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Somewhere Between Here and There

I am a professional photographer living in the middle of Nowhere. And this blog serves two purposes until I decide otherwise. Dispatches from Nowhere offers insights into and vignettes of this small rural town and the people who define Nowhere. As well, it provides an outlet for the photography I create for Arizona Highways magazine, an internationally acclaimed photography magazine showcasing the best Arizona has to offer to visiting tourists, its residents and lost souls.

VISIT NOWHERE, ARIZONA

VISIT NOWHERE, ARIZONA

In The Beginning

You see, I was raised in a small Iowa town 50 years ago by two incredible parents. But then, I up and moved to Arizona to become a photographer. This profession has been exceptionally good to me. Depending on the workload and the season, I reside in a number of spots: Nowhere, Tempe or Flagstaff, Arizona or Goldfield, Iowa or Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. As a part-time resident of the tiny village of Nowhere, I have a unique perspective on the folks who live and work in a place which time has passed by. And, I'd like to share this fascinating place with you. When I'm somewhere other than Nowhere, I'm likely on assignment either for a corporate client or Arizona Highways magazine. And, as this blog matures, I'll be presenting the photography and the stories behind the photography I've shot for the magazine since 1985. And with any technological luck, I'll be providing dispatches to this blog while I'm actually on current assignments. All along, you'll come to know Nowhere and its common people with uncommon problems and personal achievements. Early dispatches offer some background into the town itself while newer dispatches will reveal the character of the townsfolk. Enjoy.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Leap Day & Our 666 Controversy

This Leap Year brings with it the 140th anniversary of Nowhere's founding. With that, our post office is issuing a commemorative stamp. Also, it was exactly 40 years ago that the town got its first official post office. February 29 is a pretty important date around here. Probably the biggest controversy to ever hit Nowhere was on this date back in 1968 when the town got it’s own post office - 100 years after forming. Until then all mail was dropped off at Dolly's Pharmacy by CO-OP driver Dennis Day. You see, when the Feds granted Nowhere the new post office, it assigned the zip code: 85666. Well, as you can imagine, those numbers created quite a stir amongst many in this hamlet of church-going folks. A petition was even sent back to Senator Barry Goldwater's office in Washington. But the locals eventually found a compromise. See, no one wanted their zip code to start with ...85... because that’s what the zip codes in big-cities Phoenix and Tucson have. And folks around here don’t much like to be associated with big city life. In exchange for keeping the 85 in 85666, the senator promised to be the grand marshall of Nowhere’s annual Independence Day parade. Somehow, the parade skipped Goldwater's mind that year. When the parade came and went, everyone pretty much forgot about the controversy. And the senator.

Life is good every Feb. 29th

Posted by Don B. Stevenson at 1:48 PM

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BEST OF ARIZONA

  • Spring skiing Flagstaff weekdays
  • Fav Wildflower spots: Organ Pipe Monument, Hiway 60 before & after Superior, south side of Superstition Mountains.
  • Kayenta (on road to Monument Valley): Wagon Wheel diner Navajo Fry Bread
  • Az has four seasons in a 2 hour drive

WORST OF ARIZONA

  • Lukeville: the Mexico border crossing coming back into Arizona. Up to 4 hour waits.
  • Lukeville: this Chevron mens room makes Window Rock's shine.
  • Window Rock: Chevron bathroom ugly since 1988
  • Phoenix: Traffic anytime

WHACKIEST OF ARIZONA

  • Tombstone: British tourists dress as cowboys...annually
  • Northwest Az: only access is from NV or Utah
  • The Thing: along I-10 west of Benson

There"s No Place Like Nowhere

copyright 2007-2008 Don B. Stevenson. All Rights Reserved. Photos and the blog itself may not be reproduced without written permission from Don B. Stevenson.