PAPAGO PARK

Just a few minutes and fewer miles from the center of Phoenix, the miracle city of America's West, is a quiet, desert retreat called Papago Park, set aside for the rest and relaxation of the busy city dweller, the traveler or the visitor. There have been a few fish ponds put in, picnic facilities installed, bridle paths and roads built, but other than that the desert has not been changed. A tall saguaro, from a convenient knoll, will gaze at a skyscraper towering above the city not far away. A roadrunner will pause and attend the faint murmur of a heavily traveled highway nearby, realizing no doubt what a lucky bird he is to have such a safe refuge amid familiar things. When night comes to Papago Park, it is a desert night. About the valley, from farms, and from the city itself, comes the twinkling of lights but always from above, as it always happens in the quiet desert, comes the cheery light of a myriad of stars and when the night is right there comes soft, golden light of the moon.