The Hermits' Rest

Such a trailblazer I am

Today was most certainly a Monday, but it had plenty of highlights to balance out the rest. I mean, in a place just crawling with wildlife and beautiful sights, it’s hard to get by without any highlights.

I’m not crawling, I’m standing here looking at you.

The work day wasn’t all bad, either. Mike found a folding table in the laundry room, and I was able to set up a perfectly good little office. The sun attacks early in the morning, but I made a shade out of my extra screen carrier, so I could do meetings and look at the trees. That helped a lot.

My first set of meetings were intense, so I took a nice long walk around the neighborhood afterwards. There are so many birds to see and hear, along with so many beautiful fall flowers! The houses and cabins range from scary to palatial, but together it’s all cozy.

I kept heading down streets that said “dead end” hoping to get to a nice birding spot. At the end of the final turn I found a trail! It had US government stakes saying no motor vehicles, so I knew it was okay for non motorized elders. I couldn’t believe my luck!

I had a fantastic time wandering up and down the path while listening to Bushtits and Nuthatches chattering away. I also enjoyed Western Bluebirds, Hairy Woodpeckers, and Flickers. The woods were so lush and green from recent rain, and some plant had a minty smell.

A mushroom called Kaibab Jack – ***Suillus kaibabensis***

I was going to sit on the rustic bench in the last photo and enjoy the peace and quiet. However, right when I decided to sit, what sounded like chainsaws started up. I reluctantly headed back to the cabin.

Found a flying grasshopper on my way back. Carolina grasshopper – ***Dissosteira carolina***

Once I got back, I went to the Maps app to see if the trail showed up. Indeed it did. It also showed me that the trail is actually quite close to where we are staying. I realized then that the chainsaws were in reality guys using gas weed-whackers to trim the house across the road. Argh. You can’t even escape lawn crews in this rustic area.

In the afternoon, when I was finished with work, Lee and I drove around looking at more properties. We ruled out an RV park, but enjoyed checking it out. On the way back we had to slow down for a school zone, then were stopped by young ones crossing the road. Elk. They know they’re in charge.

We tried to be festive, and took Anita out for dinner for her birthday. We were joined by Martha’s sister and her spouse, who came up in their camper, so it was a group affair! It was good to see them again. But we were all wiped out and came home to stare at our phones like good modern people. Now we’re reading, or will be when I quit keyboarding.

Tomorrow is big work day. Glad I have my fine office!

Checking out various climatic zones

I guess you call it climactic zones, or is it ecological regions? Anyhow, we did some driving around today, and managed to enjoy a desert complete with dunes, a scrubby lowland environment, a desert rain forest, and land above the tree zone. That’s easily done in various parts of New Mexico! I also got to hear a Pygmy Owl, which is an exciting lifer!

While everyone was enjoying a slow morning, I enjoyed a pleasant walk around the hillside neighborhood where we’re staying.

I saw some interesting new plants and got to watch many birds, especially kinglets, nuthatches, and various sparrows.

I didn’t see any elk, but the mule deer were out in full force. The fawns are getting pretty big. One fellow was showing off his first antlers. And I did see a cautious buck behind a fence.

I could see pretty views of mountains right in the neighborhood, which makes turning corners fun. New vistas await!

Eventually we all got ready and smooshed into one car to drive to White Sands National Park. I’d been there twice before, but some of us hadn’t. It’s always worth a visit, as is the place with the world’s largest pistachio, in Alamogordo.

It’s gotten fancier, serving ice cream and wine from their vineyards, but they still have the important things: flavored pistachios and a giant pistachio to take your picture with. Purchases were made and photos taken!

After this important visit, we were clear to head past an Air Force base and a missile base until we arrived to the largest gypsum deposit on earth’s surface. I always forget how much life there is in those dunes.

It was especially interesting this visit, because of all the recent rains. Playas (shallow lakes formed by rainfall) had filled up and the little plants were all plumped up. I’d never seen water at White Sands.

I found this spider that may be ***Asagena fulva***

After we got our fill of looking around, Mike and I went on a short trail to see a real playa (brilliantly named Playa Trail). We saw birds, insects, and plants of the area. There was a good amount of water in the playa!

We were hungry after all that sand, so we lucked out and found a great Mexican restaurant with the excellent New Mexican variations. My green chile pork was so good, and the beans had so much flavor. Everyone else’s food looked great, too. After that, we went the long way home through Cloudcroft, because some of our group had never been on that spectacular drive.

I was too busy looking to get any photos, but it’s really a surprise when the terrain suddenly switches from scrubby desert to huge pine and other trees. The drive through the National Forest is a bit tricky (glad Lee drove) but gorgeous. Here are a couple more photos from the early part of the drive.

Once we got home, we mostly collapsed, but Mike and I figured out a place we can work and not bother the others (and Martha’s visiting family) next week. I’ll show you tomorrow!

Thanks for sticking with me. I’m handling things pretty well, mentally.

Enjoyment overload?

We were ready for fun and frolic today, well, what passes for it in people of our age and interests. I’m now quite zonked out, but it was all good. The Ruidoso, New Mexico area has seen us quite enough for one day.

We started out having breakfast, but not where we intended to have it, because that place was doing Oktoberfest (not my first experience with September as an Oktoberfest time). So we went to a different restaurant whose name I do not remember (how tired am I?) and had quite good food.

The men then went back to the cabin, so Anita, Martha, and I could look at shops. I remembered where to park and everything!

We looked in many places, but mostly stared at Native American jewelry in the trading post. I scored my desired bumblebee jasper and a silver beaded chain, plus a couple other items for reasonable prices. None of it is heirloom stuff, but I’ll enjoy wearing it. Everyone else also found a few treasures of their own, and I got Anita some earrings for her birthday on Tuesday.

We also enjoyed chatting with a young man in another shop with a lot of opals. I got a small Wild Horse stone ring (not turquoise but I like it). We enjoyed looking at soap that smelled really good. Then we had great conversation and purchased some beautiful herbal tea at a natural healing shop. The owner was such a helpful kindred spirit.

These ravens were also kindred spirits. The closest one had found a shiny piece of glass to treasure, much like our jewelry.

Of course I had to drag my friends to the Noisy Water member lounge to relax after all that shopping. I really enjoyed the vintage reds I sampled. I may have one of them waiting for me at home, if I remember right.

We dragged ourselves back to the cabin, and soon embarked on a property tour. Lee led this one, and Mike and Anita came along. We visited both houses we are still thinking about, as well as some others out near Alto and Nogal.

I took pictures to remember this one’s exterior.

The drives were lots of fun, since it’s so darned scenic and there are so many animals. In addition to wild horses and dozens of elk, we got to see a mule deer doe and twin fawns at the other house we are considering. I mostly took pictures of views from there.

After a lot of driving and looking, we needed a break, so we stopped at the Alto location of Noisy Water to sit outside and relax. I enjoyed the Bushtits flying around the pine trees. (The bird phone found 49 species at the cabin today!)

After enjoying views and searching for empty lots in a fancy and very remote neighborhood, we headed back, got groceries, and ate pizza. I didn’t help much with that, because I didn’t feel great (running around at high altitude will do it), so poor Lee wrangled the oven, with Mike’s help. It was fun comparing frozen pizzas. A very interesting thick-crust Detroit-style offering was deemed the best. No photos. We ate it all.

Instead, here’s a native southwestern cosmos flower.

Tomorrow I hope we can go find some nature. No need for more shopping!

Fled the heat and drought

Today Lee, Anita and I jumped in the car (or entered normally) and drove the now-familiar route to Ruidoso, New Mexico. The plan is to join our friends Mike and Martha for a week away from the endless heat and crunchy drought of our part of Texas. Three of us will have to work, but it will at least be cooler.

It will also be wetter. It’s been raining a lot in this part of NM, which has tested the new drainage infrastructure Ruidoso has put in since its last flood. It’s helping! Unfortunately, Hondo, down the road, got hit hard yesterday and we passed some very sad scenes. I really feel for that town.

Flooded field, but not the bad stuff. Didn’t want to take pictures of that.

We didn’t hit as much rain as our friends who left earlier than we did. Mostly we enjoyed clouds and sunshine making patterns. Bonus: I saw the native North American antelope, the Pronghorn. I think that’s the last on my list here…oh wait, no bears here yet.

We are now in a nice and comfortable cabin/house with lots of outdoor spaces. We had to put on jackets while sitting outside enjoying the front deck. We hope it doesn’t rain too much so maybe some of us can work outside. I’d like to work and listen to birds at the same time!

The only negative thing is that I seem to have hurt my quad on my left leg, maybe getting out of the car? It hurts like heck. I can still walk, but climbing the stairs to our room got tedious.

Oh! I have one funny trip story. We were driving in eastern NM, and got to the area where there are lots of bird nests on platforms attached to telephone poles. I remembered them from previous trips, and wondered if there could be any information on the platforms online.

So I typed a question into Google. The answer came back fairly informative, but not much more than I already knew. I looked to see where the answer came from. Y’all, the answer came from me. The source was my blog the last time we came and stayed here. Now, that gave me quite a chuckle. AI seems to think I’m an expert on these nests. I’m not. I was guessing in that blog entry. I shake my head!

Time to recover from the trip and get ready for fun. Hope all the elk bugling doesn’t keep me awake. It’s a cool sound, but loud.

Who wants to read this?

How do you write what people actually want to read?

What a good question! If I had set my sights on being a professional content creator or influencer, I’d probably think about this question more. I blog because I have a compulsion to write, and I enjoy connecting with others and getting feedback. I don’t feel authentic if I tailor everything I say to get people interested. On the other hand, I don’t want to alienate my friends and family who read my messages to them, so I don’t want to come off as rude or confrontational.

That doesn’t mean I don’t. I have heard enough feedback that I come through as condescending or think I’m better than others to know I can irritate folks. I’m grateful that my work in being okay with not being everyone’s cup of tea has paid off, and that I’m comfortable not pleasing people whose beliefs I disagree with. We do t all have to agree.

That being said, I enjoy sharing sweet snippets of rural life and quirky thoughts that might bring a smile to some readers’ faces. That works for me!

Cuteness did occur today, as some clever horse opened a gate and let everyone out to seek green grass. I think I saw it happen, just by luck, as I looked out the window.

I let them find the few places that are still green (near the septic field and where we water a tree), and they had quite a fun day. I really enjoy watching the horses having fun.

I’m taking a bit of a work break while some things get figured out, so I got to hang out with the birds and my garden spider friend for a while this morning.

I’m always surprised at how many plants are just fine in dry periods. The dove weed and snake weed keep going no matter what, which pleases the pollinators.

Much of the day was spent getting ready for a trip, so everything got watered, fed, and prepped for my absence. It should all be fine, since we have folks watching over the plants and animals. Of course the horses had to get their food. They were very good and all came back into the pens when I asked them to, except one.

Spice really wanted to help me dole out their rations. She tried to come in the feed shed, but didn’t like the step. Whew. She did a good job of cheering me up!

This also cheered me up. My son got this great shot of the Barred Owl he’s been seeing at his work site!

Oh, the spontaining!

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

Today my friend Martha, with whom I will be traveling soon, told our lunch group that she’s a planner. She has a long list of activities to do on the trip.

I thought to myself, that’s not me. I’m more of a “spontainer” when traveling. That’s Lee’s and my term for just picking a point and going. We often embark on trips with no concrete plans of our route or what we will do when we arrive. Thus, I’m having a hard time picking the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done.

I’ll admit this. My current mental state is making it hard to dredge up memories—I have become comfortably numb, like in the old song. It will get better; I’m fairly sure I’m not suffering from cognitive decline more than the average person my age. I’m just having a surge in anxiety, which I’m working to understand (both intellectually and psychically).

Good thing I have these guys to soothe my symptoms.

Back to being spontaneous (which I know is not right for every occasion and which often benefits from a bit of planning to succeed). It occurs to me that I am not spontaneous about big things, just day-to-day choices with few consequences. That fits with my self image of not being a big risk taker. I’m now laughing at myself. The cautious spontainer, that’s me, always trying to be everything at once (I’m an extroverted introvert, too).

So, I didn’t get a good answer to the prompt, but I figured out something about myself. I’m definitely comfortable with having conflicting traits. I’m hoping this helps with flexibility and the cognitive dissonance required to feel comfortable at times like these. Maybe it will help me get over this mental struggle.

I forgot to wish you kind readers a happy equinox or Mabon yesterday. It’s still very hot here. To welcome the season I’m wearing a shirt that says, “My favorite season is the fall…of fascism.”

PS: maybe my most spontaneous act was walking into a salon and declaring I wanted to bleach my hair white and cut it very short. That wasn’t the plan that morning!

Self care everywhere

How do you make time for self-care?

I hadn’t planned to answer this, but seeing as it’s vital to me right now, I can share my seemingly endless supply of self care practices. Do I practice a lot of self care? Indeed I do. Do I feel bad about it? Nope. Right now it’s very important to care for our tender hearts. To balance the negativity around us with positive energy, we need to protect our energy so we can share some. Not all!

So, what do I do? Here is an incomplete list:

Every morning I sit with Lee on the porch drinking coffee and looking at birds. It’s a gentle start to a day.
I also do my Finch self-care birb app before I start working. I do deep breathing, list some positive thoughts, reach out to others and have gentle fun with friends on the app.
During work days I try to get out and walk at least twice, to get the mail, feed the fish, etc. Mail and fish both are fun and (usually) relaxing.
I limit exposure to the political news. I find positive news to read about.
I do my nails weird colors and patterns. It forces me to take a break and do something just for me every week. Like my knitting and crocheting, the process is more important for my self care than the product.
I make sure to spend time with friends and family. I have two online meetings per week with friends, plus my monthly tarot group. And I have lunch every Wednesday with a group of women who support each other and make me laugh. I often meet friends for breakfast or dinner, and I try to have good conversations with my local family as much as possible. They are positive and care for us.
The horses, dogs, and poultry are part of my self care. Sure, feeding and caring for animals can be a chore, but it makes me feel good to interact with them. And it gets me out of the house.
Blogging is also self care. I work things out in my mind when I write, and I enjoy the conversations with others than blog entries can start. It’s part of community building, and since my audience is small, I don’t have to deal with unkind comments. Thank you, readers.

Whew. That’s a lot. In today’s self care, my tarot group met tonight, and I got the most sad and negative bunch of cards ever. It just confirms that I’m going through a challenging phase. The good news is that it pointed to Lee as someone to help guide me past this and return to equilibrium. There’s always going to be positive and negative “stuff” floating around, after all.

And as for stuff, all our “stuff” is now flowing through new pipes as it heads toward the septic tank.

The pad will be centered around the window in the photo

Now that hurdle is passed, the prep for all our future concrete paths and the massive pad for the water tank can continue. It’s quite a project!

Penney found a used piece of pipe and really enjoyed it. Yuck!

I’m a dental anomaly

I managed to get some sleep last night (sooo quiet in my little hotel room). I woke a little early, and since I didn’t want to drink coffee before a dental procedure, I spent some quality time in the hotel parking lot, which abuts an established neighborhood in Cedar Park, Texas. When I first moved to Texas, the property was a beautiful pecan orchard (now called Pecan Park). Some trees remain.

They did save some trees in the parking lot.

I had a great time listening to and viewing birds. I saw some interesting ones, including a pair of Yellow Warblers and a Redstart. The area along US 183 where the hotel is gets many fascinating migrating birds, not necessarily the same ones we see (but it’s the same flyway).

This crow puffed out with every loud caw.

Most of the plants I saw were non-natives, including some unpopular invasives. I did enjoy some pretty hackberry berries and cheerful drought-resistant plants.

Well, even though I dawdled talking to a lady walking her dog about the coyote population of this area (high), I had to go to the dentist to get fitted for my crown. This involved yet more drilling and poking around, so Dr. Pham put in lots and lots of anesthetic stuff. I did my best to breathe and get through it, but as soon as he was done, I felt shaky. Then, wham, my back started spasming again! Dang! It wasn’t as bad as last time, but still pretty awful.

I got through the drilling and getting an impression made. But the impression was bad, so they had to do it again. I lost my ability to joke around with Patty the technician. I was out of patience, sort of like I was on that rain delay on the plane recently. I was out of spoons, as they say. Then it took forever to fit the temporary crown. Bite down, tap tap, bite down, tap tap.

Geez. I was a crumpled mess, but I made it home, and when I talked to my friends online, I felt better after their organ recital (nearly everyone was suffering from something). And after my friend Barbara mentioned that her minister mentioned Supergirl in a sermon and agreed with me that the older ones looked better, I was able to smile. Thank goodness for friends!

Later between work meetings, I looked up what it means if you get back spasms after dental anesthesia. Here’s what it said.

In sum: it’s epinephrine and/or an adrenaline spike

Hooray, I’m not that weird, even if it’s never happened in over 20 years at my dental practice. It does make sense. The spasms didn’t start until that horrible tooth pulling episode. So, what to do? I can ask for the epinephrine to be removed. That makes the shots last less time. No thanks. Or I could take a muscle relaxer or tranquilizer. I’ll try that next time I need the needle. Lucky for me, my next two appointments are the fitting of the crown and a routine cleaning. If that man thinks I’ll get another crown anytime soon he’s deluded.

The heat got to me all day, but I got the chores done. I hugged Apache a lot. It’s his best talent, tolerating hugs.

My family pampered me this evening. I really appreciate the Japanese noodle dinner from Lee and the cupcakes Kathleen brought back from her time in Temple. I wish spiders would leave her alone!

Good night from this flatulent fellow. We found out he’s two years old, by the way.

An unrealistic wish

What’s one thing you wish you had started doing earlier in life?

Being honest with myself, I wish I had taken horseback riding lessons when I was younger and more able to learn. It would have been so much fun to work with horses and learn to ride well. Also I would just like to have had the opportunity to take care of horses and learn how to keep them healthy from a young age. It was my dream.

My sweet Apache, who really isn’t fond of being ridden.

Hey. I lived in working-class towns and was part of a one-income family with large medical bills. There was no money for extras, nor was there any way to get to a horse other than rare visits. So I set other, more manageable goals and was very appreciative of the help I got to do other things I loved, like singing and writing. (I also wish I could have had voice lessons.) I’m absolutely fine with my life. No complaints.

I did get to spend over a decade learning about horses and I still get to care for my beautiful equine friends. Having space at the ranch and funds to care for horses has been a dream come true.

Now Apache gets to hang out with Spice and walk around with me.

An aside: I never thought I’d have any income that covers more than food and housing. I know I’m privileged. Knowing there are people who don’t even have that is sobering. Basic life expenses should be within everyone’s reach.

This was a nice diversion from thinking about having to go for more dental work tomorrow. I know it won’t be as bad as last time, but it’s on my mind. Other diversions have been watching football (Cowboys won) and jumping in the car to locate a grass fire and make sure firefighters were on the way. They were!

Now I’m at an inexpensive hotel luxuriating and feeling grateful I don’t have to drive in from the ranch for the 8 am appointment.

I have football, Ritz crackers, and guacamole. Ahh.

Many of you dear readers are in my thoughts. So much pain in the world, physical and mental! Your empath friend feels it.

Can you dig it?

Yes, I can. Today a lot got done around the house, and some of it was by me! I can dig that. I managed to go to the #1 Cameron meeting place, the bakery, and not be late. That’s because I mis-remembered the meeting time. So I got to talk to all the employees and other friends while I waited for Mike and Martha. We discussed our upcoming trip to Ruidoso (for longer this time).

My view as I waited. There’s a kid quietly playing in the kid area. A nice change of pace.

I steeled myself to be cheerful and positive as I did all the errands I was too slothful to do last week. I paid more for gas today than I ever have in my life. For some reason that inspired me to give the random sad-looking person sitting outside the station the change from buying my soda. Maybe it balanced out my irritation at the gas prices.

The first cheerful sight today was three Great Egrets all at once. That’s unusual here.

On my way to Tractor Supply to get animal feed in Rockdale, I passed all my favorite political candidates and waved. I also noted yard signs and a billboard. Wow! That cheered me up enough to enjoy the folks at Tractor Supply even when I had to wait to get loading help (I have tweaked my back). I got a shirt that says “Positive Vibes” to commemorate my improved mood. ) I could dig that, too!

Next I headed to the pharmacy, because I couldn’t drag myself over there to pick up a prescription before it expired. The bonus was my expensive prescription my insurance won’t pay was also ready. AND they had time to vaccinate me for flu and COVID, which we elders need. The new pharmacist is a very sweet young man who’s fun to talk to. He has a button earring. It’s so cute. I’m glad one of the new pharmacists is nice, since my favorite one finally escaped (I’m going into all this detail to show I made an effort to be a good influence in the world today.)

There was actual digging at the ranch today! The next phase of our water retention setup got into motion. It was great to see our ancient backhoe finally fixed and back at work! It’s more than a lawn ornament!

The dirt has to be dug away to build the foundation for the water tank next to the house, as well as pumps and filters. It was interesting to be reminded just how much dirt we brought in to create our foundation and get the drainage right. The black at the bottom of the reddish fill is the black land clay.

The white pipe is the sewer line that must move.

All went well with the digging except the sewer line out of our bathrooms got nicked. It was going to have to be moved anyway, it turns out. I’m relieved to report it’s fixed enough to work until the line gets moved into its new position.

There’s a lot of precise measurement required to do all the digging correctly, and I’m really impressed that the huge machine can be made to do such fine work. We’re lucky to have a resident tractor ballet expert at our house!He can dig it, very well!

What did Lee and I do during all the digging? We’ve been watching Lee’s favorite YouTube channel, which is a guy in Canada who does bookbinding. (Find the videos under Four Keys Book Arts.) What a complex process that is! The guy has a very pleasant demeanor, so calm and relaxed that you almost miss his puns.

Three books the guy bound for the author Andy Weir. The video series was called Project Hail Andy.

My favorite parts are when he does paper marbling and leather tooling, but it’s all more interesting than you might expect. I do think it’s funny that we’ve turned into people who spend their weekends watching stuff like this, but it’s certainly less stressful than the news.

And I can dig that!