So Goes the Golden Pineapple

Cholla Express: May 2020

Nothing hit home the social reality of the pandemic quite like the disappearance of the Golden Pineapple.

When the lights went dark, I thought it was gone for good. Such was my disappointment that the original title for this inaugural newsletter was: Goodbye, Golden Pineapple.

I was going to write about the Golden Pineapple as a microcosm of the cultural and economic fallout we’re experiencing. A local business expansion halted in its tracks. The excitement of the neighborhood dashed by the sudden inability to socialize. When the illuminated pineapple sign was taken down, it hit me like a gut punch — like all the losses and letdowns of quarantine became more real with this particular letdown. Right down the street from where I live, this sign changed from a symbol of anticipation to a reminder of isolation.

But then I took to social media and learned that The Golden Pineapple Lounge might still be happening. The outside signage has been taken down, but according to their Facebook page, they’re still hoping to open their doors “very soon.”

On both Facebook and Instagram, the aspiring restaurant’s quarantined neighbors commented with notes of gratitude, pledges to order takeout, and pineapple emojis.

The owners of The Golden Pineapple operate several local establishments in Arizona:

• The Wandering Tortoise on Indian School and 24th Street

• The Sleepy Whale in Chandler

• The Theodore in downtown Phoenix.

Each of those locations are primarily bars, but the plan for The Golden Pineapple is a full-on restaurant with a local chef serving authentic Southwestern meals. One of the owners spoke with the Phoenix New Times back in December about their vision for the restaurant. He indicated to the Arizona Republic that this Southwestern kitchen might also become a food hub for their other bars.

Located in Tempe, The Golden Pineapple occupies the long-time former home of Riazzi’s, an Italian restaurant that first opened in Phoenix in 1945.

Obviously, now is not the ideal time to open a restaurant. There are some examples of restaurants opening under these circumstances, but more common are stories of iconic restaurants struggling to make payroll, even after navigating the labyrinth that is the federal paycheck protection program.

The job losses we’re seeing are mind boggling, and the aftershocks of complete shutdown are just starting to rumble. Nobody knows when things will get back to normal, or what the new normal will even look like.

The sobering reality is that many businesses — even some local favorites — won’t survive. These are the economic consequences running parallel with our health emergency.

And for some, the “reality of the pandemic” hit not just socially but physically. Either from getting sick, losing a loved one, or holding a stressful job on the front lines. People like me, who get to work from home and start newsletters in their spare time, are grateful for those holding society together in these times.

When we get past this — which we will, in some form or another — it will involve a work of creation. After the season of devastation and loss, might there be a season for renaissance?

I hope so. Whether it’s education or media or how we relate as neighbors, I hope we can re-imagine old habits and build new ways of operating.

That’s part of the mission of this newsletter. I want to engage with my community. I want to tell stories and share information outside the clutter of social media. I want to get to know creators in my hometown. I want to chronicle the local renaissance.

Whatever else might change, I hope The Golden Pineapple doesn’t. I hope the owners execute a successful opening and it becomes another go-to spot in Tempe.

I can picture it already: Some lazy summer day, moseying through the doors in the afternoon, sitting on a patio table in the shade of that giant tree, sipping a craft brew, sitting less than six feet away from a friend, waiting for the game to start.

Desert Sightings

The Arizona Game and Fish Department snapped this shot of a bald eagle nesting in a Saguaro. A symbol of America making its home in a symbol of Arizona. Maybe it means something in the cosmic sense. Either way it’s a majestic image.

Here’s an excerpt from an interview with the department’s Kenneth Jacobson, in a story by Cronkite News:

The only other record of a saguaro nest was in 1937, Jacobson said. In the 1970s, biologists found a mention to Kermit Lee of Lee’s Trading Post, who had reported large nests in saguaros along the lower Verde River.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on large saguaros for decades,” Jacobson said. “But all the ones that were seen with large nests had no documentation of egg laying or raising of young or any information like that.”

This piece by Smithsonian Magazine adds more about the status of the bald eagle:

Since the 1970s, when only a handful of nests dotted Arizona’s desert landscape, the birds have made a remarkable comeback. This pattern has been reflected nationwide, and researchers removed bald eagles from the list of endangered species in 2007.

They aren’t revealing the location of the nest for the sake of its safety. Which is good news because surely it would attract a throng of gawking idiots.

Links and News

It’s hard to find any news that’s not at least tangentially related to the pandemic. That’s just where we are.

• Jimmy Jenkins of KJZZ is doing some great reporting on how our correctional facilities are handling coronavirus. Find his work here.

• The Arizona Cardinals are high on their draft picks, but will the NFL be back in the fall? The NBA made plans to open up practice facilities in April, but it faced a sharp public backlash and those plans were pushed back.

• Authority Zero played a live concert at the Rebel Lounge in Phoenix on April 10th. There was nobody there, but it was broadcast on YouTube.

• The U.S. Census is delayed, but underway. Jeremy Duda of the Arizona Mirror wrote about how a delay could possibly affect the re-drawing of Congressional districts in Arizona. Fun fact at the end of that piece:

  Arizona’s population has grown by nearly 900,000 people since the 2010 Census, with a projected population of about 7.3 million.

  Right now we have nine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. We’re expected to gain one, whenever this process is completed.

  Only about half of Arizonans have completed the Census so far. If you’re not one of them, it only takes three minutes online so get on it.

One Last Thing

It’s rattlesnake season. And they apparently haven’t been told about the social distancing measures, because they are out in full force.

Be careful out there.

P.S. What’s Cholla Express?

This is the first of what will be a monthly newsletter sharing stories and updates from Arizona. If you haven’t yet subscribed, sign up here. The style will evolve, as I’m hoping to add new features and possibly new contributors. Look for the next issue in June. For now, thanks for reading!

Logo drawn by local artist and mom Beverly Robb