Friday Morning - Tsunami - 11 mar

Woke up at 5 and realized that I had fallen asleep with the window open.

The temperature was perfect, I wasn't even cold.

Turned on the weather channel to see how hot it was going to get today and discovered there had been a terrible earthquake in Japan.

that caused a tsunami which after wreaking havoc and destruction in Japan was heading across the ocean to the pacific coast of North America.

Headed for the cafe at around 540.

The sky was lightening and it was a nice ride.

Jim (from Milwaukee) and Harold were there, but no Annie.

I bought a souvenir visor and a tea and joined the table.

Power stations, solar power, the friends of superstition and appliances were the topics of conversations.

When Jim and Howard left, I went for breaky at the gold canyon cafe.

Laurie is I believe the only waitress, on the early shift anyway, as she is the only one that I have seen there.

Had nice ride home with a few shots gotten and a few shots missed.

I saw the flickers again but missed the clear shots. I have figured out that they are Gilded Flickers. the underside of their wing is a very pretty golden colour.

I saw a great golden digger wasp but was riding my bike so missed the shot.

I did see a new bird and have to figure out what it is. Very pretty song. it seemed to know quite a few songs actually.

I looked it up and it is a Northern mocking bird so it knowing lots of songs makes sense.

The temperature was already getting warm so headed back to the house by 830.

Uncle Ron and Aunt Mary came out all dressed and raring to go at around 930.

After breakfast we watched the news about the Tsunami.

We went for walk and I saw a strange looking bird on the roof of the house across the street. my method is to take a picture, take a few steps closer get another shot , take a few steps closer.

well, finally realized that it was a roadrunner with a lizard in his mouth and it was a big lizard.

who says all the dinosaurs are dead, roadrunners are like velociraptors.

I also got a nice photo of a cactus wren and his nest

a starling with its iridescent feathers.

Had a quiet afternoon.

Played a bit of civilization.

Later Aunt mary and I listened to poetry and music while Uncle Ron went to the golf course and hit a few balls.

a late supper and then a wander on the golf course path.

found 4 golf balls,

a coyote

and watched a terrific sunset.

I will hit the sack early tonight as waking up early takes its toll.

Thursday 10th Mar - 87 degrees and red lobster.

Woke at 5 and slow-poked my way to the gecko arriving at 630.

Annie was there with her daughter Bethany.

Harold was talking to the go

lf guy and Bob was busy with his study.

Annies daughter Bethany is an artist, a carver of bone .

She makes beautiful jewelry, knife handles, actually, she can make anything out of bone, tusk or wood. very beautiful.

we chatted for a bit about cottages, outhouses, Ereaders and proffessions. then I met Annies puppy, Jyoti. very cute.

they went to walk the dogs. Annie has two and Bethany has 1.

I went for a nice breaky while reading my Ebook

Rode on the path home hoping to get a photo of something new.

I did get the house finches.

I did find a lemon tree.

I did see some kildeer.

I did see some flickers but missed the shots.

I also so a slug leaving a nice heart shaped slime trail and ;figured that if it didn't get out of the sun pretty quick it would be cooked.

got back to the house around 9 and after breakfast we went for a quick walk.

We drove to the Red Lobster in Mesa and met Wayne and Marleen for lunch. I showed them my favorite photos and showed Wayne how to edit his photos.

A bicycle adventure in the desert - Wednesday 9 mar.

Up at 5

Brought my computer with my today to share my best photos with everyone.

Arrived at the guard house by 530 in time for shift change

They said I should get a photo of the young bunnies tha live under a bush there, but it was so dark I could not focus on them and the photo turned out like the bunnies from hell.

Showed them my 55 top pictures which they were quite appreciative of.

I rode down the paved sidewalk most of the way down to the mall. A little tricky in a few places. Tight turns.

Got to the gecko by 6.

Who was there:

Annie on her computer

I showed her my photos and we chatted about being vegetarian, she was for 25 years, about work and computers, and facebook

Jim reading his paper and eating his muffin. did not want to see the photos but that was OK as I figure he has already seen all of those animals and things that I take pictures of anyway.

Stan who wanted to see the photos but kept leaving to talk to other folks as he saw them come in or walk by.

Eventually I showed him my 55 top pictures

Became facebook friends with Annie

Met Bob who is making a study of the way the young ladies make the coffee at the shop. ( in other words he is studying the young ladies)

Had breakfast at the cafe at 700 eggs and country potatoes

Decided to take photos on the way home while riding my bike.

(But I did it safely).

I took an exploratory drive up a side road and noticed ,when coming back to the main road, that I was right in line with Silly mountain and the huff and puff path that I had taken up to the first top.

It was getting warm by the time I got home at 830.

There was a roadrunner on the patio so grabbed a shot of him.

What would I do without my camera?

After breakfast we went for a walk around the circle.

I took some photos of flowers, no surprise there eh?

I also got a nice shot of a hummingbird

Uncle Ron had Rotary so Aunt Mary and I fended for ourselves the afternoon.

The time went pretty quickly really.

A lovely lunch of artichoke and potatoe stuffing, broccolli, salad and for Mary some pork roast.

A crossword puzzle.

Some old time ling along music on the north patio

Then Uncle Ron was home again with exciting news about the talk they had at Rotary, writing your Will in Arizona.

Tuesday 8th march - Owls after supper

Evening fell.

Owls

She

He

They

sunset

a Walk with Mary and Ron on Tuesday Morning

We had a lovely walk although the wind was a little cool.Howard had told me about how Javelina love prickly pear cactus and thats how you can tell they have been around. They nibble on them. I saw some nibbled cactus.

I also saw two coyotes on the golf course and got a great shot of them.

After our walk a we had a scrumptious lunch of potato pancakes with apple sauce, blueberry sauce and maple syrup. Pancake Tuesday.

I worked on picking my favorite photos,

sliming them down to 57 from 125 and setting up a slide show to show some of Uncle Ron's friends when we have lunch with them on thursday. That took me quite a while.

8th mar - Shrove Tuesday Lupines

Woke up at 430 am even though I didn' t want to.

Got up at 5 and was at the coffee shop by 615.

Annie, Jim and Stan were there already so joined them.

They teased me about leaving early yesterday as they saw me bicycling away when they were pulling in.

Discussions included the price of gas,

immigration, the life of batteries in computers,

blackberries vs other phones, Hunting in different states

and walmart followed.

Howard came later and cleared up the discussion about exercise and migraines.

Also snakes, bobcats and rabies in the area, things to watch out for.

Jim is having a repair man in to see his washer and dryer.

Howard is taking the day off and is not doing anything.

Annie is going to the fair. She spent the day yesterday at the mall just to get out of the wind. Don't blame her even a little.

Stan is waiting to see what the Boss (his wife)

has planned.

They all left and I went across the highway,

well actually into the meridian between the divided highway and took some lovely shots of the Lupines growing there.

Home again getting a few shots of birds along the way.

Some grackles,

a Kildeer, a Black phoebe, an ash throated flycatcher,

and a hummingbird that caught the light just right.

some flowers too.

Desert verbena which smells so nice in the afternoon and some daises hiding under a rock.

A nice breakfast and then we all went for a walk around the circle. we are having pancakes for lunch today as it is shrove tuesday.

7th mar afternoon golf and the Arizona Opry.

After breakfast

we went

to watch

Uncle Ron

hit a few

golf balls

around.

It was

very windy

and there

was a lot

of dust.

We didn't

stay very

long.

Back at

home we

had a

lovely lunch

of stuffed

maple glazed

pork loin roast.

a nice afternoon of poetry and music.

At 515

we went

to the

Arizona Opry

for Dinner

and music.

Very fun.

Monday 7th - Hike on a Silly Mountain

Woke up at 450 am and was out of the house by 510.

Got to the Gecko by 520 and had to wait for it to open.

Luckily there was a gentleman also waiting for the cafe to open and we got to talking about cameras so the time went very quickly.

The cafe opened and boy was it hot inside.

Charlie, who wasn't feeling real well, said that the equipment running all night always heated the little cafe up tremendously when the place was locked up.

I had my tea and read the paper.

None of the folks who I had met last time I was in were there.

I left around 6 and went to the guard house to drop off the bike.

Walked over to the trail head for Silly Mountain just east of superstition. It was about 630 am.

I quess I was on the Huff and Puff trail to start,

as by the time I got to the top, I was certainly huffing and puffing. I got to the top at about 650, so it was not a long hike just a lot of up. the weather was cloudy but very pleasant. then around 7, the wind started.

On Jack Rabbit Trail I met two gentlemen who were traveling fast and were obviously in real good shape.

The first of the gentlemen said that he had been to the top of the flat iron mountain(5000 ft) 5 times and his friend concurred saying he was in way better shape than himself.

We moved onto Coyote Loop and then onto Crest Trail.

They were both soon out of my sight

but I met a lady with her two dogs coming towards me on the narrow trail.

I was glad to see them on the leash as the trail was narrow and if they were real happy to see me and jumped on me I might fall down the hill, which at that point had quite a steep incline.

Everyone here keeps their dogs on a leash at all times.

I think it is to keep them,

the dogs, safe from all the pokey, cactusy things in the desert. The trails were all very good and with little signs at each crossing and intersection.

I thought that the first hill I climbed was the top of the mountain as it seemed to be very high, but I came across a sign that told me I had now reached the high point of the hike.

There was some lichen or moss growing on the rocks that was to me a little unusual. It was black and fluffy. odd . very exciting moment although a little anticlimactic as I thought that I had reached the high point earlier.

Idecidednot to take the Old mine trail down the south face of the mountain to the highway, following instead the Old Baldy Trail down the east side to meet up with a so far unnamed trail back to the trailhead where I had started.

I did notice that the closer I got to the "civilised' part of the walk there were more birds and flowers.

I got back to the guard house where they told me I had just missed, by moments, seeing a big bobcat.

I did see a female cardinal and a whole bunch of other birds.

I grabbed my bike and headed up the hill.

When I passed the 5 grackles sitting on the ridge of a roof I had to pull over and see what they were looking at.

They were, all five of them, looking straight up at the sky. I think it must have been some kind of courtship thing. It looked really funny.

I passed 4 ladies walking and then I passed one lady walking. Pam who lives here year round except for july and August when she goes to visit her kids in Iowa. Nice lady. got home and shared my stories with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron.

After they had their breakfast we went to the golf course where Uncle Ron hit a few balls and putted a bit.

Aunt Mary and I sat and watched. At one point the mountain disappeared due to the dust in the air. that is a lot of dust.

Home for lunch and then a quick review of the Blog with Aunt Mary.