August 17 -- What a day and evening at Portal and Faranuf!

And I've only been here 5 days...Things started off with a bang with a beautiful sunrise bathing the peaks of Cave Creek Canyon with a golden glow --

Then birds starting coming to my backyard feeders; word must've gone around that the Faranuf buffet is back in business.  I'm starting a Yard List -- so far I have Black-chinned Hummingbird (and there were at least 3 others which I couldn't ID), Canyon Towhee including a begging juvenile, House Finch, 2 Say's Phoebes, and 2 Black-throated Sparrows, one of which I photographed in the front yard with the 500 f/4 lens --

Then I went to the Portal post office, a small building that, inside, reminds me of the post offices of, say, the 1920s. I'll have to take a photo and post it. I've been thinking of having a mailbox installed facing the main Portal road because all my mail is still being forwarded to the RV mail service in Florida -- and there was seemingly no way I could get out of it until the contract runs out on January 16, 2016. Well, I THOUGH I couldn't get out of it -- but Debbie, daughter of Postmistriss Joan, who works at the Portal PO at couple days a week (and is also the owner of the Rodeo Tavern, one of only 3 places to eat within, say, 30 miles of Portal) called the main post office in San Simon, put a gal on the line, and after I explained the situation, said "OK, it's done, now you can get all of your mail at your Portal post office box, and it won't be forwarded." Sort of like waving a magic wand and -- POOF! -- it's fixed. Simple as that; it's amazing what you can get done around here armed with just a smile and winning personality :o). So I no longer have to worry about buying a mailbox and sort through all the rules and regulations that accompany installing one. And then my binoculars, which I've had for over 8 years, gave up the ghost when the center wheel which focuses the left-hand eyepiece stopped focusing, no matter how much I rolled it. They were Kahles bins, made in Austria -- I kidded people by saying they were the ones Rommel used in the Afrika Korps -- and I've had issues with the company when they reneged on a lifetime guarantee and tried charging me for having to send them in as one of the binocular clips that hold the carrying strap to the bins broke off; they said I did it, and eventually still charged me half of the original quote and made it sound like they gave me a great deal. I told them I'd NEVER recommend them ever again...But all's well etc etc and I ended up going on Amazon and ordering the Nikon Monarch 7 8 x 42s, which reviews said hands-down were the best birding binoculars under $500 -- and had the characteristics of bins twice their price. As it was another hot day outside -- 90-plus degrees with a warm wind -- I stayed pretty much inside Faranuf, practicing my guitar and getting chores done. Then around 5pm a Javelina family visited my yard, along with a tiny baby; here's one of the adults -- 

The adult Javelinas are very protective of their young -- NEVER get between the adults and their kids -- and apparently stink to high heaven. But I don't plan on ever getting that close to them...Then I was treated to an awesome sunset -- the beginning --

The color just continued to get more intense over the Chiricahuas; that's Portal Peak in the center --

I literally stood there with my mouth open (which can be dangerous as bugs could fly in); I have never seen such intense color. And it culminated in --

About 15 minutes after this, the lightning started to the north of me -- jagged displays about every 10 seconds, with flashes of light in the clouds; it reminded me of the "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" Mother Ship appearing. And then the rain started...It was the perfect end to a day of wildlife, the palette of  Mother Nature, followed by a display of her power, I think I'm going to like life here...