Creeks, Rivers, Streams – Page 13

Where I Live and Where I Am

What do you love about where you live?

I’ve come to love so much about the Hermits’ Rest ranch, nearby Cameron, and all of Milam County Texas.

I love the new rock we got on our driveway today (photo by Lee).

To name a few additional things:

We are nowhere near a subdivision or HOA.
I have water nearby, at least most of the time—the ponds/tanks, Walker’s Creek, and the secret springs.
There is woodlands, to shelter wildlife.
There is land managed as prairie, for flowers and pollinators.
I can go swimming after working outside in a nice pool.
Three of the seasons are great for being outdoors.
We could afford enough land to have horses (it used to be pretty inexpensive).
My family members are here. It’s a compound!
Nobody bothers us.

Now, I am not home, land of all those positive things. I’m back for a second visit to Breckenridge, Colorado, finally, after I had to cancel last year. Oh my gosh the weather is nice. Clouds, scattered rain, and really pleasant temperatures. In the 60s!

It was a long day, as plane travel days are these days. Both my flights were late, which I guess worked out, but there was still plenty of time to catch the shuttle to the condos. I got lots of exercise, thanks to changed gates, too.

The trip was just fine, though. I met a woman who is studying Cherokee, which led to a fun conversation. And I got to sit next to a beautiful and sweet baby on the long leg of the trip. Her mom did a great job dealing with two young children all by herself. I guess it helped that they were good natured!

She looked kind of like this, only more Asian features.

I’m happy to be back at the same condos as last time. I got a much nicer unit, on the top floor with two bedrooms. There’s a desk to work at and a fireplace. No air conditioning. They don’t need it!

I only went in a short walk after I ate. You have to build up to deal with the altitude, you know. But there were lots of birds and a few wildflowers left blooming. I’ll do more tomorrow, but until then I’ll love wherever I am.

Enjoy the Present but Plan for the Future

What are your future travel plans?

Oh yes. I’m traveling in the future. It’s what I promised myself to do while I still can.

Here I am, traveling down the county road in the rain. Does that count?

But first I need to enjoy the present. Indeed, I enjoyed today very much. Who doesn’t enjoy a July day in Texas when it rains and doesn’t get above 90°? I admit to sitting on the porch and watching the rain after work. That felt great.

Other than muddy horses I have no complaints at all. They are pretty happy with the grass not being so straw-like, too.

And the dogs had fun outside. Carlton decided grass runners I’d pulled up were toys and tossed them around gleefully. Unfortunately Alfred decided the extra-dead armadillo was a toy and rolled in it. Oh that smells bad. The armadillo carcass is now unavailable to dogs.

Enjoy a happy live armadillo who lives nowhere near me. Source: free WordPress photo library

As for travel, we have camping trips, two condo stays, and a cabin rental coming up, in addition to the Master Naturalist conference. I’ll share more information as the trips take place.

And I’ll have to cancel some if we don’t have caretakers for the ranch. That (and security) is why I don’t share travel plans here. Things tend to change with no warning around here with so many folks in fragile health and such!

All is well. I’m just going to enjoy each day as much as I can without counting on any future plans coming to fruition until it’s time to go! That’s being flexible and embracing change, all right. Right?

Things Fall Down

Only two things fell down today. Both mattered to me, though!

If the overflow is overflowing, that means the pond is full again!

Yes, rain was the second thing that fell down. Lots of it. It’s like Mother Nature is trying to make up for last year’s endless string of dry 100°+ days. The forecast is for more rain, which should cheer up the frogs. Just this morning the frog pond was completely dry.

That pond doesn’t have multiple sources draining into it like the front one does, so it’s harder to fill. I’m glad the hard rain waited until the bulldozer was finished in the creek bottom. I checked both lower ponds (tanks) today and they look so good. The rain will start new growth on the bare ground.

When it started raining, it really rained. I ignored the fact that four dogs were in my office breathing hard and shaking as long as I could, but they sure looked pitiful.

When the satellite connection went down I told them we could go upstairs and they all ran by me to get up. It was so noisy startled Lilia, who cleans the house, as she was cleaning the bathroom. I said I had to protect them. So, I read a magazine while Goldie shook next to me, Penney tried to crawl inside me, and everyone else hid under the bed. Thunder is hard on dogs.

Goldie is back in bed now, but just to sleep.

So, I said rain was the second thing to fall. The first was me. I did what I knew I’d eventually do, and I stepped in a dog hole. You see, they did little holes then the super-spreading coastal Bermuda grass leftover from when the yard was a pasture grows over them. Once the grass is mowed, it looks all smooth. But no, there are hidden holes.

Looks like smooth lawn. Is full of jokes, poop, and dead things (just one currently)

And I was in a hurry to empty the rain gauge of yesterday’s rainfall before today’s rain began. I walked fast. Big mistake. Down I went. Luckily I only slightly twisted my ankle and wrenched my back. I’d have fallen better, but I had my phone in one hand and my computer glasses in the other and didn’t want to break them. So my wrists are paying the price.

My wrist looks good, though, with my upgraded watch on it (the other one was getting wonky after many years of faithful service).

I didn’t even tell my friends today, because another one of them had a much scarier fall, making me feel grateful I wasn’t slipping in the bathroom. I’m also grateful my friend recovered miraculously and no worse for wear. I’m barely hurt.

Back to the rain, the creek has been rising since this afternoon. It’s supposed to keep raining the rest of the week, so who knows how high it will get or if I’ll get to ride horses again anytime soon. They’re probably all right with that, as well as with the cooler weather.

Rain annoys fire ants and they make these weird lines.

Who’d have guessed we’d have a rainy week in July when there isn’t even a hurricane!

This gal is ready to see what washes up.

Self Care Begins at Home

How do you practice self-care?

Oh, there’s so much I do to maintain my tranquility. Daily meditation, yoga/stretches, my antidepressant, hanging out with horses, sleeping enough, and plenty of exercise, outdoors. With nature.

Happily, we made it home today, so I can get back to my usual routine. I did plenty of self care when we were traveling, though, including connecting with friends. We got to see my friend Steve again before we left, so I could get a picture.

I also needed to pick up two bags of plarn, yarn made from plastic bags. I sure hope I can make his cousin proud by making something for a charity out of it. I happen to know the stuff is hard to knit and crochet with. Maybe I’ll weave it? We will see.

It was great to get back to central Texas. It’s so green here (thanks to rain), and it’s nice to see creeks and ponds with water in them. I used to make fun of one of my professors who said he was moved emotionally when he first saw corn upon returning to Illinois. Well, I was moved to see my first corn growing in Texas. I should apologize to Jerry, ha ha.

It was good to pet all the the dogs and hug the heck out of Apache. Even Buttercup the chicken was glad to see me.

I was too busy hugging or petting the rest of the animals to get photos.

I’m remembering that my self care is mostly internal, but the little physical things you do for yourself matter a lot. Hmm. It may be time to take a dip in the pool, one of the best self-care things I do.

A Last Day of Fun

I didn’t blog yesterday, because I was wiped out from all the day’s fun and adventures. Of course, then I couldn’t get to sleep. I’ll be glad to get back home where my Thursday early meeting is only at 7 am, not 5 am. Glad my next trip is only one time zone away!

I’ll miss my morning walks in this neighborhood.

The fun part of the day was that my friend Patty, who I last saw when she visited for the eclipse in April, drove up from the Phoenix area to hang out. I’d really wanted to go back to the fishery area to see if it could find some more birds. So I dragged my poor friend off to good old Page Springs and took her on two walks at different parts of the Important Birding Area, as the signs said.

The first place we went was near the hatchery and included a nice part of the trail along the beautiful creek. It was pleasant but warm.

I did hear a new bird, and even better, I later saw it. The Abert’s Towhee is all brown but has a cute black eye mask. I would have a photo but when I saw it my phone had overheated.

We left that part of the trail to go find where I’d walked earlier. The birds were extra friendly and just sat around looking at us.

Patty developed a blister and wasn’t good with the heat, so she went back to the car to sit in the air conditioning while I went “a little farther.” Sigh.

I got past where I’d been earlier and saw that the trail was turning back. I thought how nice it would be to circle back. It was indeed a beautiful walk past an interesting wetland area with cattails and such.

But it didn’t head right back to the parking lot. Oops. I’m glad I have a good sense of direction and remember landmarks, because I found my way back. I even heard a new gnatcatcher. I felt bad for making Patty sit there for so long, tough.

So I took Patty to eat at the restaurant on Airport Mesa. It was quite scenic and the food was very fun. It’s run by the same people who run Creekside, where we ate earlier. Patty had a salad that was immense. The part she took home was definitely enough for another meal. I had trout with spinach and green chile grits with spinach and a jicama garnish. The best part was the fish skin “chicharrón” on top. I like that way better than pork skin. Mmm.

We also enjoyed prickly pear lemonade, and had an appetizer of, get this, eggplant meatballs. There was no meat. They did have “Swedish cheese” in them. We were glad we tried it, because they were very flavorful. Who knew?

After Patty left we packed up, worked, and took it easy. We enjoyed a cute PBS detective drama about a glamping site with weird murders (of course). I loved the little village where it was filmed. Can I remember the name? No.

Stay tuned to see where we stop as we meander homeward.

Beep Beep Time

I’m into alliteration in my blog post titles. But yup, I finally saw a roadrunner in Arizona. Beep beep! It literally ran across the road in front of us, as roadrunners do. I’m sure fond of these cuckoos.

Okay, so you can barely see it. But, yay.

Today was hard, so the roadrunner and its pals were a great reward. After work we had to do our penance for a nice visit by attending yet another condo sales presentation. They just take so long, and we simply don’t want anything. We escaped, though! And off we went to the Sedona Wetlands Preserve.

This place was so cool. They take waste water and turn it into habitat for native birds. That’s so encouraging, because we need more wetlands everywhere.

We heard lots and lots of birds, mostly Great-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds. I was extra charmed to see a family of American Coots swimming around and honking away.

We enjoyed seeing the facility, where lots of ducks also congregated, plus a bonus bunny. We had a good time!

By the way, I ALSO saw that roadrunner’s nemesis, the coyote, earlier today on my walk. A beautiful one, too. We looked at each other for a while and went on our separate ways. It pleases me to see them thriving. They are important pieces of the ecosystem! Crows may disagree, though. Later in the walk I heard a crow ruckus and realized at least three crows were yelling at a young coyote and sending it out of their territory. Drama!

It’s bigger than it looks (the one the crows chased)

I got a great couple of pictures of a Scrub Jay intent on catching a bug, and a sort of recognizable Gila Woodpecker. They make a great noise!

After all the sales pitching, beep beeping, and yip yipping, we were hungry. I finally got to watch Lee enjoy a meal. It was at an out-of-the-way restaurant, bar, and local grocery called Brewha in Cornville. The food was so fresh, and everything was made there, even the pickles. I also had an Old Fashioned made properly with simple but high-quality ingredients. Heaven.

Our visit to the Sedona area is winding down, but there’s still more fun to come. Stay tuned.

Looks like June is heating up back home.

Choo Choo Time

Today’s adventure was a trip on the Verde Valley Railway. I’d really wanted to see all that greenery I’d seen in the distance on earlier drives around the area.

We were picked up at the condo place, since the trip is our award for enduring the dreaded update meeting that happens tomorrow. The length of the drive confused some of the people, who had no idea where they were going or how long it would take.

I knew. So I rested my eyes a bit, like my Bushtit buddy here.

But the trip was a lot of fun for me, with my love of trains and nature.

The train majestically lumbered away through the Verde River Valley at about 15 mph, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy a lovely charcuterie plate and champagne, followed by lunch with an open bar.

And oh yes, there was scenery! In addition to the canyon formations there were cool trestles, caves, a tunnel (perfect for kids to scream through), and mining ruins.

The railway was the one that took all the ore from the mines in Jerome to the smelters in Clarkville. We did not go all the way up to Jerome, but returned with a switch of the engines from front to back at a certain spot.

On the way back was cheesy entertainment, but we were win over by the simple charm of the magician who did two tricks, one with a dove (he’s had it 14 years) and another with a rabbit. Then everyone just played with the sweet and very tame animals while the magician made everyone balloon hats or animals. I got a horse, of course.

Then we played Bingo with a young cheesy comedian. I’m not fond of Bingo but had a great time listening to how much fun the kids and other passengers had. I even won a round.

The beautiful train cars were pleasant to ride in, and the uncovered observation cars were extra fun. You could see and smell the scenery (and engines). The children sitting near us were the perfect blend of well behaved, excited about the ride, and funny. I really enjoyed seeing them have a good time.

Other than that fun interval, I got my work done. Seems like it’s all working out. This was our last group activity, by the way.

Today Was Pretend Retirement Day

How do you want to retire?

I doubt my retirement will differ much from my working years. I’m not particularly interested in not working on something, so maybe I’ll just do something more in line with my hobbies and not 40 hours a week.

There WILL be travel. I do not tire of this view coming into the area where we are staying.

If I were retired, I’d still be active and running around looking for birds, like I did today. I’d spend even more time with the horses and go around traveling, too, long as I have a horse sitter.

Lesser Goldfinch, from a distance. Retired me will learn to use a real camera.

I’ll probably drive Lee bonkers just like today, when I disappeared into a nature preserve and didn’t realize he couldn’t track me or that I had taken the car keys. I felt awful about that.

This sign shows how many birds have been found at the Bubbling ponds preserve.

BUT I found a hidden Audubon Society trail next to a fishery and made Lee take me in there. It was really something!

The trail goes through undisturbed land covered in native vegetation, which the builders have kindly labeled. I wish I could have stayed longer. As it is, I heard or saw five new birds, on top of two I found near the condo.

*Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Waterthrush
Bridled Titmouse
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Mexican Duck
Phainopepla (condo) (looks like a solid black Cardinal with red eyes)
Black-throated Sparrow (condo)

There was even a family of Mexican ducks, which do live up here.

I was so excited that I lost track of time. Plus there were squirrels and a sweet deer.

I’ll have to go back before I leave, and to the nearby wetland preserve. These are in an area called Page Creek, where there are lots of wineries. In total, today I saw or heard 38 birds!

Here’s the back of a Northern Waterthrush.

It’s no Antelope Canyon, but with all the fruit trees and native plants, I sure did better with birds today. Retired me will look for these hidden gems.

A Day of Beauty

Another Arizona tour is in the books. My big takeaway is that there are so many kinds of beauty in this area that you could overdose on it. Today’s tour did take us to another nation and the most beautiful thing I ever saw, but the whole itinerary was filled with treats for the eye.

Our first stop was a scenic overlook where we could see a small gorge. But even before we got there, I enjoyed looking at the volcanoes and volcanic soil again. This tour guide was WAY chattier than yesterday’s, so I also learned more about the area.

For some reason these black hills mesmerize me

Next we drove to Horseshoe Bend, a place where the river makes a U-turn. It’s very popular for kayaking and canoeing, judging from the view down. I got a little nervous when people got way too close to the cliff edges. Only part of the viewing area has railings. However, I enjoyed seeing more Violet-green Swallows soaring around. They were in no danger.

More driving ensued, followed by lunch at a strange cowboy-themed restaurant where there was a very large wake going on in the back room, which we had to walk through to get to the facilities. Hmm. Next, we got a look at Lake Powell and the giant dam that makes it. I love a good hydroelectric plant and huge dam. The water is very low, though.

Next we drive through Page, Arizona, a town originally built for dam workers. The driver seemed strangely fascinated by how many boats there were. But, it’s next to a lake! I was fascinated that the high school mascot was Sun Devils. I think the guide drove us around town to waste some time so we would not be early to the next place.

I enjoyed scenery, even in parking lots.

Oh no. I’m too sleepy to finish. The best is yet to come! More in the morning!

We Came SO Close to the Real Hermits Rest

Yes! It’s at the Grand Canyon, South Rim. So were we, but we didn’t get to the end of the road, where the building and trail are. But that does not distract us from the fact that we got to see the Grand Canyon today!

We took a tour with 5 other random folks so Lee wouldn’t have to drive. I enjoyed looking out the big windows of the van quite a bit. I took way too many pictures, of course.

Our first stop was an amazing place, Sunset Crater Volcano. The lava field is huge and so black. It was a bit sad, because the big fire two years ago left a mark. But wow, the area looked otherworldly. I also heard two new birds, so it was a real success.

Then off we went to another stop, with breathtaking scenery all the way. This was the Wupatki Pueblo. It’s been so nicely preserved and cared for. They removed additions from the 1930s and made it more like it used to be. It is amazing that no one messed with it for hundreds of years. I did re-learn that most pueblos were built like apartments, not in caves.

We got back on the main road and headed back to Cameron.

Yep. Lunch was at the Cameron Trading Post, which is actually a very old place with a cool hotel and pretty garden and in the Navajo Nation. There is also much nice Native American stuff I avoided as hard as I could. I did get Cameron, Arizona t-shirts, because I feel they would be amusing back home. The meal was Navajo tacos (fry bread rather than tortillas) for us in a beautiful dining room. It was good to see Navajo folks eating there, too, as well as working in all parts of the establishment. I love fry bread, by the way.

All fortified, we next drove the extra-scenic route to the Grand Canyon National Park. Yay! Check that off the bucket list! There were other canyons and mountains to entertain us on the way.

Unfortunately, the smaller canyon was on the other side of the van.

We were lucky that the Grand Canyon itself was neither too hot nor too crowded (too many people for me, but really not that bad).

We made many stops to look at various vistas, each overwhelming in their beauty and vastness. I loved looking down at the river and the trails at the bottom. My second favorite was watching birds soar on the drafts.

Of course, I looked for birds, plants, and animals. I got photos of two birds I have been hearing all week, the scrub jay and spotted towhee. I also saw many cute rock squirrels, a chipmunk that was too fast to photograph, and elk. Nice.

I would like to have taken longer walks, but I ran off a couple of times to get private vistas. One woman and I fled to a side area by the rock that used to look like a duck, and just basked in the silent grandeur. A kindred spirit.

I definitely liked the less commercial parts and d the canyon, though the Watchtower and lodges were interesting. All the people we rode with were nice, including the tour guide.