Ranch Life – The Hermits' Rest

Airport survey time

What’s the best and worst airport you’ve been to?

Today I rested, as a worker I supposed to do on Labor Day. You’re also supposed to protest, so once again I’ll complain about the irony of being a contractor and being told not to work, but also not get it as a paid holiday. Sheesh. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

I’m not paying attention, Suna. I’m just glad you’re home.

I’ll just answer the blog prompt, then. You can answer too, unless you don’t fly, of course.

Favorite airport? I have a few I like, especially any airport with clean terrazzo floors. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is one I recently visited with great floors, interesting seating, and lots of light. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it looked.

Weird seats, shiny floors, lights. Myrtle Beach.

My other favorite airport is Hilton Head Island, also in South Carolina. It’s tiny, intimate, and oh-so-easy to get in and out of. I think they’re expanding it, which is sort of a bummer.

Runners-up include Greensboro/High Point, North Carolina, with just enough space for a friendly bar if you need one, and Portland, Oregon.

Least favorite airport? Just about any huge hub like Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta. I have PTSD about O’Hare thanks to being there on 9/11, so I’ll add it to the list.

Outside the US, I like Toronto and I really don’t like Heathrow. Thanks to marrying a non-flyer, I don’t get to go many places outside the US anymore.

Feel free to share your favorites!

I’m glad to be back to be with all the birds. I missed them. I restocked the feeders and sat in the birding hut a while, even though it’s still darned hot. The new shades that were put up for me help a lot. My garden spider companion didn’t mind me one bit!

Air can come through, but the sun is blocked

I’m also glad to be back with the family, too. Travel is fun but regular routine and being a hermit are also good.

I was really happy to have Penney take a nap on my lap this evening. She seems less anxious about Benito being around.

Book Report: Be Your Own Bestie

I bought this incredibly pink book (2026) because I follow the author on Facebook and find his irreverent humor and justified outrage quite entertaining. I’m quite proud of Misha Brown for figuring out how to make a living as a social media creator and still staying true to himself. He also impresses me with how he shares what he has with others. He’s very generous with his time and money.

I had low expectations of the book, though, because while Misha is sweet as pie, he never came across as a writer type. He’s more of a talker and doer (and singer). But he’s an expert at finding the right people to help him look his best, so the book came out great. It sounds just like Misha talking to you in his “gay best friend” enthusiasm.

Misha’s fans seem to mostly be women with low self esteem, and he is blessed with the skill to speak to them as a friend who sees their good points and the ability to help them see them for themselves. He calls everyone his “bestie” and he seems sincere, which makes it less incredibly grating (I have never liked that word).

I’d actually recommend his self-help book to any of my friends who are struggling to see the good in themselves. The humor and colorful language Misha employs makes the hard work he asks his followers to engage in to love themselves just as they are a lot more palatable. I enjoyed reading the book, and found it full of helpful reminders of my own struggles. We can all use a tune up, even if we’ve been working on self esteem for years.

If you don’t like salty language and sassiness, this book won’t be for you. But if you want to laugh, cry at sweet stories, and gain courage to stand up for yourself, you’ll love it. Or buy it for a friend!

What are little dogs made of?

We have a better idea about what at least two of our dogs are made of, now that Carlton and Benito’s Embark tests have come back. There were mysteries solved and theories confirmed, too. My guess is that Penney’s swab didn’t take, because hers didn’t come back.

You don’t need DNA results for us. We are obviously American Stair Dogs. (They spend much of their days here. Penney is trained to move her front paws when I approach.)

I was pretty sure Benito was not the purebred Chihuahua that he was purchased as. People guessed he had Fox Terrier or Miniature Pinscher.

I was right about our little fellow. At least one of his parents was a mutt.

My guess is that one grandparent was a total mutt. The Poodle surprised me, though.

I never had any good guesses about Carlton other than there must be some pit bull in there. And there had to be some breeds with the Merle gene.

We had a nice rest this evening. He’s my big lap dog.

It turns out Carlton is a big ole mix, as we knew, but there are some good surprises in there.

He’s about as pitty as I expected but the Mountain Cur thing threw me for a loop. I didn’t know we had any of those here. We do have lots of cowdogs that they call curs, but I thought those were mostly Black Mouth Curs. Seeing the ACD in there makes me surmise one parent was a working dog with those breeds mixed in. Then the other parent was probably a small dog that looked like a lab. Carlton has carefully hidden his Chihuahuan heritage. That’s a hoot.

Who knows how it works out? They are both quite the mixes! And I know enough to take these analyses with a grain of salt. I would have loved seeing what breeds contributed to Harvey, but there was no way he was gonna let me swab his saliva!

I didn’t pay the extra money to get their health analysis. Benito should be hardy now that his heart worms are treated. And I know Carlton has weird eyes. That’s enough.

Book Report: Noticing

I’m on a real streak of fascinating nature books these days. Noticing, by Richard Louv (2026) is no exception. Lee found it in a bookstore and rushed it to me. Louv also wrote Last Child in the Woods a decade or so ago, which led many educators to try to get more natural world experiences into the curricula for young children.

Admittedly, most of the topics in Noticing are familiar to me, since I do spend a lot of my time, well, noticing. What I enjoyed were the interviews with researchers, artists, and philosophers about how being around nature affects us humans for the better. It gives me hope that humanity won’t completely lose its connections to the world of which we are a part–just a part, mind you.

Another reason I enjoyed going through this book is that it fulfilled my oh-so-human need for confirmation of my biases. Nothing is more soothing to me than going through hundreds of pages of discussion with people I completely agree with and who help me feel like I’m on the right track in how I live my life. It’s too bad there are so many folks out there who will go, huh? (I had a long talk with an old friend last night who literally shuddered at the idea of a life not surrounded by people and full of bugs and weeds.)

I guess she wouldn’t like this beauty from the chicken house, a Deduced Graphic moth

One of my favorite concepts Louv brings up in Noticing is that of having a First Place, which is where the book starts out. It rang so true to me. The first place you explore, get to know, feel grounded in, and feel a part of is your first place. Louv says:

Through the years, we live in newer places, and if we’re lucky, we bond with them. All these places become the geography of our lives. But there is only one First Place.

p. 13

My early memories of the first home I remember, in Gainesville, Florida, are very strong. I remember the plants, the insects, the heat, the wind, and the smell of camellias. I’ve written before about the fact that I am overcome with a profound sense of peace and “home” whenever I return. I think I’m attuned to the ley lines or some magnetic something that vibrates correctly with me.

I have not bonded with every place I lived. My last house in Illinois, the Bobcat house in Austin, and this ranch are the ones I feel most at home in. I find it a bit sad that I never could attach myself to the house in Round Rock where my kids grew up. I was interested in all the plants and animals in the surrounding area, but the crowded suburbs were too full of “noise” for me. Hmm.

That’s what the stories and science that intermingle throughout this book will do for you–send you off on tangents about your own experiences. If you are not someone who practices the art of active noticing, I hope you will read this book and give it a try. Your life will be enriched, you will feel more connection with the unity of the consciousness around you, and you will feel less alone. As the review on the cover by Carl Safina says:

This book is a how-to manual for getting back to your soul.

If nothing else, it’s important to remember what Louv shares in the future, which is we don’t necessarily have to fix things or bring them back to some ideal state. It’s also okay to simply observe how nature changes and adapts over time. That’s what it is supposed to do!

Nothing wrong with uneventful days

Yeah, the last couple of days have been fairly low stress, with just a couple of bobbles. Also the blog prompts are so repetitive that I didn’t feel like answering the last few. Nonetheless, there have been highlights.

Master Naturalist meeting was last night, and I even made the end of the Board meeting (but missed some ruffled feelings, thankfully). A highlight of the meeting was getting a photo with all our living Presidents as our current one received a commemorative Bald Eagle pin.

The other highlight has been Stumpy’s growing popularity with its avian buddies. We now have little flocks of House Sparrows vying for stump space, as well as Cardinals seeking out their sunflower seeds. My patience has really paid off! Here are blurry phone photos to prove it. I’ll have to bring out the good camera now that there’s something to photograph.

Look at all the birds in the tree awaiting their turn.

I’ve felt good about work, because I’ve hit a few deadlines, but I’m glad the weekend is here. We had a pleasant dinner with my son and his partner at the new restaurant in town, which always is a pleasure. I do enjoy the little downtown area.

It rained somewhere near here this evening, but not here. We are back in crispy season, with extreme heat and brown plants. I’m glad to have water to look at here! Tomorrow I’m working with the water garden some more, too.

Stumpy success

Now, that took a while. The huge stump has been sitting in the corner of the back yard for months.

It’s been many weeks since flat bits were created on the surface.

Spring Stumpy with bird bath fountain and flat spots.

I have been adding bird seed whenever rain or wind washed it off. I waited patiently, knowing the birds had plenty to eat after all the rain. But yesterday, out of the corner of my eye, I caught motion. A sparrow was eating some seed!

Today I looked over at the stump every time I went out to check the bird phone for new birds (Swainson’s Hawk today!). Sure enough, the House Sparrows are eating my admittedly low-quality offerings.

Since I’ve established that birds have discovered Stumpy’s magical gifts, I can now give them better stuff. I even sprinkled some corn mixture on the ground to attract the doves who have been hanging around. Tomorrow I’ll break out some better seed mix I’ve been hoarding so maybe songbirds will see what’s there. I can store all the food safely in my birding hut, too, since I have a tightly sealed bin. Winter may be fun when all the various sparrows return.

It makes me feel trusted when Carlton sleeps right next to me—he feels safe.

Note from self?

If your future self could send you one sentence, what do you hope it would say?

I hope my future self (maybe when I’m 102) would tell me how proud she is of all the learning and growing past me did, and that she appreciates all the memories of my fun with nature, friends, and family. My guess is she’ll have a lot to say.

Thankfully, today was uneventful, which allowed me to get lots of work done in between helping people, which is also part of my job, come to think of it. Other than work, I just enjoyed the animals and their antics.

Apache always thinks everyone else’s food dish is better.

There must have been something outside this evening, because there was sure a lot of barking. But I forgive the dogs, due to mostly being cute.

Watch Benito’s tail.

And hey! I finally saw a bird eating from my tree stump feeder. I kept putting food on the stump, just in case. No photos of that, just dogs. Enjoy.

I’d like to talk to you about life insurance.

It makes me irrationally happy to see Benito play with toys. The other dogs no longer do. He is so full of pure joy.

My favorite local specialty

What’s the best local dish you’ve ever eaten while traveling?

Ah. I can answer this even in my exhausted travel state. Then I’ll tell you how close I came to being duped.

Bonus NM flower: Apache plume (***Fallugia paradoxa)***

I have two favorite dishes from my travels. First are the cluster oysters at Hudson’s on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. I do love those, as anyone who has had to endure me trying to open every single oyster can attest (right, stepsisters?).

The other thing I remember is much simpler. It was an enchilada lunch in southern New Mexico, I forget exactly where. It was the perfect New Mexican style meal, with plenty of green chile goodness and the best beans and rice with it. I eat a LOT of Mexican food, so this had to be great to stand out. I hope we find that place again.

There ya go.

So, as we were driving home today, I got a message from my friend Trixie listing a bunch of items a family member needed to sell. It sounded like something she’d do. And I was excited to see a skid steer in the list, because we could use one, and the price was good.

So I messaged about it. She said other family were also interested (red flag) but that a deposit of $1,000 would hold it (red flag). I had to talk to Lee and Chris first. She stressed the urgency (red flag). I shared the photos she sent to Chris and he said it seemed like a good deal. I asked where we could come inspect it. She said they were “near here.” Where was “here?” (Red flag) Still I started to to PayPal the money to Trixie. She sent an email address that was not hers (red flag). Then I sent an image asking if it was right, because I didn’t want to pay a stranger. Silence (final flag). So I did what all those trainings at work said to do. I called her.

She was all flustered. “I’ve been hacked!” She said. So. No money went to fake Trixie and we don’t have a skid steer. But I do have my money. I sure blithely went through a lot of red flags. Am I turning into one of those gullible old people? Geez.

Don’t fall for any deal with a sense of urgency that seems to come from a friend. Call them after the first red flag.

The dogs were very happy to see us when we got home. Much licking occurred.

Here’s a tip

If you had to give one life-changing tip, what would it be?

Just one? Do not confuse hormones or sympathy for love. Let’s just say I’ve made that kind of mistake so many times that I have no intention of starting any new love relationships.

On a more cheerful note, it wasn’t quite as hot this morning, and I figured out I can sit in the shadow of my bird hut to hang out with nature. My spirits were lifted by getting to see a Yellow-bellied Cuckoo in the closest tree.

It never faced me, but I got to see its eye!

I also got to watch three Gulf Fritillaries enjoying the passion vine and sorrel vines. It was rather enchanting.

I’ve really needed more nature time lately. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do for the years I have left. I really want to stop volunteering to do things to try to make others happy, and I don’t want to spend my time on things I don’t enjoy, just because I “should.” If I cut back on obligations and let myself just relax more, my mental state could improve.

Looks like the green heron is a hummingbird on the fence wire.

If my mental state improved, I’d start exercising again and keep feeling better. That would lead me to choose activities I enjoy, not obligations. A happy cycle.

A thing I enjoy is taking pictures of dogs making funny faces.

More on this later. I’m thinking hard but also allowing ideas to come to me when I’m relaxed.

Is this a basic skill?

What’s a skill you consider basic, that most people don’t actually know how to do?

Get ready to disagree with me on this one. I think applying nail polish is a basic skill and very few people know how to do it well, including many people who often wear polish and some nail techs. I sure can apply nail polish. Three strokes per nail, a ridge/filling base, three (not two) coats of color, plus a top coat. Do not paint over your cuticles but also don’t leave bare nail at the base.

Who cares? I’ve been using nail strips for years now rather than polish, because it lasts so long and has fun colors. Applying them is also a skill that takes practice.

I wrote about that because although I had many options for things to do today, I stayed home with the birds, fish, horses, and family. Lee and I did go to the bakery again with Mike and Martha. This time we sat on the courthouse square by the fountain and enjoyed the pleasant morning weather (it was cloudy).

We made plans to travel together next month, which should be fun. I even booked a place!

I’m getting the idea that it takes me a day to recover from a week of work lately. Not sure what’s up with that. I think I need to get back exercising more. Into the pool I go!

Things I did today. Nails and fish watching.

I watched most of a series about women with women’s problems while I was doing my nails. Ah yes, Five Star Weekend. It’s okay.

I’m just not brimming with energy today.