Wednesday, July 30, 2025
I was off social media for a couple of months. Whenever I took a glimpse of what is happening on Facebook or Instagram or the news, I would be (and still am) filled with rage.
Matt gave me some off-brand Lego-like kits (a camper and a Trojan Horse). Eventually I started building them and discovered that it was entertaining and a way to not think about things.
I decided to make a model of the Presidio chapel, using the 1860 drawing of the church.
June 1860 drawing.
I used a photo of the interior of the church at Oquitoa, Sonora as a model.
Mision San Antonio Paduano del Oquitoa.
I had to purchase many pounds of Lego bricks and special order many small bricks and other items. They arrive at work and my co-workers think I am obsessed (accurate).
The front of the church mirrors the drawing pretty well. I have the stand with two bells and a pile of adobe bricks visible in the drawing.
Church facade.
I tiled the floor of the church- the original probably had a dirt floor. Wall niches hold saint statues.. I used photos of paintings at San Xavier mission and spray glued them to larger tiles.
Interior view.
An altar is present at the front of the church. Matt and I are holding hands inside.
Altar view.
I made a confessional for the altar area.
Confessional and altar.
A walled cemetery with an iron cross is described in an 1820 inventory of the church.
Cemetery.
Next to the church was a small house with a corner fireplace, table, and sleeping mat.
House interior.
A bread oven stands next to the house and church.
Bread oven.
My mother would have loved this. She liked dolls and dollhouses. When I was five we went to Ace Hardware for my birthday and I got a Nylint house trailer for five dollars. It had plastic furniture. My mother gave me PeeWee dolls for it. My father hated it, "It's a dollhouse." I still have it.
I'm making a blacksmith shop and a Santa's workshop next. It is very calming sorting bulk bricks (I discovered you can get them for cheap on Goodwill.com) and planning a build. Of course you have to spend money, and the sets available can be pricey. It is still cheaper than going to see a shrink.
