Big Cat Week

Today was an exciting day around here. Our neighbor, Chris was outside in his new workshop and heard some odd noises. When he went to investigate, he witnessed a cougar cross the road. Minutes later, another neighbor saw the cat out of the corner of his eye, near his home. Tonight, yet another neighbor and her sister were driving home around dinner time and saw the cat sitting on the side of the road in our neighborhood. Flabbergasted, they pulled over to observe. They were able to watch for about 2-3 minutes before the cat disappeared into the forest. While they watched they heard chirping noise coming from the woods, which likely indicates the cat has kittens. Time to keep a watchful eye on, Pup!

Arizona!

So, we decided to get away and our fingers landed on the map of Arizona. I had heard rumors of Sedona being beautiful and between Traci hoping to find cooler temps with less humidity and me hoping for warmer temps, humidity irrelevant... we sealed the plan- Sedona it was! A girls trip was in order and it was perfect that we both would only have to fly a few hours to reach each other; a meet in the middle of sorts. We met at the airport and before long were zipping through the desert.

Off we went into red rocks country, stopping to shop here and there, but mostly enjoying the outdoor recreation of the area. We even had a rendezvous with the Grand Canyon, where we challenged ourselves to a good huff and puff hike and watched the sun as it set from the surreal vista.

One night we climbed up to a beautiful perch on Bell Rock and watched the sun set in Sedona. The red rocks quickly took on a orange, then pink tone and the beauty was just indescribable.

We had plenty of good laughs, healthy food, and enjoyed being young and crazy again. It's been a while since I've been in tears laughing- the kind where you can hardly breathe because one giant hysterical outburst comes right after the next.

Sadly at the end of the trip, we were cursed with food poisoning which came close to jinxing us from seeing our lifelong friend, Donna. Donna has been in both of our lives since childhood and was a bridesmaid in Traci's wedding. Since she lives only a couple hours from Phoenix, she drove up to meet us our last night of the trip. Both Traci and I were reeling from the effects of food poisoning but somehow seeing Donna made things better. After a little peppermint tea and some saltines, we were well enough to grab some 'light' dinner with her. It wasn't quite the evening we had originally planned, but seeing her was a great highlight and I feel so grateful for the opportunity. She still has her giggles and fun personality and it was refreshing to see her and realize that time has been no opponent.

As always, I put some good miles on the camera. Here are a few pics!

Truer words have never been written.

Hiking the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon.

Sedona was every bit as spectacular as I had heard!

This tiny birds nest was in a jumping cholla cactus, where the little peeps were well protected from predators.

Mountain biking in red rocks country!

The famous Sedona sunset

Donna!

You might remember these two explorers from a previous trip where they were spotted at Niagra Falls (see the second picture here). Lewis and Clark once again led the way in the Grand Canyon.

Scenery Sunday

The hummingbirds are back, but the feeder action isn't constant like it becomes in May and June. This little guy was enjoying his tiny perch.

This is like where's Waldo. There are 4 Juncos and 3 Stellar's Jays in the pic.

Stellar's Jays are so beautiful and boisterous. They are related to blue jays and found in the northwestern areas of the US. Interestingly, the further south they get, the more blue instead of black shows up on their head feathers.

They are highly intelligent and often imitate birds of prey such as rough-legged or red-tailed hawks.

Sad news...

He was a darling little bear cub and he won many hearts. For the most part, with modern medicine, survival of the fittest is lost on humans. But nature is still very much in the throws of 'only the strong survive' and no matter how much we stomp and cry, there is no such thing as 'fair' in the animal kingdom. So, it is with a heavy heart today that I share the sad news of the passing of little Jason, one of Lily the bear's darling cubs. Big sister Faith seems to be developing fine and is right where she should be, but my breath is being held until she's old enough to survive on her own and until the weather cooperates.

The cause of death is not yet known on this precious little one, but over several days he had become weak. Lily had moved her whole family 0.26 miles away from their den, which was starting to flood. The long walk for such fragile young bears was difficult and biologists noticed a little lethargy afterward. Faith, the other cub seemed to recover and gain her strength, but little Jason became weaker and weaker until his passing yesterday. There is lots of speculation about the cause of death and lots of opinions, but the facts remain that one of the babies is now with the animal angels.

Rest in peace, Sweet Little Brown Eared Boy.

Scenery Saturday

This is Vil's latest flying toy. It's a mini-airplane, which has ailerons to help him do tricks and fly upside down. He's gotten really good a flying these!

Not far from the plane, another flying object was found. This is a turkey vulture which was riding the thermals yesterday.

Mt. Si and North Bend from ledge 2.

The main ledge, Rattlesnake Lake and the Cedar River Watershed. Yesterday the sun came out after about two weeks of rain. Everyone was outside sunning themselves in the 49 degree weather!

Indian Plum is blooming and salmon berries aren't far behind. There are lots of hummingbirds around the lake enjoying the nectar of these two plants.

It's mating season for woodpeckers! There must have been 6 or 7 red-breasted sap suckers at the lake yesterday. They were pecking on metal signs and making all kinds of noise. The metal pecking is used to establish territory and attract mates. They are so fun to watch.

"Whattchu Lookin' at Willis?"

"Wait...I was just on THAT side, but you say I'm supposed to be on THIS side?"

I found the easter bunny, well ahead of schedule!

And little Douglas was working the tree nuts and greens.