Mon 11 May 2009
Note: Photo captions are time and place of WiFi connectivity.
May 30th, Part One
Early! Apologies if y’all get two or three of these missives at once. No WiFi the last 36 hours.
If any of you are familiar with the work of ‘The Brothers’ (Marx in this instance) you’ll no doubt remember their cinematic ’seige’ of the country known as ‘Freedonia’ in Duck Soup. Presided over by the always deadpan Margaret Dumont then, Fredonia lives now! And it’s here in Arizona.
The town of Fredonia was founded in the late 1800s by a break-away polygamist sect from Utah, only 8 miles from here. Mormon apostle Erastus Snow thought the name was fitting since it reflected the theme and lifestyle of Mormon pluralism by combining two words: ‘free’ and ‘donia’. The latter word being Spanish for ‘women’. So, the town is literally called, ‘Free Women’. True story.
Today this town has a population of 1500 - all Mormons. Well, 1499 Mormons and me - I’m a Frisbyterian. We believe that when you die your soul goes up on the neighbour’s roof and you can’t get it down! Also, a true story! (more…)