Sedona Windsock
Soap Tree Yucca*, Sedona Airport
Bloomed 6/17/23, 8:30 PM
28×22 Oil on Canvas

$4400

I like airports, especially the small-town variety. This probably stems from my dad’s love of aviation and our frequent visits to my hometown airport in Auburn, California as I was growing up. Here in Arizona, we have some very charming small airports. The Sedona Airport is probably the most picturesque. Perched atop Table Top Mesa and surrounded by red buttes, you just can’t beat it, especially at sunset.

After a warm June day of kayaking on the Verde River, we sat with an adult beverage on the edge of the runway watching small planes touch the tarmac, and we reminisced about Dad. I noticed a nearby yucca plant, its blooms gently ringing in the breeze. They reminded me of an aviation staple, the windsock.

New technology comes and goes, but good aviators still rely on the humble windsock to determine windspeed and direction. If it ain’t broke, no need to fix it.

As the sun lowered in the sky, these yucca blooms were waiting for another type of landing. According to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, “Biologists have only recently determined that almost every species of yucca has its own species of yucca moth; some yuccas have two moth species.”

It turns out yucca reproduction depends on moths, and moth reproduction depends on the yucca. The moth cross-pollinates and lays eggs on the pollinated ovary, where hatchlings can dine on the flowers.

As I savored the last pour of Page Springs wine, I thought I heard: “Moths, this is the tower. You are clear for landing; enjoy your stay in Sedona, where the temperature is a balmy 80 degrees and the sunsets are unbeatable.”

*Chemicals in the roots of some yucca species are used to make soap.

Red dirt on my knees,
and Dad asks me why.

I was out playing,
Sun got in my eye.

“Well, pick up your paint brush,
And give it a try.”

But what should I paint, Dad?
“Just paint the sky.”

Allow three weeks from order date.

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing, but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com