November 2 - November 8, 1995  B y  J e f f  S m i t h    AS YOU
MAY know, I'm not from around here. I was, but I moved. Where I
moved to is way the hell and gone out in the weeds, at the far
end of a twisty stretch of two-lane blacktop known as Highway
83. It's the Sonoita/Patagonia scenic highway and it is a
weekend favorite of sight-seeing tourists and touring
motorcyclists. To the latter group it's also sometimes known as
Squid City.  In motorcycling parlance a squid is short for
"squirrely kid," meaning someone who rides over his head and is
a likely candidate for organ donor. I've seen more than a few
motorcycle crashes along Highway 83, at least one of them fatal.
Another widely observed phenomenon along 83 is construction and
maintenance. This may be the most intensely "improved" 25 miles
of highway in Arizona. I've never seen the surface in anything
remotely like bad shape, but every few years they repave it
anyway. Then, after it received the State Scenic Highway
designation, crews began installing