The Ugly Duckling Parrot

Julian called me at work the other day when I was up to my neck with the swine flu, had just heard from the doctor at the hospice home where my 90 year old neighbor was near death and reeling while trying to figure out how we nurses will handle 2 schools next year. Well the story he excitedly told me on the phone, made up for all those problems. He said that a little yellow parrot was eating from the feeder like you see in this picture. He was just eating away and stuck his head so far into the feeder that he couldn't get it out! He tried to get out but couldn't. There were sparrows on the feeder with him then and they shaked the cage trying to help him get loose. A larger parrot came up, stood beside him and pushed with his body and foot until the yellow parrot's head popped out! I realized later when I was taking these pictures that he has one injured foot that he cannot use. He said that it was the most amazing thing and it definitely was the shining light in an otherwise crazy and depressing day.

A Walk by the River

We took a walk in the Rio Salado in Phoenix. They have been transforming it into a riparian river walk. They have been talking about this since around 1970 when it was suggested by the ASU architecture students. The Rio Salado is part of the Salt River the great and world wide known river of Phoenix. It's right up there with the Mississippi, Amazon and the Brisbane Rivers. When Dad was courting Mum in Brisbane, she was feeling sad at the thought of having to leave Brisbane and the Brisbane River (which you will understand if you look at my Australian slides to the right). The Brisbane River is beautiful and winds back and forth through Brisbane. Well, Dad, trying to impress his girl said, we have a river in Phoenix too. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a map of Phoenix and showed Mum how the Salt River runs through Phoenix. Mum got to Phoenix and became very homesick for water. She kept trying to get Dad to take her to see the beautiful Salt River, he kept putting her off. Finally he could avoid it no more and took her to the Salt River which was dry as a bone due to Roosevelt Dam upstream! All the cottonwoods and other riparian vegetation had died. Roosevelt Dam was built around 1910 and the first time I remember water flowing in it was in 1966 when there was a flood! Needless to say she was disappointed and Dad had to take her to sit by the lagoon at Encanto Park whenever she got homesick for water. See the smile on Mum's face, she is so thrilled to finally see some water in the river!
This is the Desert Willow. We saw a lot of hummingbirds feeding on these beautiful flowers.
Jules walking down one of the paths with the trees touching overhead.
This is a picture of the leaves and seeds of the cottonwood tree. The seeds look like cotton and it almost looks like snow when there are many cottonwood trees.
I'm not sure what this is, but the flowers almost look like wattle.
We saw a jackrabbit which was at least twice this size but alas, it was the one that got away!

We saw a lot of birds. Snowy Egrets, Redwing blackbirds, Gambol Quail, Great Blue Heron, Cormorants, Roadrunners and many ducks.

Flowers

This is a Hollyhock from my garden. The first ones are starting to bloom now and will bloom all winter. I have pink, and red single and double hollyhocks which bloom each year, mostly given to me by my Mom or Grace. Grace died about 6 months ago and we miss her in our neighborhood. She grew up here, her father planted the citrus grove which we live in. The old farm house is still standing and her son lives in it. Grace lived in the corner house on 18th Street and Marshall. Her yard was always filled with flowers much like an English garden. I drove past her house for years before I knew that I would live on her street one day. I drove on 18th Street to take the kids to the library and would always admire and be in awe of her beautiful flowers. Grace's flowers were part of the reason that I bought this house, I got to enjoy her flowers every day. I feel so at home here because our neighborhood is in a citrus grove and I grew up surrounded by citrus groves and cotton fields.

This is an Indian Paintbrush which grows wild in northern Arizona. It is one of my favorite Arizona wildflowers.

My roses are so beautiful right now. These are called Rio Samba and they start yellowish-orange and end up a bright pink. My Peace rose tends to get the biggest. I picked one today that is about 7 inches in diameter. It is just amazing. I took a picture of it, but haven't downloaded it yet. Maybe I'll show it to you next time. Mom has taught me to grow roses. She is the pro and has always grown beautiful roses. When our kids were little she would grow experimental roses for Jackson and Perkins. They were always a surprise and she got to name them herself. She named one after each of her grandchildren. They would visit Grandma and Grandpa and get to see their rose too.

This is part of our new patio. It used to be a hot tub, but we turned it into a planter. Our friend Chris did the tile work. We also covered the cool deck with red bricks. The kids drew on the bricks with chalk when they were here and we enjoy their chalk art still. I suppose it will eventually wear away, but until then it is a fun reminder of their stay.

This is Dilly picking some white flowers around our cabin in Flagstaff. It's great to be able to go for a walk and see so many wildflowers. There's a hill where Indian Paint Brush bloom every year and lupin bloom under the big pine tree next to our porch.

In Memory of Pop Dixon

These pictures are posted in memory of Clarence Dixon, the Dad of my lifelong best girlfriend Janice. He passed from this world today and will be missed by many. I was so thankful that he was able to stay here long enough to see his three girls Janice, Ruth Ann and Laurie one last time. His soul flew away to join our Father in Heaven just 20 minutes after Janice and Ruthie arrived at his bedside. Blest be to God!

The roses were taken at sunset from my garden. At sunset, we can often see the most beautiful and colorful sky. Sunrise and sunset, the beginning and ending of each day are so touching to us. I think this is because like the beginning and end of life we are so close to touching God.

I love hummingbirds and love trying to capture their beauty on film. They come and go so fast. They seem to really enjoy zipping around their universe. Just look at those faces! They seem magical as they hover quietly in place or do aeronautical acrobatics while flying so fast that the human eye cannot follow their antics. Their colors change as they turn in and out of the sunshine. The sunshine turns a gray or brown into a brillant shimmering red.