This is the way our flagpole and the two flags look as seen from the courtyard. The sky is nicely accented by wispy clouds with the flags in the foreground as watched over by the eagle on top of the pole.
Art and Patriotism all in one photo, in my opinion. Click on the image to enlarge.
We have been maintaining a Global Warming Resources page on this website since 2005 or so. I recently went through and checked some of the links and found that some things have disappeared over the last seven or eight years, so I deleted them from the page.
Clicking on the animation above will open the resources page in a new tab or window (browser dependent). The page contains a list of our favorite posts on the topic of climate change, a number of other climate-related websites (cleaned up to eliminate dead links), some favorite articles on other sites plus a complete scrolling repository for all climate-related posts written on this site.
Finally, there is a “Sage Quotations” feature that enumerates a handful of insightful things uttered by a few of history’s smartest people, reproduced here for your viewing pleasure:
“Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.”
— Leonardo Da Vinci, Artist, Inventor
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
— Galileo Galilei, Astronomer, Philosopher
“Scientists best serve public policy by living within the ethics of science, not those of politics. If the scientific community will not unfrock the charlatans, the public will not discern the difference; science and the nation will suffer.”
— Philip Handler, National Academy of Sciences
“Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had.”
— Michael Crichton, MD, Author, Film Maker
Although there are many lemons already established on our lemon tree, there are bunches of new lemon blossoms popping out. I guess that there are bound to be even more lemons than we originally thought might be the case. This is fine with us – we will be harvesting the lemons for ourselves, our neighbors and a local seniors and disabled persons care center. The more the merrier.
We had a wonderful weekend. The temperatures for both days exceeded triple digits for both days and we’re glad to see the summer season finally starting after an unseasonably cool springtime. We ate a couple of very good weekend meals, including a tasty chicken Marsala entrée on Saturday, followed by grilled flat iron steak sliced on Sunday. The menu was an embellishment to our excellent retirement routine.
Today was the first triple digit temperature day for us since last fall. We enjoyed watching some NASCAR and MLB on TV today despite the warmer temperatures outside because we decided to run the A/C to keep the puppies cool (and us, too).
Some high thin cirrus clouds appeared over the western horizon to provide us with a simply lovely and colorful sunset. There will be a passage overhead of the International Space Station in about a half hour. There seems to be plenty of moonlight this evening as Venus is setting in the west for us to watch the ISS streak overhead before winking out as it crosses into the Earth’s shadow.
It has been a gorgeous day. Click on the image to enlarge.
Spring has sprung loose a lot of new wildfowl near our Arizona home. A breeding pair (or two) brought their brood(s) up on the hill behind the RV drive where I have my bird feeders. There are always a lot of seeds that make their way to the ground from the feeders and these birds were there to take advantage of the spillage.
The two birds in the image were with a group of several little guys being herded around by a couple of adult quail. According to Wikipedia, females usually lay 10 to 12 eggs at a time. When the chicks hatch, they leave the nest within hours and follow their parents as they forage.
It’s always so cute when these little chicks are seen scurrying here and there behind or in front of the parents. I hope to have more photos of them going to and fro this late spring. Click on the image to enlarge.
Yesterday, I took the short hike up to the back of the lot to check things out. I was interested in whether the Arizona Queen of the Night cactus would be showing signs of new life. I was not disappointed when I saw these small buds on the shaft of the Peniocereus greggii that had been nearly destroyed by a fallen palo verde branch up there. There are also two more four-inch branches growing along another part of the cactus.
In addition, the branch that we cut off last February in order to try and rescue the cactus is showing signs of having taken root (image). It may be too soon to tell if this is a flower bud or a new branch developing on the cutting.
With some luck, we may be able to see the gorgeous flowers from one of the Arizona Queen of the Nights this summer. Click on the image to enlarge.
Hat tip to Crotalus for setting us straight on the binomial designation for this species.
It’s springtime and the seeds planted in the courtyard pots are starting to produce. These are typical squash blossoms and are on the pumpkin vines I planted. Click on the image to enlarge.
I also have planted (from a store-bought starter kit) radishes, carrots and several other veggies that I hope to harvest later in the summer, if we can keep the ground squirrels and rabbits away, that is. I also have tomato vines with several new flowers.
We shall see how the garden projects will do. We are still learning about how to deal with the higher temperatures in the desert.
