Tuesday, March 12…Time For Me To Ride (Toby Keith)

    Been working on needle felting a snake for a couple of days.  I had set my sights on making a diamond back rattlesnake; the snake was easy…it was the details that took some time. I used embroidery floss to make the diamond pattern and it didn’t take long to realize that I had to go with giving an overall impression of the species instead of producing the perfect pattern I had in mind. This was where theory and reality went separate ways. I finished it last night and decided that Sassy was just the right name for a lispy snake. The Shelf Tribe welcomed her with smiles and high fives. 

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   There was a sparrow on the fountain this morning…it wasn’t in it, just sitting on the side of it.  Saw it through the window and by the time I got my camera, it had flown. I said, “Didn’t see the bird actually in the fountain, but he found it and that’s how it starts.” To which Kim replied, “But we don’t know…they may be having pool parties when we’re not around.”  That’s a fun thought. 😎

   At home, it’s mainly woodpeckers that go for the suet.  Out here, it’s been the sparrows diggin’ it.  Today there was a Gila woodpecker on the seed ring, but it didn’t seem at all interested in the suet cake hanging six inches away.  It’s also been the only species of woodpecker that I’ve seen around the campground.

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  The cell camera is still sending notifications for blowing branches but occasionally there’s animal action on it. Yesterday, a roadrunner came into and out of view rather quickly.  The other night there was small critter skittering under the fence…best guess it that it was a pack rat, due to the size.

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   Took my bike into the Saguaro H-D dealership to get the speedometer replaced. The appointment was scheduled for 10 a.m.; the book said that it should take less than an hour to do the replacement.  Left about nine o’clock, Kim followed me in the truck.  We figured it’d be nice to have a vehicle available in case it took ‘em longer than an hour…then we wouldn’t be forced to sit at the dealership for an hour or possibly more with nothing to do. So, we sat in the Walmart parking lot eating grapes instead. Don’t know how long the actual work took but when we went back to check on it about 11:20, it was getting spiffed up in the wash bay.  Won’t complain about that.

   All seemed good...before I left, Tyler verified that all numbers were visible…yes, indeed they are! But then a strange thing happened on the way back to camp. The overall mileage hadn't changed, except I could read the entire number now...but the trip odometers had been reset. I stopped to get gas and decided to zero them out myself, to make sure it was all working properly.  Trip A zeroed out no problem; Trip B wouldn’t zero out and had 22.1 miles on it. “Hmmm…that’s strange, I haven’t driven 22 miles yet.”  Got going on the highway and checked it again, which is when I realized that Trip B was actually counting down the miles. “Okay, that’s not right. Guess I’ll hafta call Tyler and make another trip to Tucson to have ‘em look at that.”  Then I was curious as to what would happen when it got to zero…would it flip to a bunch of nines and continue its countdown? Watched it hit 0.0 as I pulled onto the frontage road and then watched as it started counting upward as it should.  Tested the reset to see if Trip B would zero out now and yes, it did.  Don’t know what that was all about but a big sigh of relief that all appears to be working properly now and I don’t have to ride back into Tucson unless I want to.

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   This has been a very strange day and it all started yesterday.  On our way back from Madera Canyon, the truck cab was toasty warm, and we both felt a bit sleepy; Kim bought a couple of 5-Hour Energy drinks to take the edge off of the drowsiness.  Except they were Extra-Strength…thought about it for a minute, then drank it thinking I had plenty of time for it to clear my system before bedtime.  Wrong!!  Most days out here I’ve had a hard time staying awake until 11…last night I finished the snake, watched the rest of the Bill Watterson documentary, wrote in my journal and was still looking for something to do. It was just after midnight before I called it quits. And then I went to bed and just laid there, willing myself to sleep. It seemed like it took more than a minute for that to happen.  Ordinarily that wouldn’t be a hardship because I could just sleep in; however, this morning I had to be on the road at nine, heading for Tucson.  Alarm was set for eight o’clock…I was awake by seven.  Short night but I was doing okay.

   Got back from Tucson about noon thirty, had lunch and then hit a wall. Nothing to do and no energy even if I had thought of something.  Couldn’t even sit and watch the birds because I wanted to lean back and close my eyes. The camp chairs don’t come up high enough to do that. Finally gave up mid-afternoon and took a nap.  Woke up thinking it was Sunday and that’s stuck with me into the evening. I need some good sleep.

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   Sky is clear tonight…Kim changed out telescopes again so he could get the whole Seagull Nebula.  Last night he only got the head.