Last
night, I happened to see Maya and Miley come out of their camper, with Maya carrying
a piece of paper. There was a brief
discussion between the two and then Maya walked toward our back ramp, which was
down. When I greeted her, she shyly
asked if Kim was ‘in there’; I said ‘Yes, he is’ and unzipped the back screen
for her to come in. In her hand was a folded-up picture she had painted for
Kim
to say ‘thank you’ for sharing his love of the night sky with her. We took down a poster of the M109 galaxy that
Kim had done on an earlier trip to hang her picture in the place of honor on
the bulletin board…Kim gave her the poster.
She left with a big smile on her face. Maya has shown a keen interest in
all the space stuff. I hope she finds a
way to pursue it, even if it’s only as a hobby.
In the meantime, Miley was hanging out near their picnic table, making
bubbles. I called through the window for
her to come in and she said with a sad face, “I’m not allowed.” Now I don’t
know if that was the discussion that she and Maya had when they came out of the
camper or if that was a mom decision, but Miley did what she was told even
though she didn’t look happy about it.
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Every year before we leave, I get this urge to cram all my favorite
Arizona things in again because I won’t be able to experience it again for a
year. Doing laundry at the clubhouse certainly isn’t one of those things but we
need the clothes basket to store shoes in on the ride home and clean clothes
tucked away in the closet are much nicer than leaving a pile of dirty stuff to
be done when we get home. So, the laundry was a priority today.
Kim also needed to break down his telescope paraphernalia and rearrange
the truck bed to pack everything that doesn’t have a home in the camper. So, that was a priority today also.
Then it started raining, which didn’t impact the laundry so much, but
Kim really didn’t want to get the scope electronics wet and then pack them up damp.
Didn’t want mold to grow on anything. He was able to dismantle his set-up but
needs to let things dry out. So, like the Falcon 9 launch last night in
California, we delayed our ‘launch’ due to weather conditions. Going to leave on Tuesday instead of
tomorrow; don’t know when the Falcon 9 will take off again.
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It rained most of the morning into the late afternoon. At times, the sky
would lighten, the rain would briefly stop and as soon as we noticed and
thought it was over, it would start raining again. It was a day of mild steady
rain.
I was surprised to see that it didn’t deter the hummingbirds from
feeding. They were busy at the feeders, rain or no rain. In fact, they seemed
to be more active in the rain or maybe there were just more hummers. When it
rains back home, the birds seem to disappear…I thought they were seeking
shelter. We don’t have enough
hummingbirds visiting our feeder at home to know their habits, so their apparent
enjoyment of the rain was new to me. I’m putting up more feeders this summer.
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Not only is it Easter, it’s also my birthday…and it’s a big one as I am
now officially Medicare eligible, which blows my mind. The first time my birthday
fell on Easter was in 1991 when I was thirty-two. At some point I discovered
there is a formula for determining the date of Easter and found a chart that
showed the Easter date for the next hundred plus years. I don’t know what method I used to research
this online back in the early 90’s but I know I didn’t ‘google it’ because
Google wasn’t a thing until 1998. What Google
tells me now, however, is that the
simplest way to explain the date of Easter is that it falls on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows
the spring equinox. “Really, somebody
thinks that’s a simple explanation?” So, I was able to look at a chart giving
Easter dates far into the future and noticed that my birthday fell on Easter
not only in 1991, but in 2002, 2013 and again in 2024. Back in 1991, I remember
thinking that 2024 was so far away, and yet here we are. Anyway, according to those who figure these
things out, every 11 years I would celebrate my birthday on Easter until 2024, then it
wouldn’t happen again until 2086. I think
it’s safe to say I won’t be around for the next one.
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Because
I didn’t want to sit in the camper all day staring at each other or watching
TV, I suggested we go for a ride. In addition,
I suggested that we should each take a set amount of money and go to the casino
on the Tohono O’odham reservation…and all winnings should be given to me
because it’s my birthday. That idea wasn’t met with as much enthusiasm as I
thought it should have. In fact, I think my
mom snorted. As
expected, none of us came out with any winnings anyway.
We drove into Organ Pipe National Monument but didn’t get out of the
truck. Just driving and looking. Then on
the way back, I got a picture of the very first crested saguaro I found. The one that started my quest to find as many
as I can. I like to get a picture every year to see if I can tell if there’s
been growth. The first couple of years
it was hard to tell but I think this year the growth is very noticeable.
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The
rain continued until about 3 p.m., and the sun came out between the clouds soon
after. With the mountains on the horizon backlit by dark clouds, sunbeams highlighted
different sections of the landscape making for a dramatic and changing
landscape. At one point there was a glimpse of a section of a rainbow. It was a
very entertaining drive home.
Picacho Peak is always visible from Eloy. As we made our way through Eloy, a partial rainbow
with a full spectrum of colors appeared and the pot of gold seemed to be
hiding behind Picacho Peak. Then a second faint rainbow appeared through the
clouds. We’ve had several rainy days this year, but it’s also been a good year
for rainbows.
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The number of hummers swarming the feeders
when we pulled into camp was amazing. We’ve had maybe 10 in here at a time but
there had to be twenty or more either on the feeders or flitting around. Three to six hummers on each feeder with more
hovering, waiting for a chance. I tried
to get a picture, but it was early evening, dusky and rainy. Not the best
conditions for a good picture. All the
feeders had a good dose of nectar today, but in the fading light, they appeared
to be empty. I’ll put some in one last
time tomorrow…then they’ll have to flock to the clubhouse feeders when we leave.
