Only in Tombstone

I was sitting waiting for my Doctor's appointment today, doing a bit of bead crochet, when it occurred to me that maybe I had fallen into a time warp. The waiting room was the audience portion of Schefflin Hall with a stage and hard wooden benches. It's the oldest 2 story adobe building in AZ, built in 1881. There was one couple sitting a few rows up from me talking and I could understand only two thirds of what they were saying - they were speaking a mix of English, Spanish and Papago. Then there were the two aging cowboys in front of me ... dusty, down-at-the heel boots, white hair in ponytails and cowboy hats that looked like they hadn't been off their heads for 40 years (or more) ... talking about what I thought were their girlfriends (or wives). It took me more than a few minutes to figure out that they were really talking about their horses! When they called my name, I got up, walked through the theatrical-style lobby, outside to the Chiricahua Clinic's Mobile Medical van parked on Fremont St. The van comes to Tombstone on the first Monday of the month. I sat inside the modern van, talking with the Doctor while 20-30 mph gusts of wind made the vehicle shudder. What a trip back in time and then quickly forward again to modern medicine!

The broad street that you see in the photo, goes through the center of town and dates from the 1880's when that width was needed to turn a 20-mule wagon team around for the silver mines.