Apricity West

March 13, 2021, Saturday

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain… It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it is such a soothing sound on the roof of the RV. At times, the drops were so heavy that it sounded more like a PLOP PLOP than pitter patter. The desert needed a good refreshing shower to tamp down the dust and brighten up the flora. 

 

Terri came over for a walk and sisterly visit along the bike trail. Later, after her hair appointment, they came over for dinner. 

 

March 14, 2021, Sunday

It snowed in the higher elevations of the mountains which is a sharp contrast to the foreground. This is good news for Tucson since there has been very little rain or snow melt to sustain them. They actually close off roads to Mt. Lemmon for a day unless you live there or have chains on your tires since people are not used to driving in the snow. Tomorrow the road will open again and the skiers will flock to the top.

 

Our tour guide, aka Jim, took us over Gates Pass again to visit the renowned Desert Museum. 

 

250,000,000 years ago...

…you would have been swimming here, not standing! A warm shallow sea covered this area. Over millions of years mud settled to the bottom, burying the remains of abundant marine life. Look closely…you can see fossil shells preserved in the hardened mud in this limestone rock.

 

OUR HERON’S STORY 

In spring 2008, this heron was a nestling, living high atop a tree near Seattle, Washington. One day, a bald eagle grabbed the young heron from his nest to make a meal of him.

Something startled the flying eagle with its prey, and he dropped the flightless heron to the ground. Soon, a motorist found the injured nestling on the side of the road, and sought the help of a nearby homeowner. As luck would have it the resident worked at a wildlife rehabilitation center. Veterinarians and rehabilitators at the center repaired his broken wing, leg, and toe as best they could, but it was soon apparent that he would never be able to fly. The Desert Museum offered to give him a forever home, since he could not return to the wild.

 

PLEISTOCENE GIANTS

The grasslands of prehistoric North America teemed with grazing animals and their predators. Many were giants: mastodons, mammoths, bison, ground sloths the size of elephants, beavers the size of bears, horses, camels, prong-horn, American lions, short faced bears, dire-wolves. Quite suddenly, most disappeared, leaving only fossils as evidence of their lives.

What happened to the grassland megafauna?

The sudden extinction of most North American megafauna (animals over 100 pounds) happened about 11,000 years ago, just about the time humans first arrived on this continent. A coincidence? These first Americans were extraordinary hunters. On entering the New World, they found prey animals with no fear of humans, and within just a few hundred years, many believe, they hunted them to extinction. (Other causes, such as climate change, have also been proposed as agents of extinction, and the issue is hotly debated.)

The excavated bones in the exhibit represent those of a mammoth, brought down by spears tipped with points made by early hunters known as Clovis people. Similar bones have been found in grasslands very near Tucson.

MOUNTAIN ISLANDS

The Sonoran Desert region includes forested mountain "islands" surrounded by a "sea" of desert.
You are entering a representation of the biological community known as the Mexican Oak-Pine Woodland.
This community occurs at elevations between 4500 and 7000 feet in these mountain "islands."
At this elevation a moderate climate, with rainfall averaging between 12 and 22 inches a year, supports a variety of grasses and a mixed evergreen woodland dominated by oak, juniper and pine.

None of these cacti and  flowers would be here if not for the bees and hummingbirds which pollinate them.

An Anna’s hummingbird may need the nectar output of 1000 flowers to get water and the 8-10 calories daily it needs to survive.

If you had the same energy needs, you’d have to eat 300 pounds of food and drink 150 gallons of water every day.

 

After all of that walking, we went back to Parsons’ sanctuary to enjoy the sunshine, sounds of the birds, strains of music, cocktails, conversation...

 

The dangling spinner/sun catcher hanging from the tree is the gift we found in Yarnell Emporium and gave them for their hospitality. If you remember, there were innumerable yard ornaments to choose from, but when we saw this, we knew it was THE ONE. 

 

Over the years, they have spent a lot of time and energy on the design of this plot of land. Jim, being a graphic designer and abstract artist, has put his skills to work on this display. 

In the background is the privacy wall he and his father made from weaving rebar together and adding elements of corrugated steel...

Notice the structure in the foreground - it is made strictly from rusted bicycle parts (except for one hand trowel) and the “flowers” all spin in the wind. A local artist created it and donated half of his earnings to BICAS (Bicycles Inter-Community Art & Salvage).

...and another perfect dinner. 

March 15, 2021, Monday

Dabbled in art more today - watercolors are my favorite medium as there is a larger margin for error. It’s not as precise as pencil. Not that you can erase it, but you can doctor things up easier. 

Here is the difference between my hurried dabbling...

...and sister Terri’s methodical planning, practicing and painting!

See what I mean!? 

March 16, 2021, Tuesday

Haircut today! If you are ever in Tucson and need a super-cut, go to Aysha at Shear Force. She is an amazing upbeat personality, willing to go to all lengths to meet your beautification desires!

I have been talking about getting purple highlights for a LONG time. While in the grocery store, I happened upon the hair color department, and there was a sale for 1/2 price! Whoa - it’s a no-brainer! Right?

Treatment ...

Subtle temporary results. 

 

March 17, 2021, Wednesday

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Terri and Jim like a corn beef dinner, but have never cooked it, sooooo chef Rich got busy in the kitchen (I prepped the veggies). It was delish and Jim and I teamed up to create a fresh strawberry with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with orange liqueur. Perfect ending.

 

March 18, 2021, Thursday

Rich’s friends, Mark and Regina Linsalata, from Oro Valley stopped by today. They keep you in stitches with their stories and banter. One of the stories was about meeting a grizzly bear on a trail they were hiking! As she pulled out her bear spray, he took a picture of it and they began singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - why? You are supposed to raise your hands to appear big and make a lot of noise. Why that song? It was the only song they new all of the words to without music playing. We still don’t know how they decided to sing at all...

  

Hearing them singing...

Running away from the noise!!


This picture of a bear and her cub was spotted close up - and behind cars!