Most of today was work. The rest, many long hours, was taken up with the dreaded condo meeting which we have skillfully managed to avoid for a few years. Today, though, we had something we wanted to do with our ownership.
I felt trapped much of the time
Most of the time these salespeople make you sit around and stew while they write up presentations. We confused them, because we had specific information we wanted to find out. I just kept asking my questions.
Eventually we negotiated to close enough what we wanted, which will set us up nicely to sell the thing next year or whenever I stop working. But I’m wiped out. Lee is exhausted from not yelling and making a scene. I’m proud of him.
The nice condo we went to had some good decorative elements. Here are nice lamps.
There was one highlight, which was having a good talk about politics with our salesman, who was our age. We told him we have some hope for Texas in November. He told us one reason he lives in Hawaii is it’s so red.
This is my tired old woman face.
So, no anecdotes or bird stories today. I’m thinking of the tropical storm than has crossed into Texas and hoping it sends rain to the ranch.
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.
Coot Time!
We enjoyed seeing the facility, where lots of ducks also congregated, plus a bonus bunny. We had a good time!
This guy was very friendly Lots o’ ducks
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)Not a coyote. Just threw it in. Yip yip!
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!
You just can’t see its head. This is a pink fairy duster, apparently.
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.
Convenient sign. That’s a hand pie.
Our visit to the Sedona area is winding down, but there’s still more fun to come. Stay tuned.
The Hermits' Rest 