September 9 and 10 -- Why I Decided To Live In Portal

I wrote an article for the Audubon newsletter in my former home area of the South Bay of Los Angeles, detailing what it's like to live here in rural Arizona, what I gave up, what I gained, etc. Basically it's an encapsulated version of what I've been writing in my blog. So for those who find my blog somewhat long-winded, here's the version for you. 

     The Chiricahuas, Elegant Trogon, Portal -- these are fabled names among birders and bird photographers. The Chiricahuas are a “sky island” in extreme southeast Arizona, near the New Mexico border; Elegant Trogon is one of the sought-after birds in all of North America; and Portal, gateway to the Chiricahuas from the east, is the small “hamlet" where I bought a home in December 2014, and moved into in August 2015. It’s a big change from the South Bay’s suburban lifestyle — from city to rural, from a Wal-Mart nearby, to the closest one 55 miles away. There are no grocery stores within 50 miles of Portal, and the closest gas is in New Mexico, in a town 25 miles to the east. To get to Portal on a paved road, you have to go into New Mexico, then drive back into Arizona. There are no banks here, only 2 places to eat, and no Home Depots. Residents of Portal and the surrounding area make a “Costo Run” to Tucson, 140 miles to the west (partially by dirt road; if you want all-paved route, it’s about 179 miles) and stock up on supplies to last at least a month. So there are sacrifices to be made if you want to live here. And its advantages? Well, this is the view to the east from my back yard - Cave Creek Canyon —

 . The closest neighbors are at least 300 yards away. There are no street lights here, so the night sky, with its crystal-clear air and and no lights except for the occasional house, is among the cleanest and clearest in the nation — so much so that actual astronomers live in Sky Village,  a community where you get an observatory alongside your house, just outside of Portal.  The wildlife here is abundant, and much of it is unique to the area, not to be found anywhere else. It’s not unusual to see wildlife in my back yard, such as Coues (white-tailed) deer , Gray Fox --

and Javelina, a member of the peccary family, often mistaken to be a wild pig --

. All of these photos were taken from the open sliding-glass door to the back porch of my house.  And the birds — a possible 13 species of hummingbird; the aforementioned Elegant Trogon, seen in the US only in the “sky islands” of SE Arizona; Montezuma Quail — a “Nemesis” bird for many; Mexican Chickadee, seen only here in the Chiricahuas and an isolated spot in New Mexico — the list goes on. So I came here for all of these reasons, and more. And I think I was meant to get THIS particular house here, called Faranuf by its original owners (pronounced “Far Enough” — because it is) as I had an encounter with a deer just outside of Portal while I was on my way to see the house — and I survived, without a scratch, whiplash or even being sore the next day, though my Tundra 4-wheel-drive truck was totaled. I fell in love with Faranuf — and it became mine in short order. Since I’ve moved into the house, I’ve noticed “residents” here — 2 Say’s Phoebes, 3 Cottontail rabbits, a Black-throated Sparrow family of 2 adults and a juvenile, and a Roadrunner who’s becoming increasingly curious about my presence, and “stands guard” on top of my well house --

I have hummingbird and bird feeders in the back yard, along with a water feature where birds bathe and wildlife comes to get a drink. Yes, there are also snakes here, both poisonous and non-poisonous, along with black widow spiders and tarantulas --

but as long as they don’t bother me, I don’t bother them. So that’s life here in the “bootheel” of southeast Arizona — and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

September 8 -- The "Costco Run"

Going to a warehouse store every so often to pick up enough supplies to last a month (at least) is part of living in a rural, semi-isolated area. The closest market of ANY kind is 55 miles away in Douglas, but it doesn't deal in bulk supplies that you can store in your pantry (which I have). The Douglas Wal-Mart is a "semi' warehouse -- but to do it right, you have to go to Costco, 179 miles away via paved roads, and about 149 miles by a dirt road before getting on the I-10. It requires planning, like before a battle. As this will be my first time doing The Run, I've printed out Google Maps of all the places I'll be visiting in Tucson -- you do NOT want to end up wandering aimlessly around, as there is a return drive of 149 miles (179 if there is rain and the dirt road is washed-out) after a long day of shopping. So -- Google Maps, a list of things I need from each place, with some printed pages of specific items I'm looking for (sometimes you can't always depend on a list that's suddenly become illegible), my iPad Mini for "real-time" maps just in case and Internet connection with my hotspot device, money, camera and binoculars (you never know), and a final lookover of Tundra Dos. Then I'm off, going north up the mostly unpaved Foothills Road that runs along the east side of the Chiricahuas. This route shaves about 30 miles from the all-paved route, which goes into New Mexico and comes back in to Arizona -- and there's more of a chance of deer getting in your 50mph way. Besides, it's a much more gorgeous ride -- green hills of cactus, ocotillo and yucca, and the wide plain of the San Simon Valley off to your right. It's about 25 miles to the I-10, then after 120 or so to Tucson; I figure I'll get there around 9:30 at the latest. First, I stop off just west of the town of Benson to get gas. Then I thought I'd treat Tundra Dos to a wash. So I drive into the automatic car wash next to the gas station -- and the system stops before the cycles are finished. In fact, it stops when the truck is still soapy. Luckily, there are workers there (usually there aren't) and one of them lets me go into the other car wash bay for free and do the entire cycle. Whew!  I thought I'd have to go into Tucson with a truck that had soap running down its sides. Then it's an uneventful rest of the ride into Tucson, and the start of the main battle plain. I went to Home Depot first as Costco didn't open until 10am -- it's now about 9:30. Luckily, I've come armed (battle plan terms once again) with papers printed from the Internet that shows the item, if it's in stock, and the aisle number it's to be found. I still have a hard time finding them, but eventually I end up with a wheel barrow I have to assemble myself (a project for tomorrow, Wednesday), a sledgehammer for breaking up the concrete in the water feature, a double-headed digging device for making the water well for the Desert Willow I'll be planting in the back -- 4 "C" batteries for the weather station the original owners had set up on the back deck. IF it works, it will be quite a system -- rain gauge, wind velocity, humidity, indoor and outdoor temps - the whole kit and caboodle. So I load up the truck then go next door to Target for the glass coffeepot for my coffee machine; I'd dropped the first one into the kitchen sink, and there were glass shards all over. After Target it was Bank of America to withdraw more money out of my account (you want to have a bit on money on hand at home, as there are no banks nearby, particularly B of A's). Then my friend Mark left a message on my Smart Phone, giving me the IPA beer he currently favored; I've invited him and his wife Lori (both from Hermosa Beach, about 15 miles from my hometown of San Pedro, and they're both EXCELLENT birders) to dinner on Wednesday, and he likes his mirobrew beer, while Lori is a white wine drinker. Mark says his BOTW (Beer Of The Week) is one called "Mojo" and is only available, as far as he knew, from Whole Foods -- and this is where my iPad Mini with the hot spot came into play. Going to Whole Foods was something I hadn't planned on initially, so I had to look up the locations on the Web and plot my course. Alas (and of course) the first Whole Foods didn't have it, so I drove further north to the second Whole Foods -- and they didn't have it, either. So I said screw it, and got a replacement craft beer that the Whole Foods gal said was a good match for the one Mark wanted. And the choice was verified by a guy at the checkout counter ("the best IPA, man!"), so I continued my Costco Run -- by going down to Costco. The Costco off the freeway in Tucson is a bit tricky to get to, if you're not approaching it from the freeway. I saw it on my right, but there was no way that I could see to get to it. I had to circle it, and hope there would be an entrance road to it -- and after several false starts, I found it.  So I got my bulk supplies, putting the refrigerated items in a large cooler I'd brought for that purpose, and threw a blanket over it to keep things cool  for the trip back --  hopefully. After having a lunch of one of Costco's famous hot dogs, I headed over to Desert Survivor, a nursery recommended by my "desert plant and tree expert" John as the best place to find trees to put in my back yard. I came there to specifically buy a Desert Willow,  a hardy tree that will grow about 15 feet tall and requires water, which will be supplied by my back hose which will be right next to it. I'd set up the extra cab to put it in, and with a bit of effort the gal helping me and I maneuvered it (a 15-gallon pot plus tree) into the extra cab that had the seats pushed up -- a nice feature that I used for transporting my hybrid bike down to Portal. The Desert Willow branches were already bent, which is why I bought that particular tree as there isn't much headroom for a tree that size. If fit perfectly. I was now shortly before 2pm -- and I was done with my Costco Run.  So  headed back east on the I-10, stopped off at the rest stop at Texas Canyon to rest my eyes (i'd been up since 1AM without a break), then (I nearly forgot to mention this one errand) I went into Willcox to try and find the tractor store that sold Stihl supplies, and where I'd ordered a harness over the phone for my Stihl weed whacker. I drove to the address I got from the Internet -- and it wasn't there, only some industrial pipe-fitting place. Hmmm...I gave up as I had no idea where it was, and figured I'd give them a call another day to get their correct address --though that meant another 50-mile trip back to Willcox. But while I was driving on Rex Allen Drive (Willcox was the cowboy star's home town) to go back on the I-10, I looked off to my right -- and there was the tractor store in question, though not where the Internet said it would be. When I went inside, I asked the guy at the desk why the wrong address; he said that they moved there 3 months ago, and the website still didn't change the old to the new address. Sheer dumb luck on my part -- but that's the way it's been lately, lucky yet through no help from myself. After yet another "final" stop at a Safeway -- it was back home. The skies were overcast, but they didn't look like rain clouds, so I took Foothills Road back to Faranuf. As it goes through many low spots and washes, you don't take that road if there is even a hint of rain, as you may find your way impassable due to floods. But the road was thankfully dry -- and before I knew it, 318 miles later, I was back at Faranuf. And now it's another day in the rural life of a former City Guy...

September 7 -- A Bike Ride On A Dirt Road, Pulling Up Posts, And Preparing For A Costco Run

September 7, Labor Day, wasn't a day of rest for me -- but it was a day of "labor'. But the good kind...Morning saw the usual sunrise over the Peloncillos, zoomed-in with the 100-400 f/5.6 lens --

But about a half-hour later, the wind-whipped clouds put on the real early-morning show. It's enough to make one become a meteorologist -- on an artist -- or both -- 

It had been awhile since I'd taken the Diamondback hybrid bike out, so I loaded it up and took off down my driveway -- only to come across a garter snake, the first snake I've seen so far out here. Alas, no photo, as the snake slithered into the bushes when I doubled back to photograph it. But it's nice to know it's a "good" snake, eating rodents and such. Heading north on Foothills Road, you come across a fording of Cave Creek, which provides a cooling (and wet) ride for a few seconds. Then after about a mile of paved road, it turns into dirt -- 

And believe me, they ain't kidding when they say the road is primitive -- and I don't think anyone drives 35mph. The real trick is when the road dips into gullies, which may be flooded depending on if it rained the night before. Luckily, I was also scouting out the road in advance of using it to provide the fastest way to get to Interstate 10 on Tuesday for a "Costco Run", -- and the road was clear. Surprisingly, I didn't encounter a single snake, though I was wary of every stick or suspicious object I saw. My hybrid bike has a neat feature where you can turn the front fork shock absorbers off or on, depending on whether you're on a paved or dirt road, so I turned them on, and it made a big difference in making for a less-bumpy ride. I went as far as Whitetail Canyon, 9 miles to the north of Portal; here's the Diamondback at the furthest point of the ride -- 

The scenery here, as in pretty much all of the Chiricahuas and surrounding areas, is magnificent, with mountain backdrops and high-desert Sonoran and Chihuahuan yucca, agave, ocotillo and cactus. I also came upon a herd of horses, unfortunately not wild (and with obvious brands on their rumps) but still magnificent creatures -- 

Though I really wanted to continue on, it was getting to be around 10am and noticeably warmer, so I headed back down Foothills. Just before the road turned to pavement, there is the turnoff to Sky Village, where you can have an observatory right next to your house (the skies here are some of the clearest in the country, as there is no industry -- and no street lights -- 

Once back on the pavement, the views up Cave Creek Canyon became more impressive --

And I was finally back at Faranuf -- where I noticed I'd left the back rack bag's back pocket open, and my tool kit must've bounced out as it was missing. Rats!  So now I have to buy another one...I have a BIG soaking tub in the master bathroom, but had yet to use it, so after a long, hot bike ride it was as good of a time as any to give it a try -- and it felt GOOD, so much so that I pretty much dozed off for a few minutes while in it. After lunch I took a nap (I find I can think a lot clearer during the day, and feel refreshed, with an afternoon nap after being up since, say, 1am) then did computer stuff, and around 3pm i pulled up some more posts and fencing in the back yard. John gave me the tip of soaking the ground around the post with water to make it come out easier -- but of course I splashed dirty water on my nice, clean white socks. But another set of posts were GONE...I then prepared "Tundra Dos" for the Costco Run the next day by putting the extra-cab seats up to accommodate the Desert Willow tree I will be buying for planting in the back yard, and placing the big cooler in the truck bed to keep refrigerated items cool for the nearly 200-mile trip back to Portal. Meanwhile, during this time the skies were turning a bit ominous, but though it never developed into rain the clouds were putting on a show once again -- 

Oh, I nearly forgot -- As soon as I got back from my bike ride, I looked out back and the Roadrunner was back -- and posing once again. I think he's getting comfortable with me -- 

Notice how he's slyly looking at me out of the corner of his eye...And now it's the day for the "Costco Run". 

September 6 -- More Random Observations, Pulling Up Posts, And Another Faranuf Dinner...

I worked at Kaiser Hospital in Harbor City, a very busy urban section of Los Angeles, for 34 years. It was a good job, no more, but had its compensations like good workers that became good friends, and a park across the street that was a magnet for birds -- Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, to give it its official title. It was trashed out and harbored the homeless, but now it's being restored to at least a semblance of what it used to be in its native state. (Estimated completion: 2017.) I watched and chronicled a pair of nesting Red-tailed Hawks in 2005, their nest being on a ledge outside the building behind the one I worked in, and they (I named them Mina and Willie) successfully fledged 3 nestlings. Even the LA Times and a TV station sent people over to report it. But as with all big businesses the corporate mentality changed, so by 2013 I was longing to get out - and get a "real" life. So in April 2013 I retired, and traveled around the West in a travel trailer (a Lance 1685) that I'd bought in December 2010. Traveling solo isn't always what it's cracked up to be, so I had my ups and downs, but the ups were very good, and I saw a lot of the West that I'd never seen before, and re-visited places that were like old friends. But I came to realize that I needed 4 permanent walls, or at least a home base that I could call my own, from which I could take, say, week-long excursions in my Lance, so I was always on the lookout for an affordable home. That pretty much left California out -- though eastern California'a Owens Valley was an attractive possibility, especially as I'd had a history of backpacking the eastern Sierra there -- but in the end I opted for southern Arizona. I told of my interest, specifically in the Chiricahua Mountains of SE Arizona near the New Mexico border, to Helen, a real estate agent who's also a wildlife biologist with a long, exciting history of doing field work with her husband,  especially with raptors, and told her of my interest in birds and bird photography. Not to mention hiking and backpacking midst grand scenery, which the Chiricahuas have in abundance. So while I traveled she always kept an eye out on a place here for me. The first possibility I'm glad I didn't pursue as, well, it just didn't feel RIGHT for me. Then Helen, in the latter part of 2014, mentioned a manufactured home that had been for sale for over a year. I have to admit I wasn't too enamored of manufactured homes, thinking they were just one step above living in a mobile home, but I drove down to Portal from Overton, where I was spending the winter, to see the house. Well, after the deer got in my way just outside of Portal, and Tundra Uno died to save me -- I knew this place, Faranuf, was special. And after I examined it with Helen, well, I knew it was for me. True, there are things you have to sacrifice to live here in a somewhat isolated, rural community -- the closest shopping about 55 miles away, closest gas about 25 miles to the east, in New Mexico (and don't forget to set your clock ahead 1 hour when you cross the state border, as Arizona doesn't observe Daylight Savings Time), wearing headlamps at night (there are no street lights here) so you're  not surprised by a rattlesnake (2 poisonous possibilities here, Western Diamondback and Mojave), the closest big hospital over 100 miles to the west -- and those are only the things that I can remember right now. But this area's positives are many, and why PhD's and folks with Master's degrees come here -- abundant wildlife, much of it unique due to the Chiricahuas being one of the fabled "sky islands"; magnificent scenery that is some of the best in the desert southwest, if not in all the US; friendly residents who pretty much all have a lifetime of stories to tell, magnificent sunrises and sunsets; REAL weather, with monsoons, thunder, lightning, and gorgeous cloud displays (unlike southern California, which really has "no" weather); very little crime; night skies that are so clear there's a "village" nearby where astronomers live with an observatory right next to their house; hiking trails galore -- well, the list is nearly endless. So, to paraphrase Caesar -- I came, I saw, I stayed.  And it's probably the best decision I've made, well, ever. And Faranuf was "built" in 2007, and the heat pump installed in 2012, so pretty much everything is still new, and hardly used as the original owners were only here part of the year. My short-range plan is to spend one last month of winter up in Overton in my travel trailer (I bought a new, upgraded version of the Lance 1685 in January, complete with solar panels for "boondocking"), then bring it down to Portal and Faranuf where I'll put it under a canopy to protect it from the strong Arizona sun and weather, and take it out on trips from here. So from my viewpoint at least, I'm in this for the long haul...

Getting back to daily existence at Faranuf... Yesterday's sunrise was again one of those that was a bit wimpy in landscape mode, but when using my 100-400 f/5.6 lens was quite good --

Complete with "God's Rays", or "angel light", as someone on Facebook's Cochise County page called it. I've been itching to start work on Faranuf's back yard, after talking with my friend John about its possibilities, but I don't have the right tools yet, so I started off with something simple. There's a drip irrigation system with lines that lead -- nowhere. It seems like the original owners had planned to grow shade trees in the back yard, so had fenced-off sections of it to protect them from, say, Javelinas, but for some reason the trees never "took", and all that is left are fenced-in sections of the yard -- with nothing in them. So I'm taking the wire fencing and posts down with a shovel, pulling one or two sections out a day at a time. (As the Rolling Stones sang, "Time is on my side -- yes it is".)  Then I took a look at the weather station that was set up on the back deck. It's quite a setup -- there's a wind gauge measuring gusts and speed,  indoor/outdoor temperature, outdoor humidity, wind chill, 24-hour and total rainfall, dew point, air pressure -- and those are only the features I know of. But it probably hasn't been working for awhile, years in fact, but all the parts are there, including the indoor "weather station" which has all the readings, so I'll be replacing all the batteries, fire it up, and see what happens. It's just another of Faranuf's many treasures...Then I made dinner again, this time for the aforementioned Helen. Over wine, spaghetti, baked chicken thighs and brownies for dessert, we talked about a variety of things, and when Helen was leaving we took a look at the black widow spider living under the outside siding -- and Helen pointed out the much tinier male Black Widow -- then Helen set the trap for a possible rat on the property. All in all, just another memorable day at Faranuf... 

                                                       Closeup of False Portal Peak 

September 5 -- More Weed-Whacking And An Evening Of Music And Friends

As per usual, the day began with a sunrise, this time taken with the 100-400 f/5.6 IS L lens at around 300mm, as the standard landscape was a bit on the blah side with the cloud cover --

 

But looking to the west, the cloud cover provided the Chiricahuas with dramatic light and dark -- 

The hummingbirds in the early morning were especially prolific, chasing each other, zipping past me as I sat at the back porch. I'd placed one of the feeders out in the yard, so got a few good shots in morning light --

I'd left the hummingbird feeders out overnight, which I usually don't like to do as they attract bats -- and sure enough, when I went out at 3am (more sleep issues) bats were flying all over the place and the feeders were drained. In the morning I also put a feeder on a mesquite tree branch so as to space them out a bit more from the back porch -- and of course a Rufous hummingbird took it over, chasing off anyone who seemingly even though about taking a drink; they're quite aggressive and extremely territorial, more so than other hummingbirds. During the discussion with my friend John the day before, the subject of "defensible space" around the house and garage in case of fire was mentioned, so I was out with the weed-whacker cutting a swath at the south side of the garage, wearing the snake guards on my legs just in case. Then I rested and watched the birds come in and paying particular attention to the hummingbird feeders as a rare Plain-capped Starthroat had been seen at house feeders near to Faranuf, along with Magnificent and Blue-throated. They were easy to distinguish from the other hummingbirds as they're larger by about an inch -- but I never saw any, at least definitively. I took a nap in the afternoon, trying to catch up on much-needed sleep, then at 4pm went to the Portal Lodge for an evening of music, with the group featuring an "electronic violinist". The music was good, mostly contemporary, and the conversation even better. One of the "debates" was whether I should keep, or get rid of, the black widow spider living in the siding above the concrete foundation, about 20 feet from the front porch. The concenus was -- live and let live, at most trapping it in a jar and giving it to one of the folks here who gets rid of pesky creepy-crawlies. After an evening of good conversation and banter, we called it a night, with Lori guiding me back to my truck by the light of her smart phone (rattlesnakes). Now it's another day, with another full agenda...

September 4 -- The Internet And Rural Life, And Re-Designing Faranuf's Back Yard

I've said before that, if the Internet didn't exist, I certainly would have given second thoughts to living out in a rural area. But because it does, it makes life out here -- where the nearest big market is over 50 miles away, and the nearest gas is 25 miles east in New Mexico,  1 hour ahead -- much easier. Take, to use an example, "internet banking". I bank at Bank of America. The closest B of A is nearly 100 miles to the west, in Sierra Vista. I could deposit checks at any ol' ATM, but then you'd get charged fees as it's not your bank. So what options do you have, short of making the long drive west? The answer -- "mobile banking". Along with my MacBook Pro, I have an iPad Mini. On it are, among other things, my Kindle reader; a BirdsEye app that lists up-to-date rarities in your region -- along with your Life List; "Radar Now!", an app that shows your weather in real time, using radar stations -- and Bank of America mobile banking. I never really gave the banking app much thought -- until I had a check to deposit. I remember seeing a commercial -- from another bank -- about taking both front and back photos of the check, then depositing it into your account via the Internet. Did B of A have something similar? Yes, they did. On the mobile banking app on my iPad Mini, I was able to take photos of the check (the bank actually does it; all you have to do is center the check in the viewfinder), then hit "submit" -- and presto! -- your check is deposited. No driving 100 miles one-way, no hassles at all in fact. And it was because the B of A branch was so far away that I was considering changing my bank to the Wells Fargo in Douglas, "only" 55 miles away. But with this ability to deposit checks electronically, a big negative was solved -- and I just may stick with Bank of America, especially as I've been with them, well, for "donkey's years". And then there's Amazon. EVERYthing is on Amazon -- bags of wild bird seed, hummingbird feeders, an inflatable mattress when friends or family come to visit, Swiffer cloths for cleaning, a Canon fax/copy/scan machine ---the list goes on. And if you're an Amazon Prime member, then you get your items usually within 2 days, 5 days at most -- and don't pay mailing fees. It's why I've been an "Amazonian" for over 15 years, buying my camera bodies, 500mm lens -- oodles of stuff from them. And now that I'm out here in the -- pardon the term -- "sticks", it's an invaluable tool. And in most cases the packages get delivered directly to the Portal post office, and you don't have to deal with the dreaded "leaving a ticket because you're not at home", and possibly having it sent back. So, to summarize -- if you've always thought of living in a rural area, but hesitated because of certain inconveniences, well, it's gotten easier. Not totally, because I still have to drive those 25 miles into the next state to get gas, and into Douglas for groceries, but with careful planning those can be worked around, and not "deal-breakers". And, let's face it, it's worth putting up with those minor things -- to be living in Portal, with the Chiricahuas as your "back yard", and breathing some of the clearest air in the nation (there's a Sky Village a few miles to the north of me where astronomers have observatories next to their houses, the skies are THAT clear here -- but that's another story).
     I mentioned in this post's heading about working on Faranuf's back yard. One of the pleasures of living here in Portal has been the extreme friendliness of its residents -- and John and Carol are good examples of that. Carol is a former teacher, and John, among other interests, is a gardener, and over the years of living in his house has painstakingly designed his back yard. It's now full of desert plants and trees such a desert willow, yucca, ocotillo, different types of cactus, mesquite -- you name it. He has achieved this without a drip irrigation system, which is what Faranuf has; John mostly uses a water diffuser, and deep-soaks his plants and trees. It's now a wildlife "sanctuary" hummingbirds flock to it for its flowering flora and carefully-spaced feeders, butterflies are attracted to its flowers, and various animals either call it home or are seen passing through. So it was only natural that I both discussed John's plant and tree selection, his method of nurturing them -- and how I can apply those methods to the areas around Faranuf, particularly its back yard. I'd always assumed that Faranuf had an excellent back yard, with its water feature, hangers for feeders, and drip irrigation system - certainly better than I could ever design. When John came over, he saw the yard's possibilities, and pointed out its design flaws. For one, the water feature doesn't have a drain, so the water becomes stagnant and probably breeds bacteria, as the water only goes out through either evaporation or animals drinking it, such as the gray fox, javelina, and the Coues deer. It's a plastic tub set in concrete, and John immediately recommend to break up thc concrete, take out the plastic tub, and fill it in. As a replacement, he said to check at a home improvement store like Home Depot for simple water features that have a way for the water to drain, and set it above the ground. (The water feature in his garden has a drain and is replenished often, so it's clear and as clean as it can be, considering it's located outdoors.) Then he pointed out the Russian thistle dotting the back yard -- tumbleweeds. Get rid of it. Pull it out so it doesn't come back. We looked at the timer for the drip irrigation system -- it was under a wooden box that a wood rat had turned into a nest. It looks like a good system, but the original owners probably used it to nuture shade trees that for some reason never took hold, and now the areas where they were are fenced in with posts that have no use whatsoever -- as there is nothing in the fenced-in areas. So I'll pull the posts out and store the wire fencing for some possible future use. The tall, Y-shaped feeder hangers that dominate the back yard -- get rid of them, as they're in intrusion on the landscape, and can be replaced by more strategically-spaced feeders. The hummingbird feeders are now located on the porch, so the hummingbirds have to fly across an open area from their perches on the trees lining the outside perimeter of the yard to the feeders, instead of the feeders being incorporated into the landscape. And that landscape needs trees and plants to provide shelter and food for the birds, butterflies and animals small and large.. He recommended the first addition to the yard be a desert willow; it's easy to maintain and, provided with a planting site that has a slight slope to it, will get not only the water from the back yard hose -- located only a few feet away -- but the water from rains, which runs naturally down the slope to the area where the desert willow would be located. He pointed out venerable mesquite trees and others lining the back yard, and with brush clearance (needed to have a fire break around the house, anyway) can add to the yard's attractiveness along with its usefulness as a critter magnet. In talking to John, I saw the possibilities -- and now I have another project to (entusiastically) do, which will take years, but that's how long I plan to live in Faranuf. And next year I also plan to put a metal roof on the house, replacing the wood composition shingles it now has, as they can break off and fly away in a high wind -- which this area is known to have on occasion. And perhaps during the time the metal roof is installed, I can ask about putting in down spouts, so the water isn't just shooting uselessly off the roof (folks here have estimated  I can collect about 50,000 gallons of water from rain on the roof) and perhaps collected in rain barrels, or directed with small hoses to areas I want to have watered. I'd started off the day thinking Faranuf's back yard setup was a good one, and efficient -- and ended up with a vision of what the yard COULD be. Thanks, John, for the ideas and inspiration!  Now to get those Russian thistles pulled out...

September 3 -- Critters Around Faranuf, And A Dinner With Friends

For once, the sunrise was a no-show -- it was cloudy with sprinkles, as it was off-and-on the whole day. I went to refill the hummingbird feeders -- I've made 2 gallons of the nectar, so I'm not constantly making it -- and now they're getting somewhat used to me; maybe it's because they know where their sugar water comes from. While I was bringing the feeders down to refill them, a hummingbird or two would buzz around me -- a bit dangerous as I was on a ladder. As far as the other birds go, I bought another bag of bird food -- online, from Amazon (of course) which this time is not a "no mess" blend (I'd gotten that from my friends at the Wild Birds store in Torrance before I left) and is full of sunflower seeds which will probably end up on the ground. But I'm getting a good selection of birds, and getting more every day -- Northern Cardinal (who are still a bit shy), Pyrrhuloxia (which sounds like a gum disease), Lesser Goldfinches (a nice brightly-colored yellow to add to the day), along with loads of House Finches, Canyon Towhees -- and a patrolling Roadrunner. I've seen him out on both the front and back porches; probably looking for lizards. (I should tell him that there's a large Clark's Spiny Lizard in the well house he can have -- they're fairly large, about 8 inches, and it had scared the bejesus out of me when I first opened the well house door as it was up in the corner nearest me, and jumped down.) No snakes to report yet -- and that's just fine with me. I'm keeping the grass, etc around Faranuf short with the weed whacker, so there are no "snakes in the grass", so to speak. As far as the rest of my 4 acres, all bets are off, but it's so overgrown that I'd never venture out into it. In the morning I did an errand that was long overdue -- I cleaned out Tundra Dos. I transferred everything onto the garage shelves, and now I can transport, say, a dining table (mine is too small, fitting 4 people very tightly) and people in the extra cab back seat. Then it was to the post office, where 2 hummingbird feeders (the saucer kind, sanctioned by Audubon, once again acquired from Amazon) were waiting for me, along with peppermint oil, which when rubbed around the feeder holes are supposed to ward off ants,which go into the holes, drown, and make a big mess when you clean the feeders. (Wasps do that, too.) The hummingbirds love the new feeders, and there are more ports on them so there are more hummingbirds per feeder. I rubbed the peppermint oil (recommended by many online) on one feeder as an experiment -- and at first the hummingbirds stayed away, then as the smell wore off (I'm assuming that's why they were leery) they flocked once again to the feeder. And each saucer feeder has a "moat" in the middle, which if you fill with water keeps the ants out -- so I'll just use that for now, and have the peppermint oil as a backup. Inside Faranuf, I made sure the pantry was stocked; here's a photo of it --

On the lowest shelf to the right is sugar (a 25-pound bag I got from Wal-Mart for about $12), above that Swiffer cloth (again, purchased from Amazon  and a LOT cheaper than buying at a store -- and being an Prime member, I get it within a few days) to the left at the bottom are containers with rice and pasta, and at the top are freezer bags, quart-sized bags, laundry detergent, and other cleaning supplies. Most of the items were purchased during a Costco run...The afternoon was spent with the birds, and later I got Ms. Coues deer back at the water feature -- and she leaped away when I opened the back screen door. Later still there was a Mr. Coues at the water -- who again turned and went into the brush, but not before a snapped a photo of him through the glass door -- 

Then my friends John and Carol came over for dinner.  My dining table is SMALL, and I only have 3 chairs that will "fit" it -- the others are lower than the table, so you feel like a little kid with you head barely level with the table. For some reason, the chandelier above the tablet hangs down too low; I call it "The Cone Of Silence" ,  after the plastic bubble used in Get Smart which never seems to work properly. I finally got some wire and twisted it around some of the links so it was raised a bit higher, and there was less of a chance of knocking your head on it as you get up from the table. I made chicken thighs in a marinade and spaghetti with pasta, and Carol supplied a salad and wine -- then we finished with Ghiradelli Double Chocolate brownies, always a crowd pleaser. John is extremely knowledgable about desert gardens, snakes, lizards and spiders, so was regaling me with stories about encounters with those critters here. And Carol showed me a video on her phone of a Tarantula Wasp dragging a tarantula eventually to its burrow, where John said it lays eggs on the still-alive tarantula and the hatched wasps feed on it. Shades of "Alien"! As we were outside going to their SUV, John pointed out a small praying mantis -- and a Black Widow spider that had spun a web under a siding above the concrete foundation. He said to put it in a jar and give it to Shane, a "snake wrangler" who will add the spider to his invertebrate business.  Otherwise, mom Black Widow will lay eggs, and I'll have to deal with a host of them, not just one... On the way out the driveway, John called out that a Kangaroo Rat had just disappeared into the brush. All in all, it was a Critter Kind Of Day...

September 2 -- Feeder Frenzy, And A Real Storm

But first, here's what is becoming the "gratuitous" sunrise shot -- except for this one, since the scenic sunrise was just so-so, I zoomed in on the rising sun with my 100-400 f/5.6 lens --

After taking the trash out to, and chatting with,  Tom The Trash Guy, who has the trash truck parked Wednesday and Saturday from 8-11 in the open area across from me (otherwise there's really no place to get rid of your trash here), I decided to give my left shoulder another day of rest. So I went to the back porch with my 500mm lens plus 1.4x teleconverter (effective digital distance of 700mm), a bird book, and my binoculars -- and watched the show. I didn't have long to wait, though the first "incident" actually started when I saw a Cooper's hawk fly into the back yard when I was putting sunscreen on in the bathroom. I said "Holy Toledo!" (or something like that) and ran out to the back porch, hoping he was still there. And he was, but he flew a little further away and perched, scanning over the feeder area and looking VERY intense. As I have a 700mm focusing distance and the sun was out, I was able to get off some very good shots, even one where he flew off -- 

I don't believe he got anything, as all the birds had "gone to ground". I'd never seen a feeder area with loads of birds clear out so fast. And once the Cooper's left, they all came back again. Here are some of the backyard visitors --

Juvenile Male Broad-billed Hummingbird

Western Kingbird (he was a surprise) 

Mr. Lesser Goldfinch

Mrs. Lesser Goldfinch

By this time it was around 10:30 -- and the skies to the northwest were looking ominous with an unbroken sky of dark, grey clouds. It was almost as if the oncoming storm was eating up the blue sky --

At around 3pm it started to rain -- HARD. It was hard to capture its intensity, but I took a few shots of the outside from the open back sliding glass door -- 

And from the side porch door, looking at Cave Creek Canyon to the west -- 

That's one of my roof gutters in the upper right-hand corner. Faranuf has no down spouts, only gutters that extend abut 3 feet from the roof, so the water pours off the roof onto the ground below -- NOT very practical. Around 5:30pm the weather to the west started to clear, though it remained cloudy for the most part for the rest of the evening. During a lull in the weather proceedings, I went out to the front porch and saw a bedraggled Western Kingbird -- the same one from the morning? -- on a bush --

Then it flew off a little further from me -- and snagged a snack --

I saw one of the Faranuf Residents, too. There are 3 Cottontail rabbits here; this is one of them --

I always hope they don't get snagged by, say, a hawk happening to pass through. So it was another interesting day -- not productive in the sense of getting things done, but I'm retired and can do what I please, when I please -- and this day was exactly that. 

September 1 - Life At Faranuf (Part 1)

This will be the first in an occasional series of musings and a listing of things I do in a typical day here at my house in rural Arizona. First off, I get up early -- REALLY early. I wake up at about 2am every day, no matter how much (or how little) sleep I get during the night. I get a mug of filtered water from my double-door refrigerator, sit down at my MacBook Pro laptop, and do my Facebook "stuff" and this blog. I also make hummingbird nectar (4 parts water to 1 part sugar) -- and as they'v been ravenous lately, I make enough to have a gallon milk jug filled with it,  maybe two.  At around 4am I have my first cup of coffee (I have about 3 total), then about this time it's sunrise (about 5:45am lately) so I look out east to New Mexico and the Peloncillo mountains, then west to Cave Creek Canyon and the Chiricahuas, and if the colors are photo-worthy -- and lately they have been -- I take photos of the views. Here's one from yesterday September 1,  looking east --

after Then I have breakfast, which usually is dry cereal with blueberries, along with orange juice, a banana, a tangelo -- if I've been a good boy, a square -- OK, maybe two -- of Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownie (to help power me through the day, of course).  Following breakfast, I do something "constructive" to Faranuf; lately I've been re-conditioning and staining the decking on the back and side porches. They probably haven't been treated for eons, and the strong Arizona sun dries and cracks out the redwood eventually. So I use the roller and treat 'em, and early in the morning before the decking gets too hot. Then it's time (9am) to pick up my mail at the tiny Portal post office, which looks like one from "Mayberry RFD" but "postmistress Joan" and her daughter, Debbie, are extremely helpful, friendly and accommodating to "Portalites" (our term for residents of Portal). I've been getting a lot of things from Amazon lately, and along with my laptop and the Internet Amazon, and especially with the Prime membership, has proven to be a Godsend out here in a rural, thinly populated area where the nearest big market (Wal-Mart) is about 55 miles away in Douglas to the south. After that, I might do a bike ride -- I have a Diamondback (appropriate, that, as the prevalent rattlesnake in my area is Western Diamondback) hybrid bike that is good for both dirt and paved roads. Or, as I've been doing lately to rest my left shoulder, watch the birds and critters come into my back yard. I've been especially diligent with the hummingbird feeders as there are reports of Magnificents and Plain-capped Starthroats lately -- and you NEVER know what might come up from Mexico, as the Chiricahuas are the northern point of a land bridge extending down to Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains. I'm keeping a "yard list" of what I see in the back yard, and have my Canon 7D MK II with the 500 f/4 lens plus 1.4x teleconverter, all on a tripod, pointed out back at the sliding glass door for immediate photo-ops (and my Canon 7D MKI and 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens for landscapes and macros). After lunch I might practice my classical guitar (I've been playing on-and-off, mostly off, since I was 10 or so) or take a short nap -- after all, I've been up since 2am. Then it's time to go outside and look at the clouds, which have been spectacular lately; this is from yesterday, September 1 -- 

And here's the same massive cloud formation, a mere 10 minutes later, complete with a rainbow at the bottom of the cloud -- 

Both of these were taken either from Faranuf's front porch or the driveway. Then it's time for the late-afternoon visit of Faranuf's "residents"; here's the Ms Coues Deer, taken yesterday --

She comes in to drink out of the water feature. And another to add to the Faranuf Resident List is this Roadrunner; here he's on top of the well house, on the fan -- 

And on the roof of the well house -- 

I REALLY want to encourage him to be a permanent Faranuf resident as he'd keep the snakes and rodents under control -- but of course it's his call. Then after dinner it's time to post the day's photos, and if it's "thunder-y" as it's been lately, I'll go on the front porch and take photos of the lightning. Coming from coastal Los Angeles, where there's no "weather" to speak of, only clear skies and/or fog, this weather, at least so far, is heaven-sent. By this time, I call it a day, go to bed -- and wake up to another 2am, early morning call... 

August 31 -- More Re-conditioning of the Back Deck, A Sore Shoulder, A Visit From Ms. Coues Deer, and More Lightning

You'll notice I've done a name change to my blog. While Travels of Discovery may not officially be over, they are certainly on hiatus, now that I'm living at Faranuf. As far as Discovery II goes, "she" is still up at Overton, Nevada, ensconced in Robbins Nest RV Park where she, and her predecessor Discovery I, spent the past 2 winters.My eventual plan is to be in Overton for the month of January, then bring Discovery II down to Portal and park her next to Faranuf (I hope to get some kind of canopy where she's protected by the elements -- and use her in case of a long power outage; her solar panels will come in handy). I'd still do week-long trips, say to the Texas Gulf Coast for spring bird migration, or explore New Mexico ( which I have yet to do). Since I'm fully retired, my options are open...Now it's on to the events of yesterday, August 31. I woke up at my usual 2am, made more nectar for the hummingbirds (a 4 to 1 mixture, 4 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar) and am putting it in large gallon water containers so I'm not always making it, as I'm filling the feeders at least 3 times a day. Thirsty little beggars -- and no wonder they're zooming all over the place and being aggressive to one another, as they're hepped-up on sugar!  Then the sunrise was another memorable one, not so much to the east but to the west and Cave Creek Canyon --

Though to the east there was a beautiful, thin curtain of what started out as virga, then came to the ground as rain; the color is from the sunrise -- 

After a good breakfast (the most important meal of the day for me, as it sets the tone for the rest of the day) I went back to re-conditioning and staining the back porch decking. After an hour it was done, and looked pretty good (though I just checked, this morning, and it's still not completely dry) . I walked down my driveway and got this shot of Faranuf and what is known locally as "False Portal Peak" (otherwise un-named) in early-morning light --

My left shoulder was (understandably) tired from pushing the paint roller around and using the weed whacker, so I gave it the day off, relaxed in a section of the back deck that I had stained the day before, and watched the hummingbirds. My neighbor/friend/personal guru, Helen, said she had a Magnificent Hummingbird at her feeders the day before, so I was on the lookout for a visit -- but no. But what's neat is that there is always the chance that something good will come along. After about 2 hours of watching the aerial antics I had lunch, then called Jackie Lewis at the George Walker House in the tiny burg of Paradise , telling her that I wouldn't be able to come over and glean some hummingbird tips from her that day. My shoulder, you know... But my heavy lens was on a tripod, so I was able to use that if there was something "good" that showed up in my back yard -- and I didn't have long to wait -- 

A Ms. Coues Deer, looking exceptionally pretty (and her eyelashes are to die for) and even sporting the European look of hair on her chin..:o) She was wary of me, not quite sure what to do if I came closer to her, but I didn't need to as I was using my 500mm lens with a 1.4x TC on it, giving me a total of 700mm. So there was NO REASON to get any closer, and she was fine with that. She drank from my water feature, then slowly retreated back into the underbrush. Foxito the Gray Fox has been a no-show for the past 3 or 4 days (just after I bought a bag of dried dog food and a few cans of Alpo, natch)  but the deer in the back yard have been ample compensation, I think. So now it's dinnertime, and I look northeast towards Hwy 80 in New Mexico, and Granite Gap -- 

Uh-oh, the harbinger of another storm... Looks like they can just about turn into tornados. There was lightning inside those clouds, too, and as it got darker -- and easier to take lightning shots -- lightning started flashing all over the sky. With hundreds of lightning strikes these past few days, it's a miracle that there has only been one fire caused by it -- and that is about 50 miles to the west, in the Dragoon Mountains. As it got darker, I went out to the front porch, put on my lightning settings --- and waited for the light show -- 

The tough part of taking photos of lightning is not the settings, but keeping the shutter open. I don't have a shutter release cable, so I just keep my finger on the shutter button. But there can be some shaking involved which you can't see on your view screen at the time -- and that's what happened to the majority of my shots that night. But I bought a shutter release cable from Amazon which should be arriving any day now, and that problem should be solved. There are T-storms forecast for at least the next week, so there are lots more chances for photo-ops like this...