Homer'sWorld

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

I wore myself out working on the Annual Meeting and lay in bed with a cold for a few days, feeling all of the delightful things people with colds feel. But by Saturday I had mostly recovered and Kevin arrived to visit.

That afternoon we went out to San Xavier Mission and ran around in the few minutes before the church closed. Afterward we took the streetcar downtown and had supper at La Indita and then came home and hung out.

Kevin at San Xavier del Bac.

The next morning I made pancakes with carmelized bananas and cheesy scrambled eggs and then we went to King's Canyon for a hike. It was a beautiful day and very few people were about.

King's Canyon.

The palo verde trees were blooming like crazy, big splotches of yellow everywhere.

Looking east.

We saw several herds of young deer. The second group was very curious and watched us as we approached.

Mule deer.

Definitely the least shy deer I have ever seen in Arizona.

Hello humans!

Kevin was impressed by the enormous saguaros.

Kevin.

The last of the wildflowers were blooming, helped out by the thunderstorm we had the previous night.

Unknown flower.

The cacti are still blossoming. There is one particular kind with long, skinny arms. It blooms in red, orange, and yellow- very attractive.

Red cactus.

We wandered off the trail and climbed a hill, then went up another hill thinking we were on a trail but it turned out to be an animal path.

Kevin capturing the Sonoran Desert.

I did really well, considering how sick I had been a few days earlier.

Homer.

We made sandwiches and drove to Mount Lemmon. Kevin noticed a truck that had driven by had snow on it. The weather report had said it was in the 40s. I was not expecting to see winter weather.

Sprinkling of snow.

At about 7,500 feet suddenly there was snow, a lot of snow. It was awesome, suddenly it was like Christmas time all over again.

Snowy.

We were above the clouds and here and there some snow was falling.

Buds.

We ate lunch sitting in the car, watching the Mexican kids playing in the snow piles.

I didn't want to leave.

Supper at BK's. I wanted Kevin to try the genuine Sonoran-style food. He really liked it, including the Sonoran hotdog. Then I said, "Let's go watch the sunset at Gate's Pass."

It was cold enough for me to wear a sweater, probably last time until Fall.

We sat for an hour watching the colors.

Kevin and red cactus.

It was very dramatic.

Sunset.

At home we had gin and tonics and talked for hours. So much fun.

The next morning I took the day off from work. Decided to go down to Madera Canyon. A beautiful drive up into the mountains and then a nice hike.

Mount Wrightson.

We saw some jays, more deer, and later on listened to a male turkey gobble excitedly.

Kevin and Homer.

Madera Canyon is known for its birds. What impressed me was the enormous diversity of plant life.

Madera Canyon.

Napped in the afternoon and then I took Kevin to Cafe Desta for Ethiopian food. So good. The next morning he drove off to the Grand Canyon for another adventure. I'll be seeing him again this summer when I go on my road trip to see Jim and George and Matt.

# posted by Homer : 6:37 PM

Thursday, April 09, 2015

Spring time is rapidly transitioning to summer. My backyard is full of wildflowers and cacti blooming. I don't think Buddy notices the flowers. He just wants pets and scratches. And to give smooches.

Buddy and Homer.

Neighbor Dan is taking care of a female pitbull named Precious. She likes to bark and snarl, but is actually a pretty nice doggy once you get down to her level. I bribe her with dog biscuits and scratches.

Precious.

It was a warm winter so the cacti did not suffer much. Usually it freezes and a bunch of pads fall to the ground. Not this year. Some of the prickly pears are just enormous.

My favorite, it has purplish pads.

The bird of paradise decided to put on a big show this year,

Bird of paradise.

Some of the plants are those planted by Vince back in the mid-2000s.

Bloom or monster?

Others are cacti that I rescued,

Red flowering cactus.

The birds planted most of the wildflowers.

Mallow?

I particularly like the lavender and yellow asters.

Aster.

The pomegranate bush is busy flowering. The fruit never mature correctly and burst open. I really don't have a green thumb.

Pomegranate.

Meanwhile, Snowball and Puff are watching me through the French doors. The doors and the trim around them are getting repaired in the next few weeks. I guess I will wash the cat nose prints off when that happens.