Sunday, September 21, 2008

The nature preserve

Looking up through the palms


The pond in the desert
Gambel quail
One of the oases
Looking away from the oasis
Today we took a hike to the Indian Palms Oasis (last two pics). This is typical of all the oases here--hidden within folds of the canyons. We walked across the desert sand and rocks so we got a good workout on our two hour, two mile walk. After our walk we stopped by the visitors' center to listen to Barb talk with visitors. Having earned our keep for the day, we retired to our air conditioning for a cool off and a cold drink. The rest of the day we goofed off. Duane watched football. I worked soduko puzzles and sewed my latest project in the afternoon. Not much happened today. Yesterday we found the Michaels and a pretty good local pizza place. I am pleased to report that we got our furnace fan fixed. Duane was finally able to knock off all the mud wasp nest. Unfortunately, our other critters are still traveling with us, although their numbers are slowly diminishing (I hope). Every once in a while a black jumping spider will quietly rapel from the air conditioner, or a web weaver will slowly drift down looking for all the world like a dust mote. They are dispached immediately. The ant colony is taking longer. I devised a plan to hurry them along to the great ant hill in the sky. I put out a dish of honey. They make their way to it like miners to gold. They line up along the inside edge of the dish, their noses in the honey and their abdomens up in the air. There they stay until they are drunk. It is quite humorous to see them stagger away, so full they can't walk properly. Unfortunately for them, disaster always strikes. Yes another uneventful day here, where wiping out ants is a diversion.
More later. Louise and Duane

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