'Nuff Said

I don't have a photo...

But I saw the neatest thing yesterday. I had been procrastinating getting blood work/labs done, but I finally decided to go in to the clinic yesterday. Due to the procedure, I was "fasting", and although waiting patiently, a little cranky because I was hungry. Just ask Jared. He knows all about making sure to buy me a snack if I am cranky. Around 8:30, I checked in to the clinic, but I wasn't finished (partly due to the fact that I had to pee in a cup, too), until 9:45. Since I started working full-time permanently (my interim clearance was finally pushed through with a waiver from the SJA) I knew I needed to pick up some breakfast on the way back to the office, in order to protect my office mates from my wrath. The single fast-food joint with a drive-thru window (on post) is Burger King, and since that was pretty much my only option, I stopped. I ended up ordering a #8 for breakfast--the Whopper meal. Apparently no one else was ordering burgers that early (why would they?), so they made me pull up out of the drive-thru lane and wait while my burger and french fries were made (I didn't mind waiting--at least I knew they were fresh!). I parked next to a bunch of little jasmine bushes and noticed that they had lots of funnel-shaped spider webs at the bottom of them. All of a sudden, a Rufous or immature Ruby-throated hummingbird appeared, and started eating the bugs stuck on the webs. I am sure it got a few spiders, too! The bird was really quick, and tearing the spiderwebs apart when it would go back for more bugs. Pretty neat! A lot of people mistakenly think that hummingbirds only drink nectar, but in reality, the nectar is more equivalent to "red bull" for the mini birds. Nectar provides them with hydration and energy, for sure, but realistically, the birds eat quite a few insects, providing them with the majority of the protein they consume.

Mother I Love You, Mother I Do

Thanks, Mom!

Without you, we couldn't have had this kind of family:

or this kind of fun:

and I wouldn't have graduated high school:

or college:

and most importantly, I wouldn't have got here:

I love you!

Budweiser Clydesdales

The weather was beautiful this weekend. We decided to go to the local Festival of the Southwest, with attractions including carnival rides, music and vendors.

Additionally, the infamous Budweiser Clydesdale horses made an appearance at the festival on both Saturday and Sunday.

There are 10 Budweiser Clydesdales, and 8 of them pull the iconic wagon; 2 are used as alternates. The two strongest horses are harnessed last--up front. They must be strong enough to start pulling the wagon, and strong enough to stop it without any aid from the other horses.

Here is a shot of Barney and his beautifully braided hair; the handlers braid all the horses hair with red and white ribbons before they are harnessed to the wagon.

Their harnessing equipment is kept in one big Budweiser semi-truck, separate from the animals.

The below picture is of Regel, who is over 6 feet tall!

The long white hairs on a Clydesdale (from the knees down) is called feathering. Look how large his horseshoe is!

Once they were all hooked up, they took a stroll around town...

Garden Update

Peaches

Apples

Apricots

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

One of my favorite children's books is Dr. Suess' The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.

In this story, the mischievous Cat decides to take a bath while eating a piece of cake. This results in a mysterious pink ring around Sally's tub after the water from the bath is drained. As a little girl, while reading this book with my mom, my head would swirl with questions. What flavor was the pink cake? Why did the Cat use Mom's White Dress and Dad's Shoes to wipe the ring up when simple soap and a wash cloth could have done it? Did all those little cats really fit into Cat's hat? How did they get the pink out of the snow when you can't even do that with yellow dog pee?

At any rate, I know how you can get your very own pink ring in the tub without having to eat cake in the tub first. You simply need to own a semi-feral cat named Roxy (who rolls around in the clay-like dirt of Sierra Vista at every chance), and give her a bath. Voila!

(a glimpse of her recent bath water)

BeepBeep

For those of you who have never seen a REAL roadrunner before (Wile E. Coyote cartoons don't count), here is a picture of one Jared and I spotted on-post. it has been my experience that they are quick little creatures, so I was excited to have the camera on hand and an opportunity to snap a shot.

A few minutes laters, it rustled its feathers. Although we didn't see any predators, we figure he got scared or sensed something we could not.