OMG, it's already January 9, 2020! I have to get caught up with what I've been doing since my last post here that ended with spending part of last year's spring in Overton, Nevada, if only because I'm going back to Overton in a little over 3 weeks' time. So let's pick up where I left off, shall we?
April 30 -- After spending nearly 4 months on the Overton mesa I made my way back home. One of the places I visited what is probably my favorite national park -- Capitol Reef. I boondocked at this spot close to the park's east entrance.
May 4th -- From Capitol Reef I drove along one of the last original sections of Route 66 and ended up in Winslow, Arizona. Though a bit kitschy, one of the sights that brings tourists to Winslow is "Standin' On A Corner", a homage to the Eagle's song "Take It Easy"("Well I'm standin' on a corner in Winslow Arizona"). Lyrics from the song are depicted by painted scenes on the side of a building.
May 7 -- One of the most fascinating places I've been to is El Morro Nat'l Monument in northwestern New Mexico. El Morro is a sandstone bluff that juts above the surrounding landscape and has a 700-year-old pueblo on top. There's a pool of water alongside the bluff that passersby used as a reliable source of water, and they sometimes inscribed their names and stories on the rock walls. Petroglyphs are here along with the writings of Spanish conquistadors and pioneers on their way west. This is the oldest inscription, made in 1605 by the first governor of New Mexico, Don Juan de Onate.
May 27th -- Back home in Portal. Living here makes me want to try things I would never have dreamed of doing while living in Southern California. A fellow "Portalite" took me horseback riding with her. It was the first time I've been on a horse and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I wasn't even sore the day after.
July 7th -- I had a roadrunner family running around my property
during summer, terrorizing the birds and trying to pick off hummingbirds by jumping off the roof and hoping to snag one on the hummingbird feeder. I had a Clark's Spiny Lizard I'd see on the house -- literally, as I would see it getting some sun on the roof. Until this day when one of the roadrunners presented its lifeless body to me. RIP.
July 17 -- I was watching a local bobcat family grow up. Here's one of the "bobkittens" in its blue-eyed stage.
July 24 -- During summer I had two close encounters with Western Diamondback rattlesnakes in my back yard. One I nearly stepped on just after sunset when it was starting to get dark, and here's the other that I saw underneath my side porch. Needless to say I wasn't this close to it; I used my 100-400 lens for the photo. A good reason to have a telephoto lens.
August 6th -- It was a good year to see Elegant Trogons in Cave Creek Canyon. I even saw this juvenile Trogon. Juveniles look like female adults except for the dots of white on the sides.
August 12 -- One of the high spots of 2019 was finding two baby Texas horned lizards near the garage. They looked like perfect miniatures of the adult. Alas, they disappeared the next day and I bet they were -- well, you know. :o(
No comments:
Post a Comment