Tag Archives: Sonoran Desert

It’s wild out there

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A skinny bobcat on our patio.

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.

What wildlife do you enjoy where you live?

It wasn’t April Fools

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If you read my post on Monday, ASU won their first Men’s NCAA swimming and diving championship after almost cutting their program in 2008. I wrote about how the team’s success was due to Head Coach Bob Bowman (who was Michael Phelps longtime coach) and Assistant Coach Herbie Behm, who was one of my daughter’s coaches at Utah.

Then within 48 hours of winning the number one spot at NCAAs, social media went wild. Announcements were made from the University of Texas that Bob Bowman was named their head coach to replace retiring Eddie Reese. That came out of the blue, because amidst speculation, nobody thought Bowman would leave ASU.

At first everyone was convinced it was an April Fools’ joke.

Next, ASU announced that Herbie was being promoted to head coach. Congrats to Herbie!

That pretty much made the changes for real. Not a joke.

Now the swimming world is waiting to see what happens next. Do swimmers follow Bowman to Texas? Or, do they stay at ASU with Herbie? Time will tell.

Here are a few photos from my walk yesterday and of blooms in our neighborhood:

Did you see or hear something on Monday that you thought was an April Fools’ joke?

What are some of the fun April Fools’ joke you experienced?

In case you haven’t figured it out. I’m on TEAM HERBIE! The one who came back to his home team for his dream job. The one who isn’t ditching out after of 48 hours of a team championship to leave everyone else behind for the next step up in his career. Or worried about the next legacy or career about all him.

Spring is in the air

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Walking around our yard yesterday, I noticed that flowers are peeking out around me. We’ve had a super wet winter with thundershowers most evenings. I haven’t been outside to appreciate that the rain has brought us tiny blooms. Spring is in the air!

Beautiful colors add to my daily joy.

I need to learn the names of my plants. I think these are aloes?

Sometimes it’s just a single blossom, but it still adds a pop of color.

Another favorite of mine is the beautiful Cardinal couple who hang out daily in our yard. I think they like my Birdbuddy bird feeder. I’ve learned to appreciate their chirps and beautiful songs.

This is the female Cardinal. Her husband is below.

What signs do you have that Spring is in the air?

Trouble in WordPress land

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I’m frustrated because I planned to post beautiful sunsets for this post. I clicked on the block called “image” and got this message: “This block has encountered an error and cannot be previewed.” It’s not previewing I’m concerned about — it’s posting a photo!

I’ve tried everything suggested after I clicked on help. Live chat is now down. I’ve emailed help and got a response that somebody will get back to me. In the meantime, if you want to see my sunset photos, look at https://www.instagram.com/e.a.wickham/.

According to one of my friends who moved from Palm Springs to Arizona 10 years before us, it’s Sunset Season.

I didn’t know there was a season for sunsets, did you?

Before we moved, we’d visit a friend here who introduced me to my husband almost 40 years ago. The friend and I were from Seattle. My husband came up to visit said friend in Seattle and we were introduced. The rest is history.

Our friend moved to Scottsdale five or six years ago and invited us to visit. We’d stay in his casita and really liked it out here. I couldn’t believe the sunsets for one thing. I wonder if it was sunset season?

The plan was to move here after my husband retired. But then COVID hit and my husband was working remotely. Real estate prices in Palm Springs were going through the roof and hubby felt it was time to make our move — because if he could work from home in Palm Springs, he could work from home in Scottsdale.

At first I was against the move. I loved my old Spanish Colonial home downtown Palm Springs. We were two blocks from restaurants and shopping. We had raised our kids in that home and lived there for 28 years. Our kids promised to never talk to us again if we sold the house. The realtor gave us a price to sell and I (not wanting to sell) insisted on raising the sale price by 40% and told my kids NOBODY would pay that much for our 1930s house that needed work.

To my surprise, we had four offers in four hours — two over asking — and one of those with “no inspections.”

So here we are in Arizona, three years later, enjoying the Winter Sunset Season. Oh yes, the kids got over it. They are speaking to us.

Is anyone else experiencing glitches with WP?

Have you thought about moving your home or blog from WP? If so where would you go?

Merry Christmas!

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Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Luke 2:11

Here are a few photos of Christmas Day beauty and cheer:

Merry Christmas everyone, have a peaceful and love-filled week!

Views from quarantine

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With the kids on their way to visit, my husband and I kept our promise to quarantine. The days at home gave me new appreciation for life in our backyard. (I wrote about the need to quarantine HERE.)

“Hey, it’s not that bad!” were my famous words I’d tell my swim coach after a hard set. We emblazoned the saying on t-shirts after the coach joked that he should advertise his Masters with my expression. (I wrote about not giving up — whether it’s swimming, fishing or writing HERE — complete with t-shirt pics.)

I discovered staying home “is not that bad” — and I that I love and appreciate my backyard.

The following are views that make me enjoy living where I do:

I watched three Harris Hawks land in a tree across the wall. They love to hang out there. Then one by one, they flew into our yard. I lost sight as they flew over our roof.

Here’s a video of one flying I captured in slow motion:

Look at the sparkle in our pool.
Here’s a young cardinal visiting my Bird Buddy until a Gila Woodpecker takes over.
I was standing outside and these quails didn’t seem to care that I was nearby.

I can’t wait to see my son, daughter-in-law, her brother and my daughter!

What are your favorite things or views from your home?

Cat tales and change

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Olive in Palm Springs, hanging out by our pool, enjoying indoor/outdoor life.

Life is full of change. Look at Olive, our 11-year-old cat, who was able to roam free in Palm Springs since kittenhood and now is captive inside our house.

I was worried about how she would adjust. But with only two escapes outside in two-and-a-half years and frantic rushes back inside the house, I’d say she likes it inside. My daughter said that maybe she was always meant to be an indoor cat.

Olive’s baby picture when we first brought her home from the animal shelter.

I think Olive sensed danger when she escaped to our wild nature-filled yard.

This past weekend, I was taking out recycling. We have an enclosure for our trash and recycling bins with walls and a gate. When I opened the gate, I came eyeball to eyeball within inches of another cat who was standing on the wall.

I didn’t have my phone with me so no picture, but it was a teenage bobcat with blackish spots on a dark blonde coat. I turned and ran and glanced back to see the bobcat hightailing in the opposite direction. I looked at our video from the night before and found a few seconds of a bobcat walking by. But I’m afraid I’ve scared off the cat for the near future.

This is a photo taken by my SIL of our regular bobcat visitor. I think the one I saw a few days ago might be one of her kits.

“Change is the only constant in life.

Ones ability to adapt to those changes

will determine your success in life.”

–Benjamin Franklin

Here’s a video of Olive’s new indoor life. She seems to enjoy it!

Olive and quail.

What are your thoughts about change and life? What major changes are you going through now or have in the past?