October 17 -- Clouds Swirl Around Cave Creek Canyon's Peaks, And Tranquility Returns to Faranuf's Back Yard

The forecast was for rain, and it did a bit overnight as the porches were wet -- but the expected rain for the entire day, complete with flash floods, never happened. But there was enough cloud cover in the morning to make the sunrise a no-show. It made for a nice change of pace, though, as I wasn't running from front to back to get all the sunrise colors; I could actually relax. But that doesn't mean there weren't any photo-ops. The rain clouds were swirling around the peaks of Cave Creek Canyon, so I trained my Canon 100-400 IS f/5.6 lens with the 1.4x teleconverter on to take closeups of the dramatic scenes --

Green lichen, sunlight, jagged rocks, peaks veiled in clouds -- the Chiricahuas are always changing in mood. 

Before I came out here, I had no idea of the photographic possibilities here; they seem limitless. And thank goodness for digital!  Film photography would have destroyed my budget --- that, and bird seed. 

Being a cloudy day, it was perfect weather to get a few outside chores done. I've decided to keep the soft water system I had detailed in the previous post. I read that, among other positives in the soft vs. hard water debate -- soft water lowers your energy bills as it's not so hard on your appliances, therefore they last longer and are more efficient. And as Faranuf is all-electric, well, it's a no-brainer. In fact, I'm now sure that's why the original owners installed the system in the first place. Apparently there isn't much consistency in the quality of well water here; one house's water could be relatively free of sediments and minerals, while just a few houses down it could be full of the stuff. And now it seems more likely the latter is the case with my water, which is why it has to go through all the filters, and water softener, to get to the good quality it has once it's in the house. BUT...it does require some maintenance. For example, one of the the soft water tanks must have salt crystals added to it via a small black container next to it, and another tank must have potassium permanganate added to a small container, too, both needed to keep the system running in top condition. Small things, really, but one has to keep vigilant about their levels in their holding tanks. So I added salt crystals to the one container, and potassium permanganate (a poison, so one has  to be very careful) to the other. And the system gets serviced once a year -- meaning the servicing people have to drive about 350 miles round-trip to do the work. I hope they don't charge mileage fees on top of everything else... I also check the Irish Spring bars I'd placed around the outside of the well house to keep critters out (it's still working). 2 of the bars had -- disappeared, though the boxes was still there. ??? So add more Irish Spring soap bars to my Douglas Run supply list... 

I'd always been a bit concerned with the Desert Willow's branches. Perhaps it's just a visual thing, but the main branches "droop" and get blown about in the wind. And it's just not me; others have mentioned it. So I got a long, thin stick -- there was one in the garage that was perfect for the task, left by the previous owner -- pushed it into the ground next to the willow and tied the tree branches to the stick with strips of cloth I'd cut from a face towel. (Someone had mentioned somewhere that it's not a good idea to use wire to hold the tree to the supporting stick.) Now it at the very least looks better visually, and perhaps there will be more of a chance that the branches will grow up instead of out. But then, perhaps I'm barking up the proverbial wrong tree... ;o) 

The final task for the day was -- clean the water feature. I've never been happy with its sludgy condition, especially as it's used for drinking and bathing by both the birds and deer. So as there is no way to drain it, I got the rubber container that I'd bought to replace it -- and the deer shied away from -- and scooped the yucky water out. Then once I got 98% of the water out (I was wearing nitrile gloves in case some flesh-eating disease was in there) I took the slime-covered rocks out, too, and swapped them with rocks I'd placed around the Desert Willow as part of its water well. I then refilled the water feature with clean water, placed the "new" rocks where they were stable -- and sat back to see how the birds liked it. Result - looks like they loved it. An hour later, a lot of them were bathing in it, certainly more than before, so though I think I'll futz around more with the placement of the rocks,seems like the improved water feature is a hit. And I'll replace the water once a week so it doesn't return to its former gunky state...

The chores being done, I checked on the status of the "Faranuf Residents". The Orbweaver spider is spinning "her" web, despite missing 2 front legs, and if all goes well should end up with a spectacular-looking web. "Patch" the Big Bend Patchnose snake was curled up outside his burrow in the morning, so all seems to be going well with him, too. And the Coues deer family came back to use the water feature, pre-cleaning. They were there at approximately the same time as the day before, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will become a daily ritual for them. The day then ended with a delicious dinner and conversation with more "new" friends. And another day passed in paradise -- as opposed to Paradise, the tiny hamlet 5 miles up the dirt road...