Sunday, November 30, 2014

My First Hike of the Season & A Surprise Visitor

Nov. 26.  Oh, boy!  I was more than ready to get back into the weekly Wednesday hikes!  I love being outdoors, and when away from town, the desert scenery is just so pretty.  It was the day before Thanksgiving and another beautiful day in Tucson.  It was a bit cold early in the morning at 7:00 AM so that is why I wore earmuffs.  The hiking group meets at 7:15 AM,  we sign in so we know who is with us, then car pool and leave at 7:30 AM.  Yep, that means getting up at the crack of dawn, literally!  I don’t like to rush so I am up at 5:45 AM, have breakfast, and quietly get dressed in the den so I don’t wake up Doug.  But, alas, sometimes I do wake him up around 6: 15 PM when I use the sink to fix my hair and put on my makeup.  SORRY!  But I do NOT go anywhere without my hair done and my “face” on!!  Without that, one look from the wildlife and there would be a mass stampede!  Including my fellow hikers!

We didn’t travel very far for this hike.  We just hiked a couple of times around a lake at a park just up the street from the RV park.  It was nice with the sun just beginning to show reflections in the lake and several hearty souls were out early fishing.  Love the mountains in the background. 

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Several different types of ducks were all over the lake.  Some acted like they were partly tamed because whenever we got right next to the water, they would all rush over and make lots of noise expecting us to feed them.  I am sure some of the fishermen share their bait with them.  Seeing the ducks on the water made for a pretty setting. 

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The next day was Thanksgiving.  We got to the park too late to sign up for the park’s dinner so we spent the day just relaxing.   Doug cooked a turkey in our new oven and it turned out great.  He found a recipe that worked well.  I tried to bake one last season but it turned out looking more like a fat chicken!  I miss my electric oven!  Guess I need to practice.

The day after Thanksgiving, I was just sitting at the table looking out the window and was surprised at what I saw!  A coyote! He was a nice looking one.  So I grabbed the camera and took his picture through the window.  Apparently he squeezed through a fence opening at a site across the street from us where the park is adding a new wall and has only reached a pole and remaining chain linked fence.  He stopped in front of us and then just meandered on through the park among the RVs as if he owned the place.  After all, he was here first!  He came from the neighborhood on the other side of the fence, so he was probably out looking for cat or small dog for breakfast!!  It was a real treat to see that coyote close up. 

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2 comments:

  1. I am not happy with coyotes right at the moment. We were woken up yesterday morning by the most unholy sound I've ever heard. I knew it was something being killed just outside our park. Jim figures it was probably a rabbit that got caught by a coyote (we've seen several around here this year). I don't think I'll ever forget that sound. Horrible. I know it's nature and coyotes also need to eat to live. But I still don't like it. Yours looks really healthy so you must have lots of rabbits also.

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    1. I know what you mean. Rabbits do scream & I will never forget that sound either because when growing up our pet cat used to go into the woods next door and get them. So sad!

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