Tag Archives: Sonoran Desert

Sights from my backyard

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Friday I went to see my surgeon and she removed my cast! YAY! Then she put me in a heavy duty boot and told me to use my walker and walk around the house and outside with 50% weight on my right leg. The other thing she said was I could take a shower beginning Sunday with no huge plastic sleeve topped with saran wrap on my leg. WOOHOO!

It’s the little things like semi-walking and taking a shower that are making my days!

Part of my morning routine, after coffee and writing three pages, is to venture outside. I sit for about 45 minutes to an hour watching and listening to my birds. I also listen to the Hallow app on my phone. I’m listening to a podcast on it called “Bible in a Year.” I’m on day 180. I find this to be a peaceful and helpful way to approach my day. I was so over being laid up last Thursday that I didn’t want to do anything. Getting outside plus listening to this app and my birds has helped me over the hump.

Here are a few sights from my backyard:

Here’s a honeysuckle I took with my iphone while sitting outside.

Here’s a selfie of me in my sundress and boot with my walker.

Aloe in bloom next to honeysuckle.

One lone blossom on top of a saguaro.

What little things or moments in your day make it special?

Flora with a little fauna

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I was out on a walk yesterday morning when a neighbor walking her dog said, “There are so many beautiful blossoms, you need your camera for your class.”

I had run into her once while taking cacti blossom photos for the class, which by the way, the professor said weren’t creative but rather ordinary. I was thrilled they were in focus!

I continued with my walk and noticed several gorgeous blooms and blossoms. My neighbor was right. I beelined back home for my camera and got my Macro lens.

I took blogger friend Danny Watts’ advice. His blog is Fountain Pen Chronicles: Adventures in Analog. He told me to get down on the ground for photos to get a better Point of View and Depth of Field. I took my husband with me, to help me up (Also Danny’s suggestion). My husband’s phone was blowing up with clients and he had to head home. I was left alone. I got on the ground. I managed to get myself up, which wasn’t that comfortable on the sidewalk or gravel. But I did it.

This is the blossom featured above from a distance. It’s so beautiful but lasts only one or two days.

Here are more cacti in bloom:

And a Fairy Duster!

Here’s for the little bit of fauna to go with the flora:

A Curve Billed Thrasher on the Century Plant.

My latest and final photography assignment for the class is to tell a story using six to 10 photos. I’m not sure what to do, but he’s giving us an extra week to work on it. I’m taking photos of my creatures, hoping a story line reveals itself to me.

Any suggestions for my final photography project?

Which cacti blooms do you like and why?

What would you do?

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Sunrise view from our backyard.

If you only had two months left to live, what would you do?

That’s what my neighbor learned Thursday. He sent an email to his golfing foursome and told them he had been diagnosed that day with brain cancer and had two months to live. He added that he planned on golfing Monday, Wednesday and Friday as normal.

I received an email from my friend, his wife, that she wouldn’t be attending any of our women’s group events because her husband had cancer and didn’t have long to live.

I passed their house during my walk Friday when I spotted them walking out their front door. They both waved to me.

I walked up to them and said, “I just want to give both of you a hug.”

The husband said, “We could use hugs right now.” The wife and I burst into tears. Then he asked me to look out for his wife and call her often.

“Of course,” I said, stunned that he was so calm, collected and more concerned about his wife than himself.

“What did I do to deserve this beautiful man?” my friend said through tears. “I’m grateful for the years I had him in my life.”

He really is one of the kindest, sweetest men I’ve ever met. He always has a smile on his face and seems genuinely interested in you.

Their answer to the question of what would you do with two months left is to get their affairs in order. Live life as they always do — in love, appreciating each other and enjoying the little moments of each day.

What would you do?

Sunset.

A day’s visit by a hawk

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Photo one:

I had a visit from a Harris Hawk Wednesday. Then a friend joined him. I practiced my photography as he moved around our backyard, looking for his favorite spot.

Photo two:

He decided to try a tree rather than the fence.

Photo three:

I caught him in flight as he flew from one end of the yard to another.

Photo four:

I handed my camera to my husband after seeing a bunch of my blurry photos. He hadn’t used the camera before, but I think he did well!

Photo five:

I took this pic and it turned out! While I’m writing the post, that’s where the Harris Hawk sits. He’s looking down on house finches who are on the ground.

Photo six: Hanging out on the neighbor’s chimney with a buddy.

Photo seven: Another flight photo. Yay!

Which is your favorite hawk photo and why?

More hawks

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The other morning, my husband saw seven Harris hawks in a tree in our backyard. By the time I got there, they were all gone. But a little later, this guy was hanging out on the fence. It’s quite a sight to see the quail take off like jets when the hawks appear.

Here’s the photo of the hawks in a tree that my husband took with his iphone. Not all seven made it in the photo.

It’s kind of hard to see them, but my husband said the three hawks on the right side were busy eating prey. I walked out later to the tree to see if what they had been eating in the tree, but there was nothing left.

I’m excited for my photography class which begins in January and runs through May. I ordered the text book on Amazon and it arrived this week. It’s a paperback called “A Short Course in Digital Photography.” The community college where I’m taking my class wanted $175 for it. I bought it for $50 on Amazon. I don’t think it’s right how much colleges charge for textbooks.

This is as close as I’ve gotten to catch a hawk in flight. He took off so fast and was out of my range.

Later in the day, my husband and I went for a walk. Walking out the front door, I noticed seven hawks in a tree in our front yard. We scared them away. It was spectacular to see them in flight, but there was no way could I get a photo.

What are your thoughts about the price of college text books?

A Hawkish Day

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I had a visitor for most of yesterday. The visit began early in the morning as I was writing my morning pages. I kept seeing a huge shadow swooping past the casita window. It had to be my Harris Hawk.

He landed on the fence and kept watch.

I went for a walk and came back home to discover the hawk was no longer on the fence.

Instead he landed in a tree.

As I was writing this post, he began to call for a friend

Flying by our window a second hawk screeched with talons outstretched, wings spread wide, five feet off the ground, going in for the kill. He flew over the fence into the bushes. I missed the action.

Eventually, the second hawk settled into the tree. Behind a branch with the other hawk.

Can you spot the two hawks in the tree?

I watched in awe as a hummingbird landed on hawk number one’s head. The second hawk was attacked by smaller birds including house finches. The little birds are not fans of hawks. The quail are keeping away. They must be prime targets of the hawks.

And then there were three.

One hawk is hidden from view, preferring the other side of the tree.

I signed up for an intro to digital photography class through Maricopa Community Colleges. The class begins late January and runs through May. I hope my hawks are around to model for my class.

Here’s a LINK to the Harris Hawk’s call from Cornel l Lab All About Birds website.

What are your favorite birds to watch?

Zoom, zoom, zoom

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My weekly zoom call was interrupted yesterday by four majestic Harris Hawks. Here are two of them. There were two more in a tree.

Thursday was busy. It was the day after our house guest left. I woke up early to get the house ready for my cleaning lady. She usually comes after 2 p.m. but she asked to come in the morning. But I had neighborhood coffee group followed by my weekly zoom call in the morning. I had to have the house picked up and garbage out before I left for coffee.

Neighborhood coffee is a casual group of neighbors who meet the first Thursday of the month. We meet at local cafes and take turns choosing the location. What was funny about this meeting was the women’s coffee group was seated at a table next to the men’s group. That has never happened before. Also, we had six women, but the men had a dozen. I wonder what they talk about?

My weekly zoom call consists of a group of people from Alaska, California to New Jersey and in between. We talk about all the stuff people usually avoid. Politics, religion and current events. The group has Republicans and Democrats and discussions are polite and civil. I’m learning a lot about history and world politics from very intelligent people. There are two neurosurgeons in the group, other doctors, lawyers, a woman mayor of a Southern California city, and a man who ran a bond desk on Wall Street. Yesterday there were 14 people on the call, which was a big group and interesting to hear their points of view.

It’s refreshing although at times exhausting. The group leader keeps us all in line. He sends us material during the week to discuss during the call. He has a plan for the day and asks each of us questions, with the point at the end, “What is the truth?”

I was sitting in the casita by the window while on the zoom call. Then bam! A hawk hit the window scaring me to death. Then I saw hawks swooping through the yard, chasing quail. I guess I’m responsible for that, because I put bird seed out for quail, which attracts the predators.

Then I took a break from zoom taking photos through the casita window.

Now my guests are gone, my house is clean, and my social activities are over. No more zooming around! Remember “Orange is the New Black?” Well, this week, Friday is the New Saturday!

Have a great weekend. Do you have any special plans?