Fun oasis day

Got my watering and servicing feeders done yesterday and this morning before butterflies came out, so treated myself to sitting by the Mountain Laurel.

In the last two days I've seen more species than I had seen all year up until then, so doubled my 2018 list so far. Still way behind last year at this time. The first one I thought was a Juvenal's Duskywing, which would be a lifer for me, but have since been told it's just a worn female Mournful Duskywing. This IDing process is hard for me.

This next one is a Saltbush Sootywing

And this one is a Northern Cloudywing.

And this last one I thought was a Texas Powdered-Skipper, but Brian thinks it's an AZ Powdered-Skipper, so I'll go with that.

Another thing that made today pleasurable, besides lovely weather, was that the Essential Tremor that I've had in my left hand for several years now, has been absent for the last few days. The only thing I can think could be causing that is my giving up dark chocolate. (I ate about an ounce of it a day.) Too soon to tell for sure yet, but it makes photography more fun. I cannot hold my big Canon without using both hands. I thought my photos today turned out a bit sharper than usual.

Basically, dark chocolate is supposed to be healthy for the heart and a great antioxidant, but for some people it can have side effects. I've normally never used coffee or tea or anything with caffeine. I read this online: 

Chocolate, especially with a high content of cocoa, stimulates both the cardiovascular and the nervous system and can cause cardiac arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rate. Caffeine, theophylline and theobromine are the three elements in chocolate that cause arrhythmia. In addition to altering normal heart rhythm, they can also lead to tremors, insomnia, agitation, anxiety, headaches etc.

And I might add that there are small amounts of lead and cadmium in dark chocolate. Occasionally, I had noticed my heart seemed to skip a beat or not feel right. It usually happened when I first laid down at night. (My body can't tolerate any MSG, and very little dairy.) If I don't get tremors anymore, it'll be a new lease on life. I don't miss the chocolate or other processed sugar that I gave up. I eat lots of fruit.