Sunday, March 7...Pretty Paper (Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson)

 The other day when we were over watching the roping practice  George came over sitting tall on a horse. Dylan asked if he could pet the horse.  George’s response was, “Well, I don’t know...you have to be careful because every animal is different.  But you can certainly try.”  Then as Dylan was successfully petting the horse George continued by asking if the boys wanted to see what a horse was capable of doing then took off one of his gloves.  He’s missing the thumb on his right hand above the 1^st knuckle.  It’s gone because a horse bit it off. 

   Dylan found that to be fascinating then asked me where the thumb nail was.  George said that the horse swallowed it along with the part of his thumb that was bit off.  Dylan thought that over a bit then said, “Well, he’s only got 9 nails left then.”  Here I thought the kids were going to be grossed out  because of the image that George’s words conjured up but all Dylan cared about was fingernails and math.  The imagery must have skipped right over his head.

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  This morning I listened to Brene Brown’s interview of Dolly Parton on her podcast which was originally broadcast in November 2020.  It turned out to be just the perfect way to spend a Sunday morning.  Dolly seems to live out the faith that was instilled in her at a young age. 

   Toward the end of the podcast Brene mentioned that her grandmother would have loved hearing Dolly’s duet with Willie Nelson which is on her just released new Christmas album “A Holly Dolly Christmas”.  So, of course, I had to look it up on Spotify and give it a listen. Walking in the warm sunshine listening to Dolly talking about her faith and her take on life followed by her singing Christmas songs...really don’t know that any church service could have been as inspiring.

 **I’m a big fan of Jimmy Fallon’s Lip Sync contests on his show so I know that he can pretend to sing but I didn’t know that he could sing for real.  Sing as in he holds his own in a duet with Dolly.  I was pleasantly surprised about that.**

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   Took Dylan and Clayton out to show them how we spy on a nest 12 feet up in a saguaro cactus. They were very curious as to why I was taping our walking sticks together before we left. They understood as soon as I extended the poles to their full height.

   First one up was the hawk nest we found last year with three little hawks (or eyas) in it and two parents squawking at us from overhead.  Most of the nest was a pile of sticks laying on the ground...the nest was destroyed.  Hard to tell if it was a human or Mother Nature who broke the nest apart. A small amount of sticks was still up in the cactus.Not only was I amazed at the quantity of sticks on the ground but also the size of the sticks.  No little twigs need apply to be in a hawk nest.

   Next was the crow’s nest that we’ve been watching for several years.  This is where Kim taped my phone onto one end.  He then used his Go-Go Gadget arm and the extended stick to raise the phone up above the nest while I used the bluetooth selfie stick to take the picture.  Took several pictures but didn’t get good view of the interior of the nest.  However, if I were to guess I’d say that the nest is vacant this year.  Didn’t see any fresh material lining the nest.

    So we didn’t get any egg pictures but we were able to show them how a little ingenuity enables us to see something out of reach.  

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   After we left the first nest Dylan who was behind me was complaining about how the seat belt in this truck was on the wrong side...he usually sits behind the driver.  It was all a bit perplexing to him. Then Kim drove past the second cactus intending to turn around and park on the same side of the road as the cactus.  As soon as he finished his 3-point turn, Dylan heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Now I’m on the correct side.”  When I explained that nothing had changed except our direction he finished his thought, “Clayton is now where I was and I’m on the side he was on.”  Huh?!   

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   Came back from the nest excursion to find that Charlie has fallen asleep in Callie’s arms while they were rocking in our camp chairs.  So we quietly went in the camper where we stayed until she woke up.  In the meantime it was a perfect time to lay down on the couch and take a snooze myself. 

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   We’ve had a couple days of mid-80 temps...not expected to stay this warm though.  I’ve been opening the back ramp before I head out for a walk. Nights have been tolerable also...maybe staying in the 50’s. Forecast indicates that the next few days will be a bit cooler comparatively...mid-70’s.  Still very acceptable for this Michigan girl.

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   Our Keurig seems to be kaput.  Kim has tried all the tricks to descale the heating element but it still isn’t brewing a cup of coffee.  A new one might be in our future.

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   Took a ride this afternoon...the Casa Grande/Coolidge loop that I did the other day.  Nice easy ride.  Then it was back to camp where I had laundry waiting to be done.

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    Finished up the night with supper over at Marshal’s camp...no wine or fire tonight. Then it was back to our camper where I fought to stay awake while I wrote this up.  It’s time for bed. 

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Today’s bike miles: 65

Total miles: 385

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