Arizona Mug

This next coffee mug, like the one I posted yesterday, is also an old classic in the Coffman house. It’s been in our repertoire of mugs since as far back as I can remember. Though we did take a couple of family trips to Arizona in the mid 90s, I think it goes back even further, and was most likely a gift from my Aunt Charlene & Uncle Joe (Snell) who used to spend their winters camped out in Apache Junction, at the foot of Superstition Mountain. As a child I was always fascinated by their old farmhouse (near Hazelwood, Indiana) with its many mementos and pictures of the Old West. If you knew my Uncle Joe, then you also knew what it was like to sit in the company of John Wayne. Their house was a portal for my young mind to imagine the mysteries and wonders of Arizona, taking me forward in time to a place I would eventually see for myself later on when I was in high school. It was even more fascinating in person. And just as I once went forward through their mementos, their potted cactus, their pictures, and hearing their stories as I grew up–now I go back, through my coffee mug!

Originally posted on Instagram @ajcoffman on April 12, 2014