December 14 -- Visitors -- And More Furniture -- To Faranuf

Actually, my wildlife visitors started a few days ago, when a coyote crossed my driveway as I was coming in, then 2 Coues (white-tailed) deer scampered off near the garage.  And then the Javelina...It was COLD on the morning of the 14th. The previous owners had installed a weather recording system on the back porch -- but it needed new batteries -- but there was frost on the ground, so it was at least below freezing. And up in the mountains, well, here's a shot I took just after sunrise with the 500 f/4 lens + 1.4x TC, of the high Chiricahuas --

And here's the sunrise view from the back porch; the sunlit mountain in the center distance is the photo above -- 

What a view!  I can't imagine EVER getting tired of it. And with clouds, the light changes, and throws the soaring rock formations into dramatic light-and-shadows...The view from the front porch, while not as eye-catching, still has the mountainscapes of the Peloncillos -- where a jaguar was last spotted in 1997 -- 

You can barely make it out, but an inversion layer actually makes the San Simon Valley, which lies to my east, colder than this area; you can barely make out the clouds sitting in the valley. I got quite a lot accomplished the day before, and even started to "accommodate" the astronomers over at Sky Village, a few miles to the north of Faranuf down Foothills Road, but positioning my motion sensor floodlights around Faranuf more to the ground so as to cut down on the "light pollution" they would otherwise cause, diminishing the night sky viewing. (This section of the San Simon Valley has some of the clearest, and most unobstructed, views of the night sky in the country, so a community of houses, each with their individual observatories, has been established here.) Most of the furniture, linens, silverware, etc I had gratefully received from the house of Kim Murphy, the long-time rang er of Portal who had recently passed away. He was a fascinating person; here's a short bio (click on the purple link) along with a photo of him with a bear cub. His family was selling his house and giving away many of his possessions, so as I had no furniture in Faranuf I obtained his bed frame (wooden, hand-built), a movie poster of a Rex Allen movie, signed to Kim by Rex himself, and various tables and lamps -- including a lamp that Kim had strung with arrowheads. Reading the bio now, I'm sorry I missed the opportunity to meet him, but am grateful that I'm able to use many of this things. And as he was a protector of wildlife, that might explain the visitors I had in the afternoon; things started with this one -- 

Taken with my 7D MK II and 500 f/4 from the back porch door, it's an 8-point buck. He first took a drink from the water feature -- it's the round concrete feature he's standing on -- then munched on the bird seed in the trays to the left -- 

Wonderful. And he gave me a final portrait shot --

Heck, I don't even have to leave Faranuf to get good views of the wildlife to be found here! As I was using Kim's possessions, I invited Richard and Gaye Borgert (mentioned at the end of Kim's bio) to lunch at the Portal Cafe where we enjoyed a delicious repast and talked about subjects as varied as the Salton Sea (Gaye had spent past years in Palm Springs). I had obtained a couch from a longtime resident in Portal that was in the back of Tundra II, so Richard helped me carry it into Faranuf, and looking around the inside things seemed to be getting much more comfy -- good for the tenants to come in 2015...It was just after Richard and Gaye had left that I noticed bird activity in the back yard. So I took out the 7D MK II and 500 f/4, and shot from the open back screen door -- 

Canyon Towhee

Cactus Wren

Mrs. Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Vesper Sparrow

Wow. My "yard birds". I had NO idea...How will I be able to leave Faranuf and Portal on Tuesday, heading to spend the holidays in San Pedro, then back to Overton -- and not come back here for possibly a year? Well, it will always be waiting for me...I finally put Kim's bed frame and head board together, and it will be ready for the mattress I ordered from Costco (memory foam, queen size). I should think Faranuf's 2015 tenants should be "happy campers" with what I managed to obtain. So today the 15th it's off to Douglas, 55 miles to the south, to obtain title and registration for Tundra II, pick up a few things at a hardware store such as work gloves, lettering for the front gate with street address and "WOLFE", shower curtains, and a few other odds and ends...I end this post with the photo of Kim Murphy with a bear cub. Rest in peace, Kim, and thanks...