Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Monday Miscellany

I love the feeling of living close to nature, here in the foothills and at Tohono Chul Park. Even on days when nothing particularly noteworthy happens, there is always beauty nearby.

For instance, yesterday morning before dawn, I got to see what was left of the Blue Moon, shining very brightly down on our driveway.

Driveway AM blue moon 9-1-2012 6-00-49 AM 2467x2324

While I was on the way to my rove at the Park, I watched a thin, blond coyote carefully look both ways before crossing a busy street.

The Park itself was heavy with humidity and extremely lush, which made seeing birds problematic, though I did catch glimpses of Abert’s towhees, black-tailed gnatcatchers, and surprisingly a Bell’s vireo. While looking for birds, some visitors and I saw these odd tracks along the trail:

 Sticks and sand 9-3-2012 9-22-15 AM 3616x2712

At first we thought they must be termite tunnels—but why would they be on a rocky trail? I decided to open one, and found that it was just a stick—oddly covered with a thin film of sand. This was presumably some phenomenon of wind and rain, but I haven’t heard a good explanation yet. There were several other of these “tracks” on some of the other trails.

Finally, I got to see a Palo Verde tree near the Five Seasons Garden, decked out as if for Christmas…Gourds in palo verde tree 9-3-2012 8-42-41 AM 2418x1865

The hanging balls turned out to be coyote gourds, growing from a long vine. 

Coyote Gourd 9-3-2012 8-43-15 AM 1969x2333

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:03 PM

    is it possible your sand covered sticks are still termites? I see them cover sticks like this all the time, but maybe these looked different to you...barb

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    1. Thanks for your response, Barb. Anything is possible, but why would termites lay trails on a path in the middle of the desert? The stick I uncovered appeared to be... just a stick. I will try to figure out how to investigate this further. They're over on the agave trail, if you're interested.

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  2. I took a picture of that moon too, but it didn't turn out so nice. I am not usually out walking at 5:30 in the morning. I have dirt all over from mysterious beings. But have not seen the covered sticks yet. The storm does sound likely.

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    1. I like being out just before the sun comes up. It's quiet and mysterious. But not as mysterious as those darned sticks.

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  3. Ah! Life's simple pleasures! That moon had me thinking I'd left the porch lights on, it was so bright.

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    1. We have skylights in a lot of the rooms, and I'm sure it would have been possible to read by that moon.

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  4. Anonymous5:10 AM

    I like the coyote ornaments. I have some of the gourds that I have been trying to decorate as Christmas ornaments, no luck so far. S

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    Replies
    1. I think we ought to paint the gourds in the tree or spray them with glitter. Maybe you can help me talk someone into that.

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  5. Anonymous6:37 AM

    Green glitter would be nice. S

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