Grandma's Cafe by KimB

My grandparents ran a small cafe in the desert outside Tucson, Arizona. Actually, they ran it several times with breaks in between for other business ventures.

The original Saguaro Corners was a small cafe with gas station on the outskirts of Tucson, near the Saguaro National Monument. It was really the only thing out there and only a few visitors came by if they were sight-seeing at the park but Grandmother's cooking brought the local cowboys and ranch hands out whenever they could get a chance.

Red Diner Stools

The cafe had just a few stools and a counter area and a small table to sell curios or souvenirs to the tourists who braved the long dirt road that undulated over the gullies for miles and miles. Only the bravest of drivers would dare to drive the road fast and those that did were glad that Grandfather was able to repair their tires when the inner tubes blew out.

There was a single telephone box out in the parking lot. Yeppers, a REAL phone box. Glass sides and a sliding door. A phone book hung from a chain and actually had all the pages in it too. There was a light inside that turned on when you opened the door, but you had to be careful not to step inside too quickly because it was often occupied by some of the local fauna. Grandmother once got stung by a scorpion when she stepped inside without checking.

The parking lot was dirt and periodically oil would be ordered to be spread on the surface to keep the dust down. Now a days this is unheard of, but way way back then it was common practice.

All around was just desert. Well, the desert isn't just desert, there's a LOT in the desert if you take the time to look.

Grandmother and Grandfather and various family members helped collect all types of cactus specimens and transplant them to a cactus garden at the restaurant. They got some of everything and more of some than others. If someone found an interesting cactus that could be moved easily then it was added to the garden area. Soon it was a miniature version of the park across the road.

I remember one particular outing where they had found a "smallish" saguaro cactus about 8 feet tall and wanted to move it to the cafe. Even a small saguaro isn't all that small and they weigh tons. The cactus stores lots of water inside and they had to be careful not to damage any part of it while digging it up, moving it and planting it in the garden. I remember a lot of discussion and a lot of digging and hours of watching the family members shift the 8 foot cactus which weighed a lot more than anyone had expected. Eventually they got it to the cafe and added it to the collection.

They also built a small concrete watering basin outside under some palo verde trees. The local wild life and free range cattle and horses soon learned that water and shade could be had there and every day they came to drink and rest under the cool trees. Quail, cotton-tails and jack rabbits came, as well as the local road runners. Horned toads lived under the basin and kangaroo rats skipped near by.

I had a special rapport with the local wild life. I would sit very still at the pool and soon all the wild animals would come out. I could pet the horned toads and the rabbits would hop right next to me. The cattle would come to drink and give a sniff at my hair and puff their breath over me. The free range horses would tower over me but never stepped on me even though I was so small. I sat very still and didn't move. Soon they all forgot that I was even there and I could just watch them for hours.

Grandmother baked great pies and the ranchers taught her how to make chili the way they liked it: HOT. They came for chili, coffee and pie. Even on the hottest of days, it was hot chili, hot coffee and a piece of pie. It was simple fare but not so simple to prepare. Grandmother would get up early in the morning to start prepping for the days meals.

Once she helped me make a few small 4 inch berry pies. She showed me how to make the dough and roll it out in the miniature pie forms. Then we piled in the berries and put the top on it. Into the hot oven it went along with the rest of the days pies. Later that afternoon, she came out to find me and told me a lady wanted to buy my pies. I remember going into the cafe with her and the lady was very hopeful I would sell her the little pies. I hesitated a bit but I knew Grandmother could use the money so I agreed and the lady gave the money to Grandmother. Grandmother made sure I had my reward and every day she gave me 10 cents to spend in the cold soda machine.

Old Soda Machine

The soda machine was outside near the gas station part of the building. It was an upright machine and the sodas were all in glass bottles. I remember Grandfather putting the bottles into the machine and when people stopped for gas they always bought a cold soda even if they didn't go into the cafe for food.

Every day, I selected one soda from the machine with my 10 cents. I always selected the same kind: an ice cold strawberry soda. It was bright red in color, very sweet and had loads of fizz. I would take it into the cafe and ask for two straws. I would put the straws on each side of my mouth and pretend I was a vampire drinking blood. Grandmother would just smile at me and shoo me out when I'd finished my treat for the day.

Sometimes my brother and I would find an interesting piece of dead cactus. These we would bring back to the cafe and we would clean and sand the outside until it was smooth and shiny. It was something we did in the evening as we didn't have any television there. Often visitors would buy the sanded wood and turn them into lamps and my brother was always working on new pieces to have for sale.

At night there were no city lights to block out the stars. We would sit on the patio that Grandfather had poured and talk about the days adventures. We could hear the coyotes singing in the distance and occasionally a deer would come to the pond to drink and then scamper off again. Above us was the Milky Way and I remember how Grandfather would point out the constellations to me. The stars were so very bright and when the Moon was out you could see the long shadows of the trees and cactus all around us.

[Editor's note: This story was written by KimB]

Milky Way and Saguaro Cactus
Tucson, Arizona