False Portal Peak on the right, and the real Portal Peak the middle of the 3 further peaks to its left
The "Red Glow" of the Silver Peak massif just after sunrise
Further west along Silver Peak
The highest point on Silver Peak
The Portal post office opens at 9am; I stopped by to pick up my mail and give Joan the "postmistress" (she can't officially be called "Postmaster" as the PO here is contracted out to USPS) a plate of brownies (when was the last time you did that for YOUR mail carrier or the person behind the post office window?) and checked up on the mouse situation there; she said have been no mice, and no droppings, since she placed the Irish Spring bars around the room. I went out and took a photo of the Myrtle Kraft library next door --
Like the post office, it's another "institution" here in Portal. It used to be a schoolhouse, then in 1978 Myrtle Kraft, along with other volunteers, established the library, which officially became part of the Cochise County library system in 1980. Since then it's been run by volunteers except for the present librarian, Kathleen Talbot, who's the only paid staffer there. In talking with Kathleen -- another friend here -- I found out we have an Owens Valley connection! She was born in Bishop, lived in Round Valley for awhile (the "community" of Rovana there is smaller than Portal, if you can believe that) then came to the San Simon Valley. Big coincidences like that is one of the things that makes living out here so interesting...I did a writeup on my Facebook page for Joan and the post office; next will be the library, its history, and Kathleen, who has a reputation for being the "best librarian anywhere" -- and she is! And there's a tree in the front that's a favorite with Acorn Woodpeckers.
Speaking of Woodpeckers -- there's a male Northern Flicker that has made an appearance at Faranuf's back yard. Don't know what they look like?
They're great birds -- but they love to peck at, and make holes in, window screens with that big bill of theirs. On the rear of Faranuf I noticed holes in a few screens, then actually saw a Flicker fly up to one, hang onto it, and peck away as if it's a tree. I've had to get rid of one screen already, and a second is starting to go. I scared it away when I opened the back door, whereupon it flew off and started attacking one of the screens just below the roof of the well house. So I threw a rock at it. (Just so you know, that was a last resort; a friend of mine has suggested attaching silvery strips such as aluminum foil to the screens, and that it will be distract them. I'll give that a try.) It flew off, which is what I wanted as I didn't plan on hitting it. Speaking of "nuisance" birds, we get 3 species of doves here, Mouring, Eurasian Collared, and White-winged. Some birds are more aggressive in pushing smaller birds out of the way to get at the seed; doves fall into that category. And I get up to 10 of them at a time, and it seems like they chow down everything in sight. I'll probably have to get some bird seed that will attract the doves, and put it in its own place away from the other seed holders. Gambel's Quail are like doves, too; they march into the back yard, sometimes a dozen at a time, and take over the trays. Though they can be bullies, they're fun to watch; doves not as much.
The Coues Deer family came by to visit the water feature again. They're still very wary, and sometimes look at me out of the corner of their eyes -- or, as in the case of Mom here, stare right at me --
The little ones aren't so little any more; they're almost as big as Mom. But they're still "cute" --
And here's what appearsI to be the youngest of them --
It was somewhat of a quiet day, not too much going on compared to more recent ones, but it was still fulfilling in many respects...
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