We’re two days into the new Major League Baseball season. My beloved Angels, who are perennial cellar-dwellers and who are widely expected to be there again this year, have won their first two games of the season for the first time since 2007.
My kids, who have all been raised as die-hard Angels, Chiefs, and Kings fans (something something sins of the father…) are already talking about our upcoming 162-0 season. It’s madness.
Hope springs eternal.
Filed under LA Angels, Photography
I’m not a fan of being awake at 6:21 AM, but if you happen to be awake then, this isn’t a bad reward.
I checked but there were no sailors nearby to warn, so I went back to sleep.
Filed under Forever Home, Photography, Sunsets
It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these posts. That’s one thing about being out here in the desert. The variety of birds seen is half or less of what we had in West Hills, and most of what we have are a subset of the West Hills common birds. Sparrows, finches, an owl (not two or three varieties), red-tailed hawks (not three or four species), crows and ravens, pigeons, and I’ve heard mockingbirds, but haven’t seen it yet.
But yesterday…
I had walked down to the corner to the community mailbox and on the way back, this little lady strutted out in front of me and headed across the street. Knowing what I know now, it’s probably that behavior where she was trying to act like a decoy to lead me away from her nest.
I was surprised to see her – she looks like a shorebird of some kind, and in fact is part of the plover family and related to terns, sandpipers, and willets. I have no idea what she’s doing here – we’re a LONG way from the beach!
But the (wonderful!) Merlin Bird ID app positively identifies her as a killdeer. Which immediately made sense, since the birdsong routine in Merlin had ID’d an unusual song that I heard ten days ago as a killdeer, so I knew there was at least one around. Well, now we can put two and two together and confirm its presence, for whatever reason.
Finally, when I can find time or make time to go exploring in some of the local wilderness parks and hiking trails, I may find some more new birds there. Someone in a local FaceBook group recently had a bunch of fantastic bird pictures, including bald eagles. I know that the Friends of Big Bear eagles are just about 15 miles away, but they’re also up a couple thousand feet more in elevation, in the pine forest. But we’ll see when we see!
Filed under Birds, Forever Home, Photography
Yesterday I had pre-vacation pictures of the first flower buds starting to pop out on the pear tree. Today I went out to see how things progressed while we were gone.
The bees have found the flowers as well.
Bees are good. Every little bit we can do to help them along is a plus.
The apple tree has started to leaf out as well.
No flowers, but plenty of leaves, tons of buds…
…and a fair number of those tiny, little, black bugs down deep in the leaves. Aphids? Who knows.
Filed under Flowers, Forever Home, Photography
Just before we left for Arizona last Wednesday, five days ago, I went out back to fill the bird feeders and I took a peek at the fruit trees. The apple tree looked like it wanted to be budding and leafing, but didn’t have anything green or flowery popping out yet. But the pear tree…
Not much, but it’s still a winner!
Bring on the buds and flowers and bees and pears! I can’t wait for more uber fresh fruit in the fall.
I haven’t been out there yet since we’ve been back, but I’ll try to check tomorrow to see if the apple tree has gotten the hint.
Filed under Flowers, Forever Home, Photography
We’re home. Four and a half days was wonderful, but not nearly long enough. The problem with staying away any longer is how hard it is to come back. Somewhere out there is a breaking point (or a healing point) where you don’t. And I probably have to.
Eight hours across the Mojave again, rest stops in reverse order, 105° and worse. Hissy was a champion!
Do you have any idea how long the lines are to get breakfast anywhere in Phoenix on a Sunday morning after church has let out? 45 minutes to an hour or more at one restaurant after another…
Filed under Photography, Travel
Go see it. Soon. Often. Repeatedly. On the biggest screen you can. It’s outstanding.
I’ve been waiting to see it since I first started hearing that it was in the works, but I knew it was opening while we would be in Arizona for my birthday vacation trip. But something in my online activity to get hotels and baseball tickets got some algorithm triggered about AZ, and I saw a post of some sort somewhere about a Phoenix theater that had a full-sized IMAX screen and was showing it.
That’s a BIG freakin’ screen!
If you’ve read “Project Hail Mary” and loved it, you’ll adore the movie. If you’ve read it and didn’t like it, why are you reading my site?! If you’ve read haven’t read it, I envy that you get to read it for the first time, you’re going to love it and love the movie.
No spoilers, but all of the things I heard folks worrying about before the film came out, particularly regarding potential changes in the plot, are not legitimate concerns. It’s wonderful.
Oh, and we went to our third Spring Training game earlier today, the Padres against the Brewers at the Brewers’ facility. It was 105° AGAIN, we had great seats in the sixth row and in the sun, so we bailed and moved back about twenty rows to some empty seats in the shade.
Now to try to get some sleep so that I’m not falling asleep tomorrow when driving back home. This might not be THE noisiest hotel I’ve ever stayed in, but it’s on the short list!
Filed under Movies, Photography, Sports, Travel
Day Two of the Spring Training birthday vacation road trip. Today at the Angels’ home stadium for spring training, Tempe Diablo.
Emphasis for the day was “Diablo”!
It got up to 104° and we were in full sunlight for three-plus hours, the Anvil of God!
It was crowded up on the concourse in the shade – not so much out in the sun. Mad dogs, Englishmen, and Angels fans, apparently.
The good news is that we won again, beating the White Sox 4-3. Sweet!!
Filed under LA Angels, Photography, Travel
And winning! Well, the Angels got a nice win, turned 70. It was a group effort. We all had to do our part.
The dangerous, extreme heat across the Southwest messed a bit with our plans – we originally were going to have the baseball game in Surprise at 1:00, then go down to Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa afterward. But all MLB games got moved to 6:00 to avoid killing anyone (fans or players or coaches or umpires) in 108°F (44.2°C) conditions.
So dinner was a baseball hot dog, soda, and ice cream. The fundamentals!
Surprise Stadium, spring training home of both the Texas Rangers and KC Royals was lovely. No lines for food or drink all might, except for the ice cream, which had a line over 20 minutes long.9
8° still at 19:45. One ice cream stand. You do the math. But really good ice cream!
It was nice to see the Angels come back late and win, a couple of kids with no names on their uniforms came through to tie it in the 8th and then go ahead in the 9th. ⚾️ They probably still won’t make the big club next week, but they might end up in Salt lake City instead of Rancho Cucamonga, and come September, who knows??
70 isn’t so bad so far!
As for the ‘do, I got a “cool hair!” from a pre-tween who was immediately shooshed by his mother. At one of the AZ rest stops yesterday I got a double take from a macho, stud muffin, manly man truck driver on the way back to his parked rig, followed by a stare, sideye, and what I assumed was an overtly homophobic sneer and snarl. (I waved 👋🏽 HI!! 💋) MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
So many miles, so many rest stops.
Outside of the San Gabriel Valley but before Palm Springs on Interstate 10, I found that the winter rains have been a source of massive greenery on the hills.
Out in the Mojave Desert, the mountains are sharp, barren, and raw. You might as well be on Mars! Except, of course, for the air and tumbleweeds and 100°+ temperatures…
Once we got into Arizona there was a huge change. California’s rest stops suck. Old, beat up, filthy, or simply closed. Arizona’s are much better, both in design and in maintenance standards.
Sunset finally caught us about 90 minutes out of Phoenix.
You hit a certain age and you need to automatically add 30% to the Google Maps travel time since if you’re smart you’ll NEVER pass a rest stop. I’m there!
Filed under Photography, Travel
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We Love The Stars Too Fondly 