Halloween Fun for AZ Carolyn

 

You may be asking "who is AZ Carolyn?".  Well she

is a good friend I met while wintering in AZ many years

ago.  We liked fast walking, talking, hiking, pickleball,

 photography and geocaching, etc., etc.

The other day she sent me an e-mail just to catch up and

to share some challenging times her husband was having with

his heath.   And then asked why I hadn't posted to my blog recently.

So Carolyn, this blog is just for you, to lift your spirits 

and put a smile on your face.

As I walked quietly by myself this morning, around our pond

amongst the geese & ducks, thinking about you 

and all our fun times together, I saw a few

things that made me stop and smile so I took

these pictures just for you.

In the spirit of Halloween, one creative resident

put a plastic pumpkin next to the pond, with fresh cut

flowers in it to brighten  the morning of those walking

by.  I thought it was cute and practical, especially

since it was placed next to a sprinkler head so that the

cut flowers were watered daily!!!

(Remember to click on any photo for a larger view.)

And what better way to get in the spirit of the

season than adorning your hedge and shrubs

with carefully crafted straw scarecrows wearing

their finest holiday clothes!!!

Then I made a wrong turn which took me home another

way that I hadn't walked before and look what I found...

(You can play these 2 videos full screen, just for fun!)

Pretty cute, don't you think AZ Carolyn?

Well, that's my smile medicine for you dear friend.  I look forward

to catching up with you again real soon.

Music in the Park

The  music had already already started

as we walked across the bridge to the shaded lawn area.

This is an annual event that runs from 12 - 3 p.m.

on the last Saturday of Sept.  People arrive about 9 a.m.

to pick their spot under the trees  and set up their shades,

and chairs, or park their golf carts under a tree.

In addition to great music there is always a food cart

that offers a wonderful "end of summer menu".  Of course nobody

expected it to be 97 degrees today.

That didn't stop the boys in the band who had their own

shady spot from which to entertain us.

And lots of people remembered the fun moves to

YMCA... take a look & listen!!!

(Yes, you can click on a video too for a larger view.  Just

select full screen and see what you get.)

We had a great time.  Then we picked up or chairs

and walked back home and

into  our air-conditioned home to watch a little football

on our new 65" TV that son-in-law Richard 

donated to us and installed for us earlier in the day.

He had recently purchased an 80" set, so

 

we in turn gave our 55" set to our grandson Everett, who

stopped by to pick it up almost  immediately.

What comes around goes around...

"F" "G" and "H" are the letters for Today...

We explored the letter "B" (for bears), in an earlier blog.

Today's letters F, G, H stand for  

"Fall"  "Goats"  & "Herons".  They  have nothing in common

 except that I photographed the evidence of all

of the above in the last few days…

Fall colors have started and this tree was irresistible 

on my morning walk.

And I had to do a double take (and snap a couple

of pictures) as I walked past "Pumpkin Man" sitting in his chair 

 on the front sidewalk of his owner's home!!!

When heading for a Doctor’s appointment, we noticed many goats out 

in several fields, behind an electric fence, doing their job… 

“mowing” everything in sight.

And if you know Goats, you know that they'll munch on anything, 

even the fabric of the the leg of your pants if you get too close.

On my Aug 16 2022 blog, I presented an introduction to 
Egrets, Herons and Cranes.  Today we are comparing just

Herons and Cranes...  

The star of this blog  is specifically the

Great Blue Heron that I was fortunate enough to

 see in the early morning light and follow around our pond. 

(Remember to click on any photo for a larger view.)

Check close to the water's edge as he does a good job

of blending in with the rocks.

Herons live about 15 years and range in height from 

3’ to 4’ 6” and have a wingspan of 5' 5" to 6' 5".

Cranes & Herons look similar to most of us, but they
 are not even in the same family.  Cranes are taller with a shorter neck.

You can tell them apart when they fly because

 Cranes stick their neck out straight while Herons curve 

their neck into an “s” shape and pull it way back.

Cranes travel in flocks  while

 Herons are solitary travelers.

Herons will nest in trees as well as marshes, ponds, 

riverbanks & fields.

I followed this Great Blue Heron for quite a while

hoping he would take flight.   No such luck.  He

just hopped a few feet away if I got too close.

And I wasn't the only one admiring this elegant Great Blue Heron.

They can be found all year long around lakes and ponds,

so "keep your eyes peeled" when you're out and about!!!

For more information on Cranes, specifically Sandhill Cranes,

 check out my Nov 18 2020 blog.

"B" Stands for Big... Bear... Black and Brown (plus a Bonus or two)!!!

When we lived in Colfax CA between 1991 and 2019 we

had lots of bear encounters.

One day as I passed by the utility room which had

a door out to the backyard (with pained windows in the upper

portion I noticed this... grabbed my camera to catch this 

black bear (which looks like a brown bear but isn't) eating

out of the finch feeder.

Then Mama Black Bear  appeared and started talking to

baby...  "Hey save some for me"!!!

I was impressed by her agility as she wandered thru the

flower pots and various garden art without touching anything

with her body.

Baby bear had to stand on it's back legs while

Mama bear just stood there and polished off the rest

of the food.

I made sure they cleared the yard and then took my ladder out

of the shed and hung the feeder up higher at the end of the limb...

but that didn't stop they from trying to climb the tree to

get a free meal.

Many mornings as I went outside, I'd find the garbage can overturned.

Anytime we went outside, you had to scan the brush line before

watering the trees

or flowers because you never knew if you'd have a

visitor lurking in the shadows!!!

Well, enough is enough, so we decided to put the garbage can

in the shed and lock the shed door.

but that didn't stop the bear, who just ripped the lock and trim

of the shed and went inside...

Check out this quick video to see the bear in action!!!

When I was telling a hiking friend about our bear problems,

she shared these 2 photos of a young black bear who visited

her home and loved to sit in a wooden bucket full

of rain water.  They lived about 45 minutes east of

Colfax, right off of I-80.

Some time later, when I was shopping for garden art,

I couldn't resist these metal paw prints, and used them

along the edge of the sidewalk, the same path the real bear used!!!

Then I spotted this guy giving me the evil eye while we were

 touring Three Rivers Petroglyph Park in New Mexico in 2010. 

While in Sitka, Don had an encounter with a Black Bear

that was hanging out on the street corner.

I prefer to see them from a little farther away, thru the

zoom lens of my camera!!!

 As we left the Anchorage Airport on another tip, Don posed 

with this world class 7' tall polar bear.

The polar bear is generally considered the largest bear

 species on Earth.   A close second is the 

brown bear, specifically the Kodiak bear which

is a subspecies of the brown bear native to Alaska.

This giant also had some pretty big teeth... and toe nails.

in June of 2013. we took a fun two hour speed boat tour from 

Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island BC to a Bear sanctuary 

called Knight Inlet which is located on the west shore of British Columbia.

  It was a nice cloudy day so all types of bears came out to play.

(The tour guide told us it was hot and sunny the day before,

so all the bears were hiding in the shade so they only saw a few!!!)

 While touring this remote inlet, we saw 23 bears, 

some brown, some black and some grizzlies too.

Between mid-April, black, brown and grizzly bears begin emerging

from hibernation and gather here to feed on the new spring

growth.  This area has the largest concentrations of Grizzly

bears in British Columbia.  Some black bears are actually black

while others were actually brown.  And they were

all over the place with  cubs in tow... teaching them

how to roll rocks to find yummy things to eat!!!

We viewed them from a smaller rubber boat that was lowered into the 

inlet from our large tour boat. The only limitation was that we 

had to stay 25 yards off shore, which is why our "dingy" also had a

guide on board.  However, this gave us up close and personal views of multiple 

Moms feeding with their twin and triplet cubs in close proximity to 

one another.  Not a common site to see at all in the bear world!!!

This was my favorite photo of all...  twin 2 year old grizzlies. 

(See that hump on the back... that's how you tell a brown/black

bear from a grizzly bear.)

Male Grizzly bears weigh between 400-600 lbs; females between  
290-440 lbs... Black bear males weigh between 125-500 lbs and females
between 90-300 lbs.  Baby bears weight less than 1 lb when they are born.

These twin grizzly  bears were about  2 years old and were abandoned

by their mom because it was time for her to start a new family!!!

After reaching age 2 you should have learned all the tricks of the trade!!!

The best time to spot grizzly bears in their natural environment is from

June to Sept.  In June the berries are not yet ripe and the bears

seek other food close to the water.

A "bucket list" trip for sure!!!

Back on Vancouver Island, we traveled by car to the north-east end 

of the island and were delighted to see that the

  "welcome" sign to Port Hardy also featured BEARS. 

While staying in a lakeside cabin we were happy to 

 see a mama bear and  her cub fishing in a more traditional way...

while another climbed a tree to get a better view.

THE END