Thursday, March 30…Top of the World (The Carpenters)

 Morning musings:  Woke to cool temperatures and a dismal looking sky. Wasn’t long after that that the rain started. Three of us huddled in the camper wondering what to do on a rainy day that wouldn’t require me to do much walking. Decided to take a ride to Kitt Peak, home to a crazy number of observatories.  As of 9 a.m., we haven’t acted on that decision but the whole day is hanging out there before us. All three of us are sitting at the table in the camper doing our own thing until someone decides it’s time to go.
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10:30 a.m.: Rain has stopped and the sun is trying to make an appearance but the temperature hasn’t done much rising.  However, we aren’t going to Kitt Peak National Observatory because it’s temporarily closed.  There was a fire in June 2022 that damaged Arizona SR 386, the road to the top; repairs are ongoing so access to Kitt Peak is closed. 
   So we came up with Plan B: drive up to Superior on US 60, then continue to Top of the World Trading Post and from there we’ll go to Globe and pick up SR 77 down to Oracle for something to eat. Make a big loop.
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Evening update:
   The World’s Smallest Museum is in Superior and lucky us, it was open today! It’s been closed the other times we’ve been through Superior so, of course, I wanted to stop to check it out. While we have differing opinions on the size of the building, we all agree there were cabinets inside with items relevant to Arizona.
   Top of the World Trading Post looked to be closed…as in closed forever.  The yard, which was about as full of items as the inside of the Trading Post, was cleaned up! One or two riding mowers were along

a fence line and the Jaguar motor was still there but otherwise the yard was bare. Didn’t even look like the same place. Since the place had a closed-up air about it and it was chilly, I took a picture through the car window and we continued on our way.  However, a quick look online showed that it's still open for business and probably was open today when we stopped by…the door was might have been closed to keep out the cold. Ding, Dang! We’ll never know the treasures that we might have missed because we assumed it was closed.
   Globe, AZ, goes on record as being one of the longest small towns ever. It’s a mining town and I guess having mountains on both sides didn’t allow for much outward expansion so it appears to have just grown in length as needed.  
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   The Gila-Pinal Scenic Road (US 60) cuts through the Tonto National Forest which is in either the Superstition Mountains or the Pinal Mountains or perhaps part of both. It’s hard to tell where one mountain range ends and another begins. Anyway, the name is correct…it is a very scenic drive. The road had shoulders, sweeping curves instead of switchbacks and guardrails, so no gasping or whimpering from the passengers on today’s drive.  When we turned onto SR 77, it was the same type of mountainous scenery with little settlements snuggled down in valleys.  And at about 4000 ft elevation we started seeing the saguaro cactus again.
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   I happened to look back as we passed a hill and saw a crested saguaro with what I thought was a bird standing on it. We turned around to check it out…not only was there a hawk perched on top of the crested part but it was having a rabbit lunch. Amazing and icky at the same time.  Google Lens and the Merlin bird app have differing opinions on what type of hawk it was, and my bird book wasn’t of any help. I’ve put a request out on the Arizona birding page for help in identifying it.
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   We stopped at DeMarco’s Pizzeria in Oracle for an early supper/very late lunch of BLTs and a Philly Cheese Steak. Since DeMarco’s is take-out only still, we went to Oracle Park to eat. Chilly outside so we ate in the truck and kept an eye out for Vermillion Flycatchers.
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   Stopped on Park Link to pick up the Desert cam.  Looked at the card when we got back to camp…600 pictures/videos taken since March 11^th.  I went through all of them. Most were of blowing weeds; however, there was also a coyote, a fox, a squadron of javelinas, a raven, a crested caracara, quail, jack rabbits and a bobcat.  Was really hoping to see that 8-point mule deer again but I guess once has to be enough.
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   Totally clouded over so no imaging for Kim tonight. I know I’ve said it before but I’m saying it again…the weather this year has been a little unusual.
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40 Days of Lent opportunity: Fast from food for 8 hours. I saw this as more of a challenge than an opportunity, especially when my mom was sitting in the back of the truck eating peanut butter pretzels on our drive-about today.😉 But I stuck to the plan and didn’t cheat even though those pretzels smelled so good.  Actually, it wasn't an inconvenience to fast because we kept ourselves busy…but that BLT sure tasted good when our fasting time was over. 😎

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Wednesday, March 29…Lizard Life (ZZ Top)

    No walking for me or my mom today, but Kim did his usual 3+ miles. I’m taking it easy to allow my knee time to do some healing. Don’t have a clue what I did that caused this issue, but it went from fine to not-so-fine in a hurry. So walking is off my agenda for a bit.
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   Kim was notified that his glasses were ready to be picked up at Costco, so we made another trip to Tucson. I had no intention of walking through Costco on a bum knee, but I also didn’t want to spend the entire day sitting outside around camp, so I went along and just waited in the car for Mom and Kim to do their shopping. I welcomed the change of scenery and the opportunity to take a short snooze.
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   We’ve had neighbors in the site next to us for maybe two weeks…a very pregnant mom, a daughter, and a son.  Oh, and a dog named Nala. Then on Monday, another camper pulled into the campsite across from us…the one that Joe and Mikki had vacated on Sunday.  A mom, two boys and a small dog.  Turns out the ‘moms’ are sisters and at some point in the last few days a baby made an appearance. Lots of activity between the two campsites. 
   Today, all of them got in the car and took off…two moms, four kids between the ages of ten and fifteen and a newborn in a car seat. But they left the small dog behind; it was barking when we left for Tucson and barking when we got back. It continued to bark throughout the afternoon/early evening and occasionally it let out a mournful little howl. Poor thing…its people left it all alone. It’s now dark out and it seems to have calmed down but what a rotten thing to do to a pet. Since we aren’t allowed to enter someone else’s camper, there was nothing we could do to alleviate its loneliness, but they will be reported to the office tomorrow.  Don't know what the office will do but....
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   It was in the low 60s when I went to bed last night and this morning it was warm right from the get-go. That hasn’t been the case lately with the temperature getting down to the low 40’s/high 30s at night and the air doesn’t warm up until the sun is higher in the sky, about 10 a.m. But today we experienced

the Arizona weather we’ve known in the past…warm night which means a warm start to the day.  And the slight breeze was warm, too.  Having a bum knee forced me to just sit around which is not my favorite way to spend the day but the weather made it easier because the lizards were out to entertain me.😎 Watched six lizards crawling  up and down the tree.  Five of them were small, about 1 1/2" from nose to vent but there was a bigger one, maybe 3” from nose to vent, that seemed to be in a threatening mood...the bigger one circled around a smaller one which made me think there was going to be lizard rumble. The little one stood its ground for about 3 seconds then scrambled down the tree limb. No lizard trouble today. 
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   Kim changed out his scope this afternoon…off with the ‘big’ scope and on with the ‘little’ one. Clouds might become an issue tonight but he’s giving it a try. 
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   Earlier in the week when I saw the temperature was supposed to be in the 80s on Wednesday and Thursday, I was thinking it would be perfect for taking a ride. Don’t know that I trust my knee enough right now to get on the bike.  Passing up a ride on a day like today is hard, but better safe than sorry is what I’m telling myself.
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40 Days of Lent opportunity: Do 2 acts of charity today. One for someone you know and one for someone that you don’t know. I didn’t do this one because I was sitting all day nursing a bum knee. Sitting either in the camper, in a chair outside or in the truck.  No interaction with people.  Although we did buy my mom a bag of piggy cookies so I suppose that might qualify as completing half of this one.   

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Tuesday, March 28…High on a Mountain Top (Loretta Lynn)

   I was feeling pretty spry today when I started out walking.  Made it to Nutt Rd. and my knee started to feel a little edgy, then as I continued walking it got angry.  So I called Kim to pick me up at the big tire.  Iced it when I got back to camp and stayed off it as much as possible to let it calm down. It feels just like it did years ago after I had a roller blading incident; I overworked it today and I have no doubt that it will return to normal….someday.
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   Listened to Sunday’s sermon today during my walk. Topic was Letting Go: Anger and Hurt. I’ve always thought that irritation and anger are in the same family, just different versions/levels of the same feeling.  Anger is a bigger version of irritation, like an adult is a bigger version of a child. In general, I’ve never thought of myself as an angry person, but I can get irritated fairly fast. For that reason, I was curious to see how anger and/or irritation would be defined.  Theda gave the sermon and presented these three definitions of anger that she found:  1. A strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility…2. Active displeasure toward something that’s important enough to care about…3. Anger is brief madness. After listening to the various points she made and then thinking about it, I’ve come to this conclusion: Getting angry or irritated when I can’t have things my way is wrong, no matter how slight or intense the feeling is. 
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   Got a call about the camera being finished; we had already decided to pick it up and then drive to Mt. Lemmon before my knee got silly. So, riding in the car all afternoon gave me something to do without stressing my leg any further.  
   The drive up to Mt. Lemmon was enjoyable; no fog this time which was a definite plus.  The road was easier to travel as a passenger than the road to Tortilla Flat.  Both are winding roads with a number of switchbacks but the road to Mt. Lemmon is wider and has the all-important guardrails; two things that made the ride much less stressful.
   We made an overlook stop, a visitor center stop, and an ice cream stop on the way up and still made it to Ski Valley in less than 2 hours. Ski Valley is as high as one can go by vehicle

There is a road that continues upward but a barricade prevents vehicle travel; however, I saw a sign for a trailhead so one could probably hike up closer to the actual top. Took about an hour to come down. Again, very thankful for the wide road and guardrails. But I must say that the times there was nothing but sky out beyond the guardrail was a little unnerving. That didn’t mean that I could look down into the valleys as we were driving…no, we had to be at a complete stop to enjoy that view.   
   Saguaro cactus were abundant on the mountainside but disappeared between 4,000 ft. and 4,500 ft elevation.  Ocotillo and Century plants continued until about 5,000 Ft. elevation and beyond that point pine trees take over as vegetation.  Traces of snow appeared at about 6,500 ft. but it was only in the ditches or mountainside; there was none on the road.
   Temperature comparison: 81^o in Tucson and 53^o at Ski Valley.  Elevation comparison: Tucson is listed at 2,389 ft and the base elevation of Ski Valley is listed at 8,200 ft., with the top elevation of 9,157.  It’s an actual ski hill with 200 skiable acres and 21 runs.  It closed at 4:30 so we didn’t get to see if anyone was skiing today.     
   Saw many bicyclists on the mountain today…most were coming down and man, were they flying.  It was a bit scary to watch them speeding past us…both my mom and I were imaging all the pitfalls of going downhill so fast.  And there were several cyclists still going up the mountain as we were coming down. Hope they made it back down before it got dark. Talked to a cyclist who was having an ice cream break in Summerhaven…he said it only took him about 3 hours to ride up the mountain and that the ride down was the reward for all that hard work. In his eyes that was the fun part; my brakes would be ground down to nubs if I were to undertake a roundtrip on a bicycle. No way would I be able fly down that mountain as fast as some of the cyclists that we saw.

   Trivia: Mount Lemmon was named for botanist Sara Plummer Lemmon, who trekked to the top of the mountain with her husband and E. O. Stratton, a local rancher, by horse and foot in 1881

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40 Days of Lent opportunity: Share a favorite worship song on social media. This one was more of a challenge than the others. Picking a song wasn’t a challenge; sharing it on social media was the challenging part for me. Not really my jam but I’m trying to do this honestly and completely, so I sucked it up and posted my choice on Facebook, explaining the background behind my choice of Third Day singing Cry Out to Jesus. Here’s what I wrote: I first discovered this song shortly after Jeff died and listened to it many time as I, quite literally, walked through my sadness and pain. Every afternoon I would head into town, put my earbuds in to listen to a playlist as I walked through a neighborhood that was full of the comings and goings of everyday family life.  It was a small escape from my empty house.  This was always my first-choice song. It’s been thirteen years since it spoke to my heart and has remained a favorite ever since.

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Monday, March 27…The Trees (Rush)

 Today was a slow morning. Not that we slept in, we were just moving slow. My ankles/muscles have recovered from being pushed so hard for the Shamrock walk…they didn’t rebel during the walk but certainly let me know later in the day that they were not happy with the pace. I haven’t let the discomfort stop my daily walking; just slowed the pace.  However, a couple of days ago my knee started complaining; don’t know what I did to it but it’s impacting my gait. Last night I iced it and took ibuprofen and woke up with it feeling pretty good. Figured sitting around this morning, letting it rest was a good thing, so I painted rocks instead of walking.

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   The temperature was supposed to be in the moderate range today, so we decided to go to the Sweetwater Wetlands Park to stroll around. Mom hadn’t been there yet, and we didn’t mind a repeat visit.  First, though, we drove down Picacho Hwy to make an adjustment or two to the cell camera. After being silent all night, it was going crazy this morning sending us videos of the three holes…no animals, just holes…probably weeds setting off the motion sensor. Instead of trampling down all the weeds, we just moved the camera to another hole. 

   And while we were out there, I snapped a few pictures of the hawk nest, which has three little ‘eyases’ in it.  Eyas is the name for a baby/young hawk that hasn’t yet learned how to fly. Not sure who’s responsible for that name but I would have gone with hawklet.

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   We had a pleasant walk around the various ponds at Sweetwater.  Saw some birds/ducks that were familiar and some that were new to us. I saw a Verdin concentrating on building a nest, which is probably the only reason I managed to get a picture. They are quick little birds, not prone to staying in one place very long.

   At a viewing station a duck caught Kim’s eye because it was struggling to swallow whatever it was that it caught. He drew my attention to it to get a picture.  Neither of us knew what it was; in fact, I wondered if it was some kind of goose because its neck looked longer than a regular duck. Kim has the

Google Lens app on his phone so he took a picture of my picture and Lens told him it was a Pied-billed Grebe. I had to know more because the name was so strange; I looked online and found some information on willywilderness.org:     

   The word “grebe” is a little funny. It means “feet at the buttocks.” And that is exactly where this bird’s feet are located. They are not centered under the bird’s body but much more toward the back (and butt) of this bird. Because of this, grebes do not walk very well and are awkward on land. When they dive in the water, however, the placement of their legs and feet is perfect. Their feet act like paddles, helping them expertly swim under water and hunt. Their favorite foods are crustaceans and insects.

   Although this little bird may look like a duck, grebes are in their own group of water birds. If you are not convinced, just look at a grebe’s feet. They are not the webbed feet you find on ducks. Instead, each toe has lobes that stick out on both sides. These lobed feet act like three-pronged paddles that help grebes swim both underwater and while floating along the surface.

   Stealthy means sneaky, and grebes are masters of sneakiness. They can control their buoyancy by trapping and releasing water from within their feathers. If they trap water in their feathers, they can slowly sink without a trace, leaving not even the tiniest ripple of water on the surface as evidence of where they were. They may also choose to swim with just their little heads above the surface. By releasing the trapped water, they can rise above the surface, again without a ripple.  So not a duck but not a goose either, as I had thought. And I sure would like to see what it looks like out of water. 

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   Ate lunch at a restaurant called El Quino, for no other reason than it was on the same road as we were. The logo on the building was a pig in a vest and a sombrero, leading me to believe the name had something to do with pork. But the menu featured an octopus wearing a mustache and a sombrero. So, maybe El Quino translated into something about an octopus.  Wrong on both  accounts. Quino means Cinchona, which is a type of tree.  So, El Quino translates to ‘The Tree’ which has nothing to do with either a pig or an octopus. However, there was octopus available on the menu.  I played it safe and got a plate of Gorditas and my mom got Tostadas. Kim got the leaning tower of everything which did have octopus in it. Right down to some suction cups. Ewww! 

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   Sky is clear so the telescope is being used.  His target is Hubble’s Variable Nebula. As the word ‘variable’ suggests, it changes appearance due to how much dust moves between it and the star that illuminates it. I’m looking forward to seeing what it looks like tonight because it may look different in a week or so.

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40 Day’s of Lent opportunity: Take time to contemplate your anger hot buttons and pray for strength. Done and done!