Early Morning Backyard Birds

Kathy and I can find hardly anything finer than sipping hot coffee in the cool of our backyard, early on a summer morning.  The sun is just rising over the Santa Catalinas behind us, and its intense rays are just beginning to illuminate our back wall in front of the wash.  Birds appear first at the tops of trees and ocotillo branches, soaking in the warmth of the first rays off the sun after a cooler night.  A single brave bird lands on our feeder.  Soon, it is mobbed with hungry birds that have not eaten through the evening hours.

As far back as I can remember, we have fed wild birds.  Here in Tucson, I have experimented with a number of food stuffs and seed mixtures.  Each bring different birds and bird quantities.  Lately we have been offering fresh oranges, suet, and no seed.  This combination seems to minimize the gambel quail, mourning doves and white wing doves.  These species still arrive each day, but thankfully, not by the hundreds.  We also typically feed the hummingbird population.  There are many species of hummers here in the area at different times of the year.  Occasionally a hawk will arrive on the scene, trying to grab a slow flying bird for breakfast.  Sometimes, it gets one.  Whenever you see all the birds scatter quickly, leaving a birdless landscape, you can bet one of the hawks are nearby.  In the Spring, all the birds arrive paired up, and soon babies show up with their parents learning the game.

Mammals such as mule deer, javelina, coyotes, bobcats, rabbits and round tailed squirrels inhabit the wash behind our house. All of these we have seen from time to time, but the real daily drama is performed by the birds.  

Sitting with coffee watching all of this is one of our favorite activities.

Burn Baby Burn - NOT!

I took one of our cars in for an oil change today, and saw something interesting.

  

The guy behind the desk pointed me to their small waiting room, cheerfully telling me to help myself to free coffee.  As I walked down the hall, I thought to myself -- right, free four hour old coffee I bet.  Well, when I got to the coffee service, I saw a half filled pot, and not knowing how long it had been sitting there, I picked up the pot to give it the smell test.  I thought that if I didn't keel over from strong coffee smell, I might try a cup.

Lo and behold, there was change sitting on the burner.  Three pennies actually.  Did someone leave the coins there as a joke?  Then it dawned on me.  They were placed there to keep the pot off the burner.

What a good idea, I thought.  But would it work?   

The taste test:  Hot, no overpowering coffee smell, no burnt coffee taste.  Not bad, at least for that cup.

The unknown:  How long had it been sitting there?  Unfortunately, there was no one to ask.  

So school is still out on this idea, and it is up to you to check into it. (we no longer have this type of pot, or we would try it)   If you still have a coffee maker that drips the coffee, and leaves it on a warming burner...  give this a try for yourself.  Let us all know how it turns out in the comments below. Or if you have already tried this, again, give us your comments.  If it makes a significant difference as to how long coffee can stay on your warmer before it turns to yuck...   we will begin to discuss patenting the idea.  :-)

Life's little treasures

Once in a while, when you least expect it, life sends you a little treasure.  This happened to me recently.

It was Maryland in June.  We were visiting the vineyard owned by my brother and his wife.  On the morning of the last day we were there, I was sitting with my brother outside their little cabin enjoying coffee and the cool breeze. The green everywhere was blinding, especially for eyes accustomed to Arizona.  The birds sang in the surrounding trees and occasionally changed positions between the branches.  The scene was peaceful and beautiful.  

But the scene was not always so peaceful and beautiful unfortunately.  A couple of days earlier we all began to smell a foul odor on the wind from time to time.  Soon after, a workman on the property informed us he had found the source of the bad smell.  In the tall grass near where he was working, lay a small doe that had been shot and left to die there.  Illegal hunting is everywhere I guess.  As if that were not horrible enough,  also found near by was a small fawn, also dead.  I am told that when a doe leaves a fawn that is not yet weaned, the fawn will stay exactly where the mother left it until it returns.  It curls up into roughly the shape and size of a dinner plate and will lie there completely still even if someone walks up to it.  It is totally camouflaged, and at that age, it emits no odor.  This is what protects it from predators.  This fawn, however,  had no returning mother, and it simply died of starvation and cold.  We were all saddened by these findings.  It seemed so out of place.  In such a peaceful setting, such things are just not supposed to happen.

On that last morning, as my brother and I sat there, I all at once saw movement far down on the cleanly mowed grass that stretched out from the cabin.  At first I thought it was a dog, but it turned out to be a cute little fawn.  It was galloping straight toward us.  There was no adult deer in sight, and I could see nothing chasing it.  It actually looked as if it was just running toward us for the fun of it alone.  When the little spotted fellow got within 100 feet or so of us, it finally noticed it was heading straight toward a couple of aging guys in chairs drinking coffee.  It just stopped, turned around, and ran all the way back down the lawn from where it came, finally disappearing into the woods.  I  looked at my brother and asked if he had seen that.  He had, and we both sat there totally surprised.  Neither of us expected that little treasure to present itself.

So why did that happen?  Random occurrence.  Maybe.  But as I think of it now, and bypassing logic, science and the like, I choose to think this little guy showed up just to tell us everything was okay.  "Hey guys.  I am here, and there are a lot more of us out here.  Don't count us out."

Sappy?  Sure.  If you are silently laughing at me right now, so be it.  I am retired, and I don't care.  :-)

Geocaching (a secret sub culture)

You walk by them every day.  They are everywhere, but you can't see them.  People hunt for them in secret. What the heck am I talking about?  Geocaches.

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices.  Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.  Then they share their experiences online.  The game has been around since May of 2000, and to read a brief history of how it all came to be, try clicking HERE.

Kathy and I started with geocaching back in 2004, and were soon hooked.  Although we have had a lot of fun over the years, we didn't really go after this in earnest until after retirement.  Who had time?  Anyway, as I write this, we have now found over 1900 caches, found across 18 different states, within two countries.  We hope to expand to over 2000 finds, adding 4 more states and one more country this year. We have also hidden over 60 caches ourselves. These may sound like major accomplishments, but we are really babes in this game.  Worldwide there are over 2 million caches placed.  Just here in Arizona, we have run across cachers that have logged over 36,000 finds during their caching careers.

In the post title I indicate that geocaching is a secret sub culture.  To me it seems that way.  It is really going on in secret all around you even if you don't readily see it, much like some form of underworld activity. The cachers even have a name for folks that are not part of the game... "muggles."  (This with a tip of the hat to author J.K. Rowling.)

I am mainly sharing this activity with you as it is something we spend a reasonable amount of time doing, and I am sure the topic will pop up in future posts. If you would like to get involved with the game, the official site is:  http://www.geocaching.com/  At this site you can read all about how the game is played, and how to get started.  Geocaching is a great way to witness some pretty amazing creativity, as well as to visit some beautiful hidden places you might never have found otherwise.  It is a blast, really.

Pickle what?

It has been a couple of years now since I gave up the wonderful working life of a Washington bureaucrat  for retirement in sunny Tucson, Arizona.  So, what do I have to show for it?  To a large degree, the answer is Pickleball.

If you wanted to create a fun outdoor game that almost anyone could join in with, you would be hard pressed to beat Pickleball.  Called by many, "The Fastest Growing Racquet Sport in America!."  If you go to the USAPA site, it describes Pickleball more or less like this:  "Pickleball is a fun game that is played on a badminton sized court with the net lowered to 34 inches at the center.  It is played with a perforated plastic ball, roughly the size of a baseball (similar to a whiffle ball),  using composite paddles.  It is easy for beginners to learn, but can develop into a quick, fast-paced, competitive game for experienced players."  

    The video is worth it....  take a look.

Having never been athletic types in any way, it is amazing how my wife Kathy and I have taken to this game.  It is addicting to a fault, and our time playing is only limited by what our bodies will allow us to do.  We play at least 3-4 times a week, and sometimes more.  

The best thing about the game for me is the social aspect.  We have literally met 90 percent of our friends in the community through this game.  These are very wonderful folks that not only put up with my marginal  play, but also are kind enough to invite us for dinners, and other outings.  Both my wife and I really value these friends.  

There are other advantages to pickleball, such as exercise, etc., but mostly the people are great, and the game is just fun. If you ever get a chance to give this game a try, I am sure you too will really enjoy it.

So really.... Who cares?

For me, a blog seems to be a technological platform for someone to share interesting or useful information to a wide audience.  Given this, unless you happen to be interesting, famous, exceedingly sought after, or have something wonderful to share, blogging may well be a total waste of time.  It begs the question, who would be interested in reading it? Maybe it is for hams, or author want-a-bes.  Or maybe blogging is an act of hope that someone cares, that someone values what you have to offer.  Na, probably just a ham fest.  Anyway, I am thinking that unless you really have something compelling to say,  you'd have to be a real nut to spend time writing a blog.

So, maybe I'll give it a try....