being different.  Anybody can plan weird; that's easy.  What's hard is to be as simple as Bach.  Making the simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." 

Charles Mingus