September 2013

Saguaro and Castle Rock

Saguaro and Castle Rock

We drove down to Sun City to visit Mom in the rehab center today. Driving on the 25 mile segment of US 60 between Wickenburg and just outside of Surprise, is where you will see beautiful Sonoran Desert scenes like this one that I shot on the trip home.

We don’t really know that the name of the mountain in the background is really “Castle Rock,” but it lies up near the end of Castle Hot Springs Road, so that’s what we call it. Click on the image to enlarge.

The Hummingbird Feeders

Damsel has two hummingbird feeders that hang below the eve of the patio roof right next to the RV drive. We used to get a few hummingbirds now and then, but lately, they literally swarm both feeders. We have seen up to a dozen at a time visiting the area (it’s hard to get an exact count because they move so fast).

A lot of the little birds seem to be territorial and we often see several of the tiny birds chipping away at each other as they attempt to light on the feeder. Damsel notes that the chipping noises they make reminds her of sounds made by the Star Wars robot R2D2. The sound of their wings as they fly by, also reminds her of the Jedi light sabers from the same movie series.

I’m just glad that there are no critters that make sounds similar to the C3PO droid. That would necessitate a shotgun blast or two.

I took the video late this afternoon from inside the patio screen. You can see some of the birds competing, but then a bunch of them feed at once. There are five perches and five feed holes on each feeder.

Lugnutz

Lugnutz

On the way back from the valley a few days ago, Damsel snapped this photo of the front wheel of an eighteen wheeler. The operator had replaced the lug nuts with this exotic array of spiked cones that reminded me of the Ben Hur Chariot Race where the evil Massala had extended axles on his chariot designed to rip out the spokes of competing chariots. Click on the image to enlarge.