The blog must go on

I came to town to find that the AT&T fiber optic cable had been cut and internet is down. Mine is AT&T. My son has Big Bend Telephone, which is the same as I have at CMO. Should've stayed there, but it's going to freeze tomorrow night and I have to pick all the tomatoes before then. So I'm at my son's house on my new laptop. I was determined to blog.

Going down to CMO this morning I could see enticing fog in the Christmas Mountains. It was real foggy there for a short while.

As I watered I watched for "Old Man Lucifer," but only saw two Anna's all day long. Watering was a real pain today. I had purchased a cheap Walmart hose and couldn't endure the constant kinking. So I bought a good quality non-kinking hose with lifetime warranty. Those are like trying to break a wild horse when you first get them.  

It kept getting snagged on every rock. It kept whipping around and spraying me and tripping me every time I tried to move it to a different tree. I got soaked, not to mention it flogged me from time to time. When water pressure goes through those coils, anything can happen. Ironically, it had a flaw in it when I bought it. A bad kink. Not wanting to hassle with taking it back and breaking in another one, I just put vice grips on the kink and left them there to keep it open. Needless to say, I didn't water the full regimen.

The sky was so clear at the oasis today that it looked like Nine Point Mesa was right behind it, whereas actually it's at least 5 miles away.

I saw a yellow butterfly but couldn't get a photo of it. It wouldn't land. Sleepy Oranges are plentiful and this one landed on a matching leaf. Made me realize they probably do that on purpose. Surely, they find mates partly by color so they must realize what color they are.

Finally, just about sundown old man Lucifer came in and tanked up. I had to stay way back or he left. But today is the latest date I've had a Lucifer Hummingbird. We got a male in Study Butte in December one year. I'm beginning to wonder if mine is just too old and tired to migrate. He acts totally normal so he probably will. It was in the 80s today, so no urgency, I guess. I worry about habitat loss in Mexico too. Anyway, here's the best I could get of him today, just to have a record for today.

Headed back to town in time to enjoy awesome sunsets. This first one is Agua Fria Mountain.

This weekend I'm going along with my husband to Black Gap WMA where he fishes. I'm going to photograph odes, butterflies, or anything interesting. Should have lots to blog about.