612 North Rook Avenue

So many mailboxes include quail that I've thought about adding them to our boring mailboxes list. But, like a lot mailboxes with other critters and plants, each “quailbox” (as David Aber dubbed this one) is generally artistic and pretty unique.

So, bring on the quail! These are cut from a rusty sheet of metal that also includes a prickly-pear cactus and what looks like tree branches.

The mailbox itself has a sort-of copper patina finish with splotches of gold. (I made that photo from the single original photo David sent me on March 10th.)

5637 East 4th Street

Some mailboxes as clever as this barn-shaped box (red sides with white stripes over the door and a black shingled roof) are commercially-made. We tend to avoid those and lean toward one-of-a-kind mailboxes. This one — which David Aber found on March 10th — looks to me like it's made of wood and is just a bit irregular.

(Who knows? It's fun, anyway.)

3250 East 27th Street

Here's a large metal mailbox, painted lavender, with flowers on top and around its brown post.

I couldn't possibly miss it as I drove by on March 5th.

3919 East Cooper Street

Bursting out of the middle of a spectacular iron sunflower is this rust-finished mailbox…

David Aber, who took the photo, calls it “Sunflowerbox.” Seems like a good name to me! He sent his photo on March 28th. Appreciated as always, Dave…

9066 East 20th Street

On top of curvy pipe sections is this rust-finished mailbox:

David Aber (who also contributes to the Tucson Murals Project blog) found it on March 17th.

1521 South Bristol Avenue

Here's another gorgeously-painted mailbox: white, covered with gardens full of clusters of flowers:

I took the photo on January 31 — the same day I was photographing a nearby spot for the Tucson's Pocket Parks blog. To see the tiny “park” and a link to the little mural near it, scroll down that page or click on Your own parklet.

3349 East Bellevue Street

This gorgeous mailbox is covered with hand-painted scenes of quail in the desert...

I waddled by (do quail waddle? :) on November 20th.

2809 East Helen Street

This white mailbox has hand-painted poppies:

I rode by and stopped ("I'm so sleepy, I can't ride anymore. Oh please, I have to rest for just a minute, Toto, where's Toto? Yawn..." :) on November 20th.

By the way, the blog has been quiet due to a family emergency. Things are better now, and I'm aiming to keep the blog online from today on!

2607 East Helen Street

This white mailbox nas a red-and-blue design between the posts.

Natural light replaces the white parts of this American flag.

Ted Morrison made it. I found it on November 20, 2016.

2234 East Helen Street

It looks like someone gets (or can get) a lot of mail! This tall rust-finished mailbox has a door at the top of the front side and plenty of room underneath.

I used my wide-angle lens to catch it all (actually, it's not that tall :) on November 20, 2015.

2222 East Helen Street

There's already at least one blog entry saying “this box rocks!” so I'll spare you… :)

This square black mailbox is in a cage-type post filed with rocks. I (rock & :) rolled by it on November 20, 2015.

2769 North Martin Avenue

A white mailbox with multicolored design that I found on November 20th, 2015:

I used my favorite free photo editor, GIMP, to brighten the flag.

Here's the other side. For some reason, I didn't catch all of it:

5649 East 3rd Street

Quail and wildflowers cover this mailbox with a stuccoed post. David Aber found it. He wrote about it — and the previous two mailboxes:

“All three photos were taken on Feb. 16, 2016 and all three mailboxes were found in my usual way......by accident. In this case, I was looking for yards with lots of wildflowers. There’s quite a few homeowners (especially in midtown) that buy packaged wildflower seed from their local nursery and scatter it in their front yards. Right now it’s all in bloom. Looking for flowers in front yards, I could hardly miss the mailboxes.”

Thanks, as always, Dave!

6129 East Rosewood Street

This mailbox “post” is showing some wear (and is the box itself tagged?). I think it's the biggest post I've seen. Actually, David Aber found it (on February 16th).

8131 East Malvern Street

David Aber spotted this amazing creation on February 16. More boxes from him in the next few entries…

Computer coming back to life

I'm on the road with my laptop computer. It went into a bizarre cycle of trying to fix itself, giving up, trying to fix again, and…. I finally gave up, wiped out my programs (a.k.a. "apps"), and re-installed Windows.

So the blog may not be back to normal until I'm home early next week. Sorry about that.

1327 South 8th Avenue

David Aber sent these photos. (Thanks!) He wrote: “Here’s a mailbox I found on S. 8th Ave. that is in the shape of a cathedral. It’s between 23rd and 24th Streets. It’s on an empty lot, but Google Earth says the address is 1327 S. 8th Ave. This meshes with the numbers of the surrounding homes.”

710 South 7th Avenue

David Aber found this mailbox with a house-shaped top and a huge “post” underneath. (These folks can get a lot of mail!)

729 South Osborne Avenue

David Aber emailed this photo of a rust-finished mailbox in a Southwestern style… on top of a post that matches the wall behind it:

Thanks, David.

5140 East Rosewood Street

David Aber sent photos of this mailbox — and matching planters:

David is a regular contributor to the Tucson Murals Project blog, but this is his first mailbox. Thank you, Dave!

337 West Blacklidge Drive

On November 20th, I rode by this plain-vanilla mailbox with colorful tile on its post and underneath:

The other side of the post is about the same:

2920 North Estrella Avenue

You can't miss this red and white mailbox with numbers carved alongside the post!

I was blinded :) as I rode by on November 20, so I parked my bike and snapped these shots.

2738 North Estrella Avenue

Riding my bike by on November 20th, I couldn't miss this mailbox on a peace sign-shaped “post”:

That side of the box is painted with bright-colored flowers, but the flowers on the other side have faded:

Update (August 12, 2016): I just looked at this entry again and realized that the “post” isn't quite a peace sign. (Click to see a Google Image search for peace sign.) If you have an idea what this carving is, please leave a comment below. (You can remain anonymous.)

2041 East Waverly Street

When I drove by this home on the route of the fall artists’ open studios tour November 14th, the scene looked as if an artist lives here:

Though I saw the house number on the red circle, I didn't notice the number on the curb:

The pole was painted in same style as the box and curb:

Thanks, homeowner, for this fun scene!

2609 East Mabel Street

Along my route on the fall 2015 artists’ open studios tour, one artist had this mailbox out front with a tour sign hung over it:

Those are steel cholla on top — and a flag shaped like a cowboy with chaps to keep the cholla away:

4449 East 10th Street

It looks like the Mann Family have roots in Montana and Arizona:

Thanks, Brady and Celia...

I snapped their mailbox photo on November 7th.

708 North Desert Avenue

Here's the fourth of four mailboxes in the three blocks of this little street:

I've read that Sesame Street characters have been updated by HBO in 2016, so this photo from February 3 might not show the latest faces.

820 North Desert Avenue

This short section of Desert Avenue just north of 6th Street has lots of mailboxes. Here's the third of the series:

I was there on November 7th.

643 North Desert Avenue

Here's a black box with a yellow flower and the house number on both sides:

This is one of several mailboxes I found on Desert Avenue November 7th.

825 North Desert Avenue

Let's start a sunny, warm January day with the sun (and the moon) on a plain gray mailbox — painted by a young artist, I'm guessing:

The west side of the box has flowers around a heart:

I found the box on my early-morning ride November 7th.

5142 East Lee Street

There's no was I could I miss this red mailbox with white flowers as I rolled along Lee Street. (By the way, Lee is a great east-west bicycling street that's even quieter than Pima — which is just a block north.)

It caught my eye on November 7th.

5714 East Lee Street

We usually don't show mailboxes with posts made of chain. But this black box is too different — at least, I haven't seen anything like it yet! Its “post,” made of bicycle or motorcycle chain, is in the shape of Arizona.

I rolled by on my November 7th ride and almost missed it; the chain looked like a jumble. Something made me stop and look a bit more…