Fairweather Zealot

Well, we finally did it – we won a game. For some reason, our team has really struggled all season – and for what seems like different reasons each game. One game we can’t hit to save our lives; another game we are scoring runs but giving up twice as many on bad fielding and poor throwing mistakes. But on Wednesday, everything came together – hitting, fielding, base-running were all excellent, and we beat Avenue A-Razorfish 23-2. Now, I can’t say that some of it didn’t have to do with the fact that we were playing the only other winless team in the league, but it seemed like we were just more together – everyone wasn’t swinging at the first pitch, we were running the bases well, making good throws, etc. If we had played that way in other games, I think we might have won 1 or 2 of them. But you know what they say about ‘could have’…

Still, I’m playing better overall, although it seems like I am only getting one at bat per game, regardless of how long I’m in. Wednesday, I went in for the last 4 innings of the 7-inning game … except it got called after 5 innings, right as I was coming up for my second at-bat. Oh well. But I’m getting the ball out of the infield this year, so that’s nice – last year I would pound the ball in batting practice, and then shank it when it mattered. I was a one-bagger through and through. This year, I’ve got a couple of doubles already and even two of my outs have been sacrifice flies.

Now I just have to get my first home run…

 Now that we were finally at the first leg of our trip, it was time to start in earnest. Waking up at the Cave Creek Ranch was majestic – the magnificent peaks of the canyon walls reflecting the morning sunlight was beautiful, there were a multitude of birds hanging put at the feeders just outside the back door: curve-billed thrashers, canyon towhees, cardinals and several hummer species, along with cliff chipmunks and rock squirrels. Continue reading

 Day 2 started better than the first day although we had our little side trip to get a new card reader. It required a a trip to Wal-Mart to pick one up, but since we had to get groceries anyway it wasn’t a huge deal, if a but inconvenient.

The drive on the interstate was typical of the type of road, but at least the roadside scenery was different from what we were used to. At one point about halfway there was a short length of amazing rock features along both sides of the road, a kind of sandbox odd the gods. As we got closer, and off the interstate, the scenery got more interesting. We crossed into New Mexico for a brief while (the road seemed to ignore state lines), before heading into the desert ecosystem, mostly unfettered by man save for the sparse barbwire fencing that was ubiquitous throughout Arizona. Continue reading

To say I was excited for this trip would be a great understatement. But there was a bit to do last night before we could leave: mow the lawn, clean the house for the pet sitter, and of course, pack. By the time 10 o’ clock rolled around, we were exhausted and still not done the ‘chores’. And the oppressive temperatures didn’t help, either. So, I woke up at 2:30 a.m. to get a jump on the remaining tasks before our 6am flight. Shari was already up and doing stuff, so we both pitched in so we could have plenty of time to park and get to the gate. It didn’t work – we were five minutes too late and missed our flight, but were lucky enough to get on another only 1.5 hours later, which messed up my plans a bit but was a minor set back in the grand scheme of things. Continue reading

So for Mother’s Day, Shari asked for one thing – that we take down the back porch which was in desperate need of repair. She had decided she would rather have it down than try to fix it, and thought we could do it rather quickly and easily. I had my doubts, but it was Mother’s Day, so who am I to argue, right? Continue reading

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to get creative about anything, but we recently had a contest at work to replace the boring “Day of Move” nameplates we had at our desks. I know it isn’t the Mona Lisa, but it was fun to think about how to represent myself. Continue reading

Well, it was an eventful weekend-plus at the DeAngelo household. With our trip coming up, our weekends to get things done around here were becoming more and more limited, so we knew that we had to get some things done for spring. So, I took a couple days off to spend some time around the yard, prepping it for the coming months. We ordered 6 cubic yards of mulch, and I prepped for a few days of spreading it. But that would end up having to wait. Continue reading

I’ve been meaning to write here for a while. In fact, I think I’ve started at least 4 or 5 posts in the last three weeks, but never had a chance to actually complete them. Project deadlines, coupled with Shari being sick and me not feeling very well either have pretty much wiped out my time to get much done or write anything to completion. I like being busy, but it seems like I can’t seem to find time to do anything creative like writing or photography. Instead, I’ve been so exhausted and wanting to spend time with Shari that I’ve done little more than watch TV and fall asleep or play mindless games because I just can’t think when I get home. Continue reading

Since the iPhone came out I wondered how long it would take for someone to come out with some good birding apps. Longer than I had expected, it turns out. A few small apps with limited usefulness appeared early on but none had the two main rings I was looking for: a mini field guide and a checklist. Then one day I came across something new, and very promising: the iBird Explorer Plus software. Continue reading

So far, this year has been good for viewing new species, even if I haven’t had much chance to get out so far. Continue reading