Monday, March 17…Soft as a Summer Shower (David Cassidy)

 

   The temperature has been up and down for the past week, making it hard to determine the best time for walking. And what it feels like while in the campsite isn’t necessarily what it feels like out in the open on the road. Today, we misjudged and took our walk a bit too late. I was ready to give up before we got to the big tire.  Too freakin’ hot!  As I was whining, a cloud blocked the sun and it suddenly felt cooler; I checked the size of the cloud and tried to gauge how fast it was moving before I told myself to just keep walking forward. We both walked to the far end of the new grove of pecan trees and turned around. I headed straight back to camp, interested only in getting back to the shade of the camper, while Kim meandered, trying to scare up some quail to photograph.   

----------

   Who knew that something as simple as a shower head could change the entire shower experience? I never thought about it, but apparently, Kim did. A camper shower isn’t a high-end bathing experience. It’s more about the economy of space than anything.  “Welcome to Campers R’ Us…What are you looking for today?  You want a shower in your camper? Sure, this model has one, let’s take a look inside. See, it’s in this corner over here...across from the toilet and right next to the sink and bonus! it’s right outside the bedroom. See how handy it is to just pull the curtain aside and reach for anything you might need from the cabinet? Razor, shampoo, or soap. And look at this curved rod…it lets you have a little more elbow room in the shower space without increasing the overall footprint of the stall itself. But watch out that the shower curtain isn’t too long because you don’t trip over it on your way into the bedroom. Oh, and you may want to make sure that the shower head is pointed just so and the curtain is pulled right to the edge of the shower like this because you don’t want the water to sneak through and spray the cabinet or the bed if you leave the bedroom door open. Oh, what’s that? You say you’d like something with a shower door?  Sorry, ma’am, you’re in the wrong price range for that.”

   Our camper shower has always been what it is…a convenience with some quirks. The shower head is kind of pointed outward instead of downward…outward like at the back of my head when I stand in there. So, yes, as the water bounces off my head, it can spray onto the ceiling, the sink/cabinet area and into the bedroom if the shower curtain isn’t pulled all the way to the edge of the stall.  At the same time, the curtain needs to stay clear of the drain to prevent the water from becoming a bathtub for feet. But don’t fuss with all these little things too long, because the hot water may run out. Yet despite all the little quirks, when it comes time to wash the dust, sweat, and sunscreen off, it does the job. 

   The other day, Kim announced that he bought a new shower head.  Said the other one wasn’t spraying out of all the holes and wondered if I’d noticed that the water was coming out with such force that it felt like needles. Well, yes, I had but thought it was just one of the quirks of our shower. 

   Shower head arrives, Kim installs it and what a game changer!!  There’s no needle-like water pressure and it points downward which eliminates most of the water spraying out of the shower curtain.  It still pays to be cautious with the curtain placement but now I stand under the water instead of in front of it. That changes everything.  

----------

  Just before we took a walk, a little pup came scootin’ across the back of our site, not interested at all in

stopping to sniff us or to be petted. It was a pup with a purpose, heading to the corner of the campsite next to us where two fences meet. There’s a row of bushes between the fence and the campsite so the pup was somewhat shielded from view by the bushes. It was talking to a dog across the street, so maybe they know each other. Kim could see that it was trying to dig a hole under the fence, but its efforts weren’t making much progress. We told Joe and Tammy about the pup as we headed for the road to walk; the pup was still in the corner of the fence when we returned.  I put a bowl of water out because it was running along the length of the bushes and back again, tongue hanging out. Not interested in the water. 

   Then we went to Eloy to buy some supplies, picking up some pup treats in case it was still there when we got back. It was and it wasn’t interested in any treats. Tammy came over on the golf cart to see if she could get it out from behind the bushes and out into the open, where it might be inclined to run out the main gate. It didn’t work. So, Kim suggested going outside of the fence and digging a hole for it to get out. Tammy gave him a lift; he dug the hole and I was the lookout for the pup. It was a matter of waiting for it to feel safe enough to come back to the corner and scoot under the fence.  After about 10 minutes of advance and retreat, the pup finally got to the hole, went under the fence and over to the neighborhood. The hole was filled and all was good. 

   It took about 2 hours from the time the pup ran to the corner to when it escaped to freedom.

----------     

   When we went to the IGA, we picked up treats for the pup, fruit for the humans, and pumpkin and potatoes for the javelinas.  Two javelinas came up to the cell camera last night, sniffing at it.  But based on the glowing eyes in the background, there were more.  So, we decided to put out a little enticement…pumpkins and potatoes, which are on the favorite food list of javelinas. We didn’t put out enough to make them dependent on outside food sources; we just put out enough to entice them to the camera. Hope it works.

----------

   We were both heading outside with our cameras about 4 p.m. when Kim suggested a photo challenge: see who could take the best picture of the red throat of a hummingbird.  He called it the “Red-neck Challenge”.  I have a Canon Power Shot, which is a really good point and shoot camera with a good zoom and high-speed continuous shooting capabilities; Kim has a DSLR which takes super crisp photos.  Not sure our cameras are compatible for this type of challenge but whatever.

   We didn’t discuss the criteria needed to win, but I assumed focus and composition would be paramount. We gave ourselves about an hour to take, sort and submit our pictures for the judges’ consideration. Yes, we were the judges also. This could have gotten ugly, but it didn’t. The color on Kim’s picture was more vibrant and the edges maybe a bit crisper, but the pose on mine was a little more face on. Kim was reluctant to declare a winner, but I think his picture had a slight edge over mine.

----------

   Right now, it’s cloudy but the clear sky chart for Picacho shows clouds clearing at midnight.  That’s when Kim plans on imaging. He needs more data for the Dolphin Head Nebula and a clear sky is hard to pass up, especially since we’ve had a fair number of cloudy nights.  It’s a wait and see game.