Tag Archives: Arizona

Happy Bird Day!

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This owl was hanging out in a tree all day and then before sunset moved to the fence.

It was awe inspiring to spot an owl in the tree outside our bedroom. I spent a great deal of time observing him. He’s a Great Horned Owl and he could spin his head around to look at us.

This was where the owl hung out most of the day. I’m looking out our bedroom sliding glass door.

Then something surprising happened. A battle of the raptors began with Harris Hawks appearing on a tree, then the fence.

The hawks moved from the tree to the fence. Five hawks strategically perched on the fence on both sides of the owl. The owl was surrounded. Talk about intimidation!

The owl gave up and flew away. Harris Hawks for the win.

I looked up owls and hawks and it turns out they are both fierce predators and don’t usually interact with each other. Let’s just say they don’t get along and they like the same prey.

Here are some links if you want to read more details about hawks and owls:

Hawks vs. Owls: A Face-Off Between Two Powerful Birds
https://www.wildbirdscoop.com/hawks-vs-owls.html

Hawk Vs. Owl: 15 Comparisons
https://birdchronicle.com/hawk-vs-owl/

Next time, I’d like to share better, clearer photos! I haven’t used my Nikon since we moved and it’s been tucked away in my closet. I’ll try taking photos with the camera versus my iphone and see which looks better.

So…the owl came back. I took photos with my Nikon and they are dramatically better! However, I’m not able to transfer them from my camera to my laptop or phone. The camera software is not compatible with either. Even after downloading new apps from Nikon, I couldn’t get it to work. I ordered a card reader which according to You Tubers is the easiest method. I’ll share the new photos soon!

This is a video of the last of the Harris Hawks flying off our neighbor’s chimney after they scared away the owl.

Which do you find more fascinating and why? Great Horned Owls or Harris Hawks?

Are you Team Owl or Team Hawk?

My super busy week

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A cactus in bloom last May.
A cactus in bloom last spring.

Ever have one of those weeks? Where everything seems to be happening at once? I’m having one and I’m thankful it’s Friday.

My week started with one thing on the schedule each day. That’s unusual for me. I usually have more down days than days with things planned. I had appointments, my lunch bunch went to a fun new restaurant, I had a board meeting for my women’s group that supports sex trafficked women. We invited a neighbor over for dinner Thursday because his wife is out of town. I had my zoom call where we discuss all the things you’re not supposed to in polite company — current events, politics and yes, religion!

I even made it to the YMCA and started lap swimming again! Yay for me! It feels wonderful to be back in the water and helps my toes that have started to hurt again during my walks. I will credit swimming to keeping me calm during my super, busy week.

I got a phone call while out to lunch with my friends. A swim mom friend from Palm Springs called. We usually talk for an hour. I didn’t answer because like I said, I was out to lunch. I forgot about the call and then I saw they texted me several times. I realized I had missed a few calls from her earlier in the week, too.

This mom was one of my best friends on the swim team. I went to my first swim meet when our son was in second grade. I was overwhelmed. It’s like landing on another planet. I didn’t know what was going on. Our son was scared. We couldn’t figure out how we were supposed to know when he was supposed to line up at the blocks.

The first person to greet me with a big smile and welcome was this woman, who would become one of my best friends.

Our two kids swam with her daughter, who went to the Beijing Olympics at age 16 and London at 20. Their daughter is so humble that once our daughter said to her, “Wow. I get to train with an Olympian.”

She looked around and answered, “Really? Who? Where’s the Olympian?”

Our son and her daughter would do homework together at the pool before practice when they were in high school.

Wednesday night I called and my friend asked if they could stay with us for three or four days starting the next day. Her husband is in a spear fishing tournament at a lake by us. He wants to scout out the lake before the big event. Of course I said yes.

They are arriving Thursday, while we’re having our neighbor over for dinner.

Thursday morning, I moved Olive and all her cat stuff from the casita into our master bathroom. I moved my files, books and laptop, too. We had guests a little over a week ago, and I prepped and readied the casita for them. Gradually, my stuff and Olive’s found it’s way back in there.

Sheets are washed, bed is made and grocery shopping is done to stock their fridge with a few goodies. I’m good to go. I did let her know that I had two meetings on Friday and would be gone most of the day.

She said she’s not expecting me to entertain her. So all is good! But I was a bit overwhelmed….

Do you like busy weeks, or quiet alone ones? Or a mix of the two?

Getting Ready for Guests

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A picture my son colored in second grade. Wait until you read the story he wrote about it below!

Funny how it takes guests staying with us for me to get motivated to clean closets. I successfully emptied the casita closet. It had turned into storage space for all sorts of stuff including blankets, air mattresses, slippers, Sorel snow boots, hiking boots and even a box full of canvases and paints. Now it holds an appropriate number of sheets and towels.

That felt so good. I continued my cleaning spree in my own closet.

My efforts filled a car with blankets, books, comforters, and more that made it to Kiwanis Thrift Store. It’s amazing how things can accumulate after three short years of being in our new home. To be honest, a lot of stuff that I stored in closets moved with us.

Next, I went through my bathroom drawers and threw out ancient makeup, cough drops, unnecessary ointments and mini lotions and shampoos from years of hotel stays.

I have a guest bedroom closet left to tackle and I’ll be done! But it has all the personal things like photo albums, boxes of photos from my mom including her notebooks and diaries. I have generations of things to go through. Like the photo above, I saved things my kids created, report cards, school awards and swim medals. I have my daughter’s set of Madame Alexander dolls from the Wizard of Oz. I think it was easier to clear out the big stuff — especially because there’s no emotional attachment.

Here’s the story that goes with the photo:

What are your thoughts about the story? FYI, “derend” is a unique spelling of turned.

How do you do to prepare for guests?

Early morning views

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Wednesday morning on our walk before sunrise was stunning!

 “As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” — Vincent Van Gogh

Now that our beach days are behind us, we’re back to desert life. We’re walking before sunrise to avoid the heat. But the past few days, the weather has cooled down. It’s been in the low 60s during our walks! Maybe we don’t have to leave quite so early.

On the other hand, it’s a gorgeous time to be outside. The first thing I saw was a wily coyote dashing across the street. Then I noticed the moon high in the sky with balloons rising in cool air.

This guy has been a frequent visitor to our backyard. We’ve got both Roadrunner and Wily Coyote.

Finally, the sun peeked over the horizon.

What is your favorite time to walk? What sights do you see?

I’m so glad I joined!

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The Desert Foothills Library.

After living in Arizona for three years and buying books on Amazon, a few weeks ago I discovered our library in the foothills of Cave Creek. Hence the name — Desert Foothills Library.

I joined but didn’t check out any books until this week. I was reading a three-book series by Lisa See called the Red Princess Mysteries — that I bought from Amazon. The day I finished the third book, I packed them up and headed to the library. The library has a section called “Second Chapter” where you can buy books for 50 cents to a dollar. I donated the three Lisa See books, plus, went through my bookshelves to find a dozen other books I liked, but didn’t necessarily want to keep.

In Palm Springs, the local library was part of my weekly routine. We checked out VHS movies when the kids were little. I did research for my writing there. I got the kids’ library cards when they turned four years old. Every week we went to check out books. It was as essential to our daily lives as the grocery store.

I’ll never forget after watching a number of movies with my son including “Sound of Music,” “An American in Paris,” “Singing in the Rain,” and Meet Me in St. Louis.” One day he asked, “Mom, do they make any movies where they don’t sing and dance?”

At least he got a good dose of 1950s and ’60s culture.

It felt really good to walk inside the library. After donating my books, I walked up and down the aisles and read a variety of jacket covers and blurbs. I felt like I should celebrate after checking out my first book!

Do you belong to a library near you? What’s your favorite thing about libraries?

Inside the Desert Foothills Library.

Habits left over from COVID

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More cactus blooms in our yard. Isn’t that amazing for July in Arizona?

I wash my hands a lot. Every time I go outside and come back into the house, I wash my hands. I realized that my constant handwashing was a habit I picked up during COVID. I get up from typing on my laptop or using my phone and wash my hands some more.

I remembered other things that changed from the COVID shutdown days when we didn’t know much about how the virus was being spread that stick with me today.

Washing hands is number one.

Number two is I don’t like being in crowds like going to big sporting events or the movies.

Three is I’m not as social as I was before.

I worry about travel on airplanes. I’ve gotten sick from COVID after travel twice.

I was very confused about masks. In CA, masks and vaccination cards were required to go in public spaces like restaurants. After we moved to AZ, you rarely saw anyone in masks and no vaccination cards were required — even through we got vaccinated in huge stadiums in AZ with thousands of others driving through the parking lots of the State Farm Stadium where the Cardinals play and the AZ state fairgrounds. After visiting our kids in Berkeley, I’d be back home and realize I was the only one wearing a mask at the grocery store.

I had a close friend in Palm Springs whose daughter was working for a grocery delivery app. They’d have her strip at the backdoor after work and put her clothes in the washing machine, shower and then enter the rest of the house. They also took their groceries out of their car and wiped them down with alcohol wipes before bringing things into the house.

I have friends who traveled to visit family in Michigan and Ontario Canada this week who got COVID. They are holed up in a hotel recovering, but are not very sick.

Last summer, during our beach trip to Santa Barbara, we had several friends cancel getting together with us because they all got COVID. It was eerie. We ended up leaving early because of it. We checked websites and local news and COVID was breaking out everywhere in that area. We decided to go back home to our wildlife of Arizona.

I did lose my mother to COVID on January 1, 2023, so I so know COVID is a real threat to our health. I have to say, I was more worried about cancer after my daughter-in-law’s diagnosis of stage 3C colon cancer during last summer’s vacation. That was way more on our minds than our friends in Santa Barbara getting COVID. Thankfully, everyone, including our DIL and Santa Barbara friends are doing well!

Has COVID from 2020 to today changed any of your actions or behaviors? If so, what has changed?

Another day, another fire

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We were supposed to go to a friend’s house to watch the debate, but a fire broke out. This is the view from my backyard. This fire was closer than the previous fire.

I called and cancelled, but I don’t think our friends were happy. They said we could keep an eye out for the fire from their house. They have a rooftop deck where they said we could hang out.

I did my usual prep in case of evacuation. I have my “go” bag, money, my mom’s flute and my great grandmother’s cookbooks in the laundry room, right next to the garage. I locked kitty in a room with her carrier, so I wouldn’t have to search the house for her. I didn’t want to leave our house and our cat to go to our friends’ house. It turns out people one mile away from us were evacuated. The fire went from six acres to 600 acres in less than an hour. Now it’s at more than 3,000 and not contained.

I looked back on what I was doing one year ago. Much of the same. Watching and learning about a fire nearby.

How do you prepare for an emergency?

Would you be comfortable leaving your house with a fire close by?