Critters in the Yard

There's a bird with a 'very safe' nest in the cholla cactus out front (picture left). At least we're not going to reach in to touch her. Jon saw some babies in the nest this evening.

Jon also found this turtle (picture right) in the raspberries the other day. The turtle seems to be fond of the berries, but this evening we found him out in the front in the small garden area next to the house.

You're not in Kansas anymore. Yes, New Mexico has tornados also, and this one occurred along the freeway to Santa Fe, near Santo Domingo where I often stop for gas. The police of course had to play their role by shutting down the interstate for an hour. Quite an atmospheric feat, as the funnel had to rise at least two miles into the cloud bottom. This happened on June 9 while we were at the Finance Officers convention in California. We had a half inch of rain that day.

The roofers have been here all day, completely tearing off the old roof and installing a new one. I sure wish I had taken Spanish in school, but the crew boss was able to barely communicate with me. The truck with the back end that can be raised to roof level is sort of kewl. A couple of huge propane tanks not in the picture heat the tar wagons which deliver tar up a pipe to rooftop level. The only downside was that I scheduled this on a garbage pickup day and the trucks and cars from the roofing company probably will result in non-collection of my trash and the neighbor's trash. I'm not anticipating their reaction with joy. Typical hot pre-monsoon June day; cloudless and about 95 degrees outside.

The Disney complex is much more built up than I remember. Two more Disney Hotels; The Grand Californian and Paradise Pier border the west side of Disneyland, and Disney Downtown, a big mall area sits between Disneyland and the California park. All around are lush trees and vegitation hiding the parks and parking lots. I took this picture because of the profuse stands of Lilly of the Nile, which Mother really enjoyed and planted in the back yard of our home.

The Crab Cooker is still alive and well and we couldn't miss a lunch there. Just as good as ever, and I was marking 50 years since I first walked into the place for a cup of clam chowder after a day of ocean fishing. I hope to keep going back in years to come. Notice up on the wall the 'solid gold rib from a solid gold whale'.

Paul flew from Albuquerque and Marolynn drove down from Salt Lake to a conference that Paul was attending this week. We were situated well in the Hilton just south of Disneyland, but still stole a morning to head for Newport and Laguna. Here's a veiw of Marolynn on the steps down to Woods Cove, our favorite beach in Laguna. The bright flowers are Bougainvilla, much in bloom, though it is record dry in Southern California. We discovered that an old landmark, the Pottery Shack in Laguna had been replaced by a restaurant, sad to say, after so many years.