Bright Sunny Days

Most times I drive without sunglasses. Not so these last several days. A sun almost overhead in Tucson and 90+ degree temps, every last bit of moisture in the air is removed. There is little moisture in the air to soften the sun rays. Or perhaps it isn't the moisture at all, but the sun rays reflecting from every light colored surface that causes eye strain.

With a wide brimmed hat and less reflection on the hiking trails, my eye sight is not bothered.

When driving and not hiking, my eyes are strained from the intensity of the sun. Back to wearing sunglasses when driving -- especially during the middle day light hours.

Wandrin Snowbird

In just a few days, I will have been in Tucson for six months. That is the longest I have stayed any place in the past 12 years. The longest before this was three months last winter -- also in Tucson. Prior to that, the longest I had parked/camped any place was two months in San Diego.

My life -- everyone's life -- consists of loosely definable stages or phases or chapters of an autobiography. Seems I have been trying to get into that next phase for some months. Even years. Need change in my life every five years. Considering this is year twelve, I am overdue for a change.

The most recent post imagining the next phase was six months ago in the post Could I Do That. There I questioned living in sticks and bricks with an only vehicle being a Super B type RV vehicle -- such as a Road Trek or PleasureWay.

Considering sticks and bricks would be located in Colorado, there would be times that temperatures would not be conducive to short pants and Hawaiian shirts. That's the reason for the Super B which would provide the opportunity to escape to more comfortable temperatures. Or perhaps just a week in the mountains. The major concern about that imagined world was living in that small RV space for several months. Sure. I could have done it. If I had to.

The big negative to sticks and bricks would require the acquisition of a different vehicle. Shopping for vehicles is not a favorite pastime. I dread the thought of having to go through that experience.

After six months of Tucson living and more future imaginings, I've concluded that I'm not ready for sticks and bricks. Nor am I willing to live in 90 square feet for several months with a vehicle that has to be unhitched from the RV park to go exploring.

These past six months in Tucson have been great. It's been a very enjoyable stay. Lots of hiking choices -- close by or an hours drive away. Hiking with others from the RV park or hiking alone, there are options. In previous visits to Tucson, I've considered joining the Southern Arizona Hiking Club for more hiking options and hiking companions. One of these winters, I may actually join the group.

In addition to hiking, there are always places and activities to explore. Sometimes a repeat visit is required. Museums are always changing exhibits. There is also new exploring to be done. After many visits to Tucson in the past twelve years, I have never been to the Kitt Peak Observatory.

Big city shopping abounds. Food shopping includes Trader Joes, Costco and grass fed beef at the farmer's markets. Couple of Starbucks are a short drive away. Several thrift stores to check for Hawaiian shirts. What more could I want. Actually, I don't need another Hawaiian shirt. But I have to check for an unusual shirt. Might provide an opportunity to replace a less favored shirt of the 30 day rotation.

The RV park is comfortable with lots of social activities. Could also use the park diverse facilities to work at a hobby. The pool and hot tub are there for relaxing after hiking. Or just relaxing from my very taxing life style. As more people leave the park and head to their homes in the north, the park is becoming very quiet. The pool is vacant most times.

For me, RV living in an RV park resort is preferable to sticks and bricks where I have to share walls with my neighbors. In any living situation I can be a hermit or be alone. If I want to see my neighbors, there are many options for social interaction. It is a choice. And as a single guy, I make all the decisions.

The conclusion of the recent imagining is that the next phase in my life is to become a "dual citizen" -- six to eight months in Tucson and Arizona. The rest of the year would be in Colorado or traveling/exploring on the way to or from Arizona.

The positive is that Wandrin Wagon continues to be my home. No dollars for a different vehicle need be spent to pursue that imagined phase.

Stay tuned. When I arrive in Colorado in May, there may be a new imagined plan. :-)) Perhaps there is another option to the imagined wandering snowbird.

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Previous posts about this indecision of what to do with the next phase of living:

• I Get Bored
• Change Or Continue On
• An Option To Full Time RVing
• Not Ready To Settle
• Could I Do That

Tucson Downtown

Downtown Tucson is undergoing construction. A street car track is being built through the downtown area causing no end of traffic rerouting and dead ends. In addition to the street car construction there are at least three major building projects. One appears to be a Federal building. Another appears to be an apartment building. There were also building renovation/permits for some vacant buildings on Congress. Wonder if zero interest rates might be the reason for all this construction activity.

Been avoiding downtown ever since my first visit when I arrived in Tucson six months ago. Yesterday was time to go for a photo walk of downtown.

All photos were taken with the Canon SX230 and rendered further with Adobe Photoshop and Topaz Detail Plugin.

 

Tucson City Hall -- Built 1929

 

Corbett House (built 1909)

on the Tucson Museum of Art complex

 

The Art Deco Fox Theater was built 1929 and opened in 1930

Standing idle for 25 years,

it was refurbished and reopened in 2005.

 

The Stables is a very colorful residential retail complex

Bottle of water in one hand and camera in the other, it was a good day for a walk in downtown Tucson.

Desert Blooms

Hiking in Saguaro East yesterday, got a few photos of cactus blooms.

This staghorn cholla was the only cholla with blooms.

Less than half of the saguaros appear to have buds. Some have buds and blooms.

Loading the photos to the laptop and then reviewing them is when I noted the bees coming in for a landing on the blooms. Credit goes to the Canon SX230.

The prickly pear are also blooming.

The good thing about flora is that it stands still for photos. Not so with the representatives of fauna. Didn't get any photos.

Rabbits and deer were spotted -- heading away from me. Not good for photos. Numerous lizards of different species were seen. A black coach whip snake left the trail as I approached.

At the end of the hike and leaving the park is when the bull snake crossed the road. Stopped the truck to allow him safe passage.

Then it was the gila monster that I saw making a hasty retreat down the middle of the road. Stopped in the road, grabbed the camera and jumped out. In the grass and brush on the side of the road it was impossible to spot the gila monster with its camouflaged body.

It was a great morning for a hike to experience the natural world. I'll be back.

Whatever

Gave up trying to be clever for a title for this post.

These are two of the photos from yesterday's post. With Photoshop, Topaz plugin Remask, and a Bamboo graphics tablet, here is the result of filling the day light hours in Tucson. And a few hours after the sun goes down.

It was fun doing creating these. Also like the result.

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Note: After I was through with the creation, I downsized the photos to post on the internet. Of course that also reduces the quality. Sorry about that.

Tohono Chul Park

The desert plants are blooming at Tohono Chul Park. At least some of them are blooming.

Don't have to come to the park to see the palo verde. They are in bloom all around Tucson. The mass of yellow blossoms on the tree is followed by a yellow snowstorm of flower petals on the ground.

Trees, annuals, and perennials in the park were blooming. Cactus were also in bloom. Not really sure what this cactus is. Much of the plant and the blossom looks like the senita cactus. However, they are a white flower. Most likely it is some kind of cactus hybrid to produce the colors of the yellow, red and pink.

The desert is home to several varieties of yucca. Here is a close up of the blossoms.

A desert garden is not complete without a saguaro. There were very few of the saguaro with buds and I didn't see any blossoms.

In my hikes around the Tucson area, I see lots of prickly pear along the hiking trails. However, in this protected environment of the park with a little water, this prickly pear has grown rather large. I couldn't back up far enough to get a photo of the whole plant. It grows horizontally rather than up. Kind of like an adult human. :-)

A close up of prickly pear blossoms with a new pad. Probably would be a bad idea to harvest that pad for a nopalitos side dish with an omelet.

The only wild life I noted in the park was this lizard. Perhaps a desert spiny lizard. Each time he stopped he would do push ups.

One reason to come to the park was to see what the night blooming cereus looked like. Blooms in June and at night is the way to see the bloom. I knew I wasn't going to see a bloom, but I had to see the dead looking stick that held this bloom.

All of the plants are in "cages". Noted several of them along the Desert Trail. Looking closely at many of them, I noted only one with a very small bud. The rest were -- well -- dead sticks.

Most of the plants will bloom on a single night. How do those plants communicate with each other the night of their bloom. According to a docent, there are some who didn't get the message about that night. Some will bloom early and others later. However, it is June when they bloom and I will be in Colorado.

It was a warm day wandering around the park with temps in the high 80s. It was a great day for a walk to see the desert in color.

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Note: Put your name on a Tohono Chul email list, and a blanket email will be sent out when the night blooming cereus blooms will appear.

Just Sharing

Browsing of blogs and other selected readings on the internet, there are some that -- I believe -- are worth sharing with my readers. Since I am not a Facebook or Twitter groupie, my blog is the only way for me to share.

The decision to read is up to you.


The daily internet reading material includes a couple of cartoons. Non Sequiter is a favorite. As a long time cynic, I found this cartoon of April 13, 2013 amusing.

The Segway has proven quite popular since its debut in 2001. Take that concept further by removing one wheel and nothing to hold onto and you have Solowheel from Laptop Vehicle. Check out the video of the Solowheel in action.


For those who want to remember their loved ones,  Urns For Ashes can be made to resemble your deceased. Then put the urn on the mantle.  For me, looking in the mirror is enough as I see my father looking back. 


Guess what. Read this article in the news to discover why news is bad for you.


One more thing to share. The days are getting a lot warmer in Tucson. Some mid 90 degree days are just a few days away.

Enjoying life is a matter of balance. Without cold, I wouldn't know what hot is.
 

Senita Cactus

After looking at my Cactus Of Arizona book, I've come to the conclusion that it is a senita cactus. Although also a night bloomer like the night blooming cereus, it was eliminated because this plant was on a cactus type plant. The night blooming cereus plant is more stick like with the blooms at the tips.

 

Regardless of the identification, it is a quite showy flower. Guessing it appeals to bats for pollination since it is a night bloomer.

April Snows

Nope. Not snowing in Tucson. No rain either. With the clouds over the area mountains, there may be a possibility of a dusting at those higher elevations.

In a recent email exchange with a traveling friend heading to Denver, the friend assumed that April snows were unusual events in Denver. I assured the friend that was not the case. In my long time residence of Colorado, I have seen snow (sometimes significant amounts) in every month except June, July and August over those 30 plus years living in the Denver area.

As a long time hiker, I also had the privilege to hike in snow flurries during those summer months. One year it was a mountain hike on the Fourth of July when the snow was falling on my companion and me. We decided to end the hike early and head to a Mexican restaurant where there would be a Margarita waiting for us.

In that exchange with my friend, I attached the following photo. This photo was taken on Easter of 1977 -- April 10th.

Son TJ assisted me in the dog and rabbit construction. Things change. Today TJ is taller than me. The hair on Wandrin Lloyd has turned gray and is much thinner.

No doubt you're wondering about the trailer in the background. Not mine. My folks were visiting from Wisconsin on that Easter weekend.

Thanks to my traveling friend for bringing back memories of Colorado snow in April.

Jackalope Sighting

When hiking today, spotted this immature jackalope (no antlers) munching on the prickly pear cactus.

Seems the jackalopes are only found as specimens from a taxidermist's creative hands and are in saloons across the west. Never have seen one in the wild. Of course there are many animals I have not seen in the wild. Like the mountain lion. However, I have no doubt that a mountain lion has seen me.

Up early this morning and on the trail shortly after seven this morning, the shadows mask some of the detail of the photo of the desert hare.

This desert hare wasn't bothered by my presence and continued to munch on the prickly pear. Seen evidence of the javelina eating the prickly pear. Also been told that deer will sometimes eat prickly pear. Haven't seen either of those animals in action eating prickly pear.

Javelina eat the spine covered lobes of the prickly pear. Have to admire an animal that can chomp on inch long spines.

The desert hare wasn't eating the spine covered lobes of the plant but rather at the base where there were no spines. Appears the desert hare knew how to tackle this meal.

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In yesterday's post about curved bill thrashers, I noted the pair in the nest in Saguaro East. Passing that nest today, there was only one in the nest. The remaining one hopped to the side of the nest. I expected it to fly off to see its solo flight. Didn't happen.