I decided to spend the morning doing something I haven’t been able to do all spring – hike/bird locally. It’s hard to believe that I missed almost all of migration this year, but somehow between the weather and doing stuff around the house, I did. So, I decided to see what might be left around the area. Continue reading
For our fourth day, we decided to reverse our previous days’ path, except we still wanted to start the morning at the South Fork. We had heard that many people were hearing the Elegant Trogon* right near the bridge, so we started there. Initially, things were a little slow as the sun was just starting to peek into the canyon, but they quickly picked up as all of the birds started to wake up, producing a magical post-dawn chorus. Numerous Empidonax flycatchers were joined by warblers and orioles in song, while other, quieter birds like the Painted Redstart and several hummingbirds flew about in frantic activity. Vireos and a few warblers (including a few Townsend’s and Wilson’s) were flitting about in the tall sycamores by the creek, while Acorn Woodpeckers competed with Canyon Wrens for top song of the morning. Soon, it was almost impossible to keep up with all of the movement and chittering on the trees. Continue reading
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
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
Well, I played my first poker tourney in almost a year yesterday and … well, let’s just say that I’m not going be known as Marty “Aces” DeAngelo anytime in the near future. I actually did okay in terms of finishing – 21st out of 42 – but never really had a chance to get into a groove. I had some pretty miserable cards — in over 60 hands, I only had 4 pairs, none of which were better than a pair of 7s. My non-paired cards were almost always mixed high/low cards (K-5, Q-3, J-6 and the like), and almost never suited. It’s hard to play that way unless you are a better bluffer than I am. And bluffing isn’t a great option when you have guys at the table who are betting on nearly every hand – something you can do when you are deal FOUR A-A hole card pairs in the same span as I was there.
Still, it was 3 hours of poker and I had a good time. I’m not sure who won yet (other than NOT ME), but it was good to see some old friends and to play some poker again. I really need to get back to doing our monthly game because I miss the shit-talking, crude-joke-making, beer-swilling guy bonding that we do there. And heck, I even win some money on occasion.
In the meantime, back to iPhone Hold ‘Em to get my style into whack.
Let me preface this by saying, “Yes – I am a little OCD, it seems”.
Okay, now that THAT’S out of the way, let me explain. I don’t listen to radio very often around here, almost exclusively when I’m in my car. But when I do, the radio is usually tuned to WXPN, a local station that focuses on more independent (read: folk and singer-songwriter) music. However, there are times when WXPN is playing some programming (such as Kid’s Corner or during their pledge drives) that I have had to turn elsewhere, and my first two choices have been two rock stations – 93.3 WMMR and 94.1 WYSP. Continue reading
