I was thrilled to see this cactus in bloom. But then a rabbit stopped by and ate the bud on top. It didn’t get a chance to bloom.
Red was mixing it up with the quail families.
One of the many families of quail who stopped by over the weekend. We have families with tiny babies up to teenagers now. The smallest family has two babies, another has three, then we have those with six, seven up to 10 babies.
A lone baby quail. One little guy flew up to the windowsill and hung out by me.
I took this with my iphone sitting at my little table. Eventually he flew down to catch up with his siblings and mom and dad.
I’m not sure, but I think this is a Desert Spiny Lizard after looking at photos of Arizona lizards.
A House Finch observes the scene in the backyard. It was a busy weekend for birds. I did get a photo using my iphone of a Harris’s Hawk eating it’s kill on top of a saguaro. But I thought better of sharing it. It’s kind of gross looking.
Red says “What are you guys looking at?”
I have a week of doctors appointments and driving my husband to PT. I even have one appointment for myself.
I’ve been reading a book this past week called, “From Strength to Strength: Finding success, happiness and deep purpose in the second half of life,” by Arthur C. Brooks.
I read a chapter each day I take my husband to PT or to his doctor’s appointments. It’s better then scrolling on my phone mindlessly.
I have a chapter left, it’s only nine chapters. It’s written by Brooks who was a musician from Seattle, near where I grew up and exactly where I went to college. His dream in life was to be a professional musician playing in an orchestra on the French Horn. He had early success in his music career. At age 19, he left college to play professionally with a chamber-music orchestra ensemble touring the country.
But something happened. He began to decline in his musical abilities. No amount of practice or hard work could get him through it. In his mid 20s, he went back to school via distance learning and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics before age 30. Then he went on to earn his Master’s in economics.
Through the twists and turns in Brooks life, he learned about two types of brains we have in our lifetimes. In our early years we have a “Fluid Brain.” Approaching mid life, we transition to a “Crystal Brain.”
I found this handy dandy chart when I googled the difference between fluid and crystal minds. This is thanks to Gemini AI who organized this information from a website called Verywellmind.com
A double cactus bloom in our backyard.
As we enter middle age, we have more wisdom, we have gathered a wealth of knowledge and we often become more spiritual. I found the book to be enlightening and encouraging. The purpose of this book is to help us make the leap from a fluid mind to a crystallized brain and continue with a purposeful life.
Brooks uses examples from his own life in this book as well as from famous philosophers, Roman leaders, and composers including Beethoven and Bach. As a Catholic who became more religious later in life, he traveled to India to study with a Hindu guru. He learned about the four phases of life that is recognized in India — which you can learn about in his chapter about that adventure.
I managed to get a photo of the lovely couple together! Although the focus is not that great, I was happy to see Red and Mrs. together.
Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend.
What plans do you have for this weekend in mid May?
I did it! I got our taxes ready for the CPA. I realized because of my foot surgery late January, I was behind my usual timeframe. I also had a hard time focusing. But powering through Friday, Saturday and Sunday — I did it! But now my brain feels like a bowl of mush.
Consequently, there will few words on this post. I’ll rely instead on photos of mostly Red and one of Mrs.
I like the photo above because of the flower. It looks like Red is wearing a fancy head ornament. I’ve had a few close encounters with Red. I call out to him and he doesn’t flit away like normal. I’ve been a few feet away from him as he waits for me to fill the bird feeder.
Red with a House Sparrow.
Red waiting for his turn in the feeder.
Mrs. on the fence.
More Red photos. He hung out last evening right outside the casita.
My goal for 2026 is to be better organized with the taxes. It’s something I could do monthly, to keep track of my husband’s business and rental home expenses, rather than power through 12 months the following year! But I’m already starting out behind the curve, two and half months behind.
Do you have a strategy for preparing taxes that works for you?
I don’t know where January went. Probably because I’ve been laid up for half the month. It went pretty quickly, although some days dragged on and on for me. The Bird Buddies have been keeping me company. There’s always plenty to watch and enjoy with the birds and squirrels in our backyard.
I have a pretty busy week ahead so more time will fly. I can’t believe it’s time to post another reading list. I am getting further and further behind with my Daughter In Law’s syllabus for AP English. I had agreed to read along with her class, but I have a feeling I’ll be reading well into the summer to catch up!
READING LIST:
I’m looking forward to reading Emily Dickinson and Shelley’s “Ode to a Skylark.” Dickinson was one of my mom’s favorite poets. And because it’s a new month, my mom is on my mind. I’ve shared this before, but we called each other at the beginning of each month to say “Happy February First” or whatever month it was. It was a race to be able to say it first. I miss her. She was an avid bird watcher and when she was in high school she created a book of all the birds she’d seen along with sketches and paintings of them, much like “The Backyard Bird Chronicles” by Amy Tan. I can’t help but think she’s smiling down on me pleased with my bird photos.
Happy February to you!
What have you read on this months reading list?
One more photo of Red. He likes the birdseed that I’m buying. It has a photo of a Cardinal on the front of the bag.
This is a view of our backyard with flamingos, doves on the fence and a bright red spot in the cholla cactus on the other side of the fence. That red spot is Red! It’s where I believe Red and Mrs. have built their nest.
Here are a few photos of my backyard wildlife:
A bevy of quail appear every time I put out some birdseed.
This sparrow was all fluffed up when we had seven days of rain! I put a rain gauge in the backyard and we got more than three inches. That’s a lot for the desert.
The Gila Woodpeckers are the bullies of birdseed. They also can hang upside down. Look at the grip this guy has on the Beavertail Cactus art.
Here’s looking at you, kid!
My backyard bunny and friends.
Harris’s antelope squirrel making his move toward the birdseed. I bet it’s not a coincidence that our hawks are Harris’s hawks. Any bets the squirrels must be named after the same guy?
A little out of focus but a better view of Red on the nest.
Happy Thanksgiving! Is anyone traveling for the holiday?
I have never seen this cactus bloom before, let alone in August! Must have been our recent monsoon.
I’m wondering what happened with the week? It rushed by. Usually the dog days of summer in the desert are slow to pass. But not this week.
What was I up to this week?
On the weekend, we made dinner for newish friends of ours. We cooked an all American meal of ribs (my husband), potato salad, corn on the cob and cherry pie (me.) We met these friends at the funeral of our friend who introduced me to my husband 40 years ago. He died suddenly from Valley Fever after we moved to Arizona. Our friends we had over for dinner were his brother and wife who moved to Arizona from Seattle. A circle of new friends all bought homes in Arizona, including us and another couple from Kirkland, because of this one friend. We’ve all pledged to keep his memory alive and get together several times a year.
The next busy moments came Monday morning meeting to brainstorm with my newsletter co-hort to write and layout the quarterly HOA newsletter. I’m proud to say that after 30-plus years of “newslettering,” I returned to my roots. We initiated a new process this issue that worked and the President of the HOA approved.
I compiled all the copy in a word document and sent it to the board to approve — prior to spending hours laying it out. This was similar to my early PR days, before desktop publishing and Mac computers. I would drive copy to the typesetter and then get it approved before giving copy to graphic designers to layout. Or, do the layout myself.
This is saved me countless revisions. It was annoying to have the newsletter all ready to go, and then have five board members give their two cents worth on what to change — one by one.
Other than the newsletter, which took up most of Monday and Tuesday, I had my first hair appointment since April. My hairdresser, who I love, went on maternity leave and it wasn’t worth it to me to try someone new for a one off appointment. It was fun to learn how my hairdresser is totally amazed and feels blessed with motherhood. She wasn’t expecting the dramatic love and emotions she’s experiencing now.
Thursday was a doctor’s appointment for my husband that I drove to. It was his final cataract appointment. He has new-fangled lenses that can be adjusted post-surgery with a laser light. It meant four or five extra appointments, but it’s supposed to make vision sharper.
Now that it’s Friday, we’re meeting friends who moved here from Palm Springs for dinner. But I have the day free to relax, read and comment on posts. I might visit the library, too.
I feel like one of my husband’s older clients from decades ago. My husband would call them to come into his office for an appointment. Often they’d respond, “Oh I can’t make it Wednesday. I have a doctor’s appointment.” Those were the days I was volunteering at school, taking kids to piano lessons, packing lunches, making dinners and volunteering at swim meets. I always wondered why people thought they were busy doing one “main thing” a day. Now I know!
How did your week go? Did it flash by quickly or seem slow?
Yesterday on our walk, we saw a huge coyote walking down the wash. He stopped and we stared at each other for a minute. Then he sauntered away. He was too far away for a close photo, thank goodness!
I also captured a bobcat on my outside camera. This guy paid us a visit at 4:30 a.m. and stopped by last week around 10 p.m. one night. (Video below).
I found my favorite photos of wildlife to share:
Javelina on the sidewalk enjoying prickly pears.
Mule deer in the side yard.
Coyote on the wall behind our house on a snowy day.
Outside our bedroom sliding glass door. This bobcat climbed a tree, ate some birds and then napped in this spot.
Below is the Bobcat Video:
The bobcat walks by at about 6 seconds. After he disappears behind the tree, you can stop watching. Sorry, I don’t know how to edit the video from our Cox Camera.
I’m on the App Next Door, and a lot of people are posting wildlife photos. It must be another sign that Spring is in the air. What I don’t like is the rattlesnake photos. One I saw this morning was a rattler on a workbench inside a garage. Yikes!
I love all the wildlife we have around us. I enjoy watching the animals way more than worrying about the homeless guy who moved into our yard and said he bought our house in Palm Springs.
