This little fellow stood for the longest time looking at me. I got several pictures and told him I was going to put him on Facebook, at which point he scurried away.
Picture of the Moment—….and then he scurried away
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Tag Archives: squirrels
The Squirrels are beating the Rabbits, 4-2
On June 26, 1999, Jim and I closed on our first home. We were celebrating 5 years together. Although it was much too big for two people—
3,984 square feet on 1.83 acres of land with a 45,000-gallon swimming pool and a 15,000-gallon spa
—we probably would still be living there if Enron of Houston had been not so greedy….
In June 2000 our gas & electric bill was $4,700, a thousand dollars higher than our monthly mortgage. We never thought prices would come down so we decided to sell. We closed escrow on the sale on June 26, 2001, exactly two years to the day after we bought it. It wasn’t until December 2001 that the world found out that Enron had been manipulating the energy markets west of the Mississippi River. After Enron’s bankruptcy, energy prices here in San Diego did come back down.
That was the largest house and the largest yard we have had. We rented a house from 2001 to 2002 while looking for a house to buy. We settled on one that was 1,588 square feet on ¼ acre. We stayed there for five years when we decided to downsize, which basically meant going someplace without a yard. My poor body just wasn’t into yard maintenance anymore.
We lived in condominiums from 2007 to 2017, one of them 50 feet up in the air, before deciding that we’d rather be back on solid ground. Our new home, which we moved into on July 21, 2017, is 1,440 square feet and has a yard which has not been landscaped. So I have a little work to do there, but the yard is not too large so I think it is manageable, especially since I’m going to switch to container gardening.
We are in the boondocks, so we have a lot of wildlife out here, and I think container gardening will be less disruptive to their way of life. The living room looks out on a corner which is conducive to watching the wildlife. That corner is where I feed and water the wildlife. This morning I got a picture of four squirrels and two rabbits sharing among themselves.
Since baseball season is nearing an end, we’ll say the score is 4-2, Squirrels over Rabbits. But it’s just the top of the second inning.
Even got a picture of a rabbit taking a bath. Who knew?
I also had two unknown birds stop by this morning for bird baths, so I guess I need a bird feeder, too.
I don’t know what kind of bird that is, but it’s quite beautiful with its long, curved beak.
I have named the corner “Wildlife Corner.”
With our new window tinting, I can now get right up against the window because the wildlife outside cannot see into the house. It will make for great picture taking, and once I get the living room floor cleaned, I’ll set up my camera on a tripod so I can take videos. These squirrels and rabbits are just way too much fun to watch.
Picture of the Moment—What fascinates Zoey the Cool Cat each day
This is just some of the early morning wildlife action that Zoey the Cool Cat is fascinated with each day at our new home. Occurs from sunup to about 9:00 a.m., after which Zoey the Cool Cat sleeps for the rest of the day.
This is day 35 in our new home and I’m close to getting everything unpacked, cleaned, and into its new space. I’m aiming for September 1 to be complete so I can start exploring Southern California again and blogging about what’s out there.
Meanwhile, if you’re coming to San Diego for any reason, remember that my annual pass to the San Diego Zoo provides me with four free passes. Give me a call when you get here and if I haven’t already given them away, they can be yours. They will get you into either the San Diego Zoo or the Safari Park. I can highly recommend going to the Zoo one day and Safari Park another day.
I’m putting you on Facebook!
A couple of days ago I found the Bennington Memorial Oak Grove. The place was full of squirrels. Well, duh. Oaks. Acorns. Squirrels.
One squirrel sat there and stared at me for the longest time as I was taking pictures of other things. Finally, I focused the camera on the little one, said out loud, “I’m putting you on Facebook!” and pushed the shutter button.
Here’s the result:
Obviously the little one did not want to be on Facebook. Probably knew that Twitler has sold his privacy rights to big corporations and didn’t want them to know where his acorns are stashed….
The Sea Lion Dance
Photographic Art stamps based on pictures of the wildlife at La Jolla Cove this past Monday.
I love the little girl dancing for the sea lions in the last picture. I’ll call it the Sea Lion Dance.
I’ll end with another sunset picture from Monday’s trip to La Jolla:
La Jolla is a great place to visit at any time. The tide pools and beaches are more accessible during low tides, and the there seem to be more wildlife, probably due to the sea creatures stranded in the tide pools.
You can find tide schedules here: La Jolla tides.
The best place to see the tide pools is at Rocky Point, shown on the map below.
Parking throughout La Jolla, especially during Tourist Season (Memorial Day to Labor Day), is scarce so be prepared to drive around for a while looking for a parking spot or park the first place you see a spot and walk to Scripps Park. A walk through downtown La Jolla is a great experience all on its own!
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“But Judge…. Everyone else was doing it, too!”
About a mile from me is Lake Murry.
I go there for a late afternoon walk; it’s a beautiful place.
It’s fun to watch the children and the wildlife.
In the second picture, notice that the little girl’s eyes are closed as she’s reaching out to that whatever-it-is bird (avian101?)
Recently two new signs showed up at the Lake:
In California, parents are responsible for the actions of their juvenile children, but wouldn’t you like to see the Officer who arrests the parents of that little girl for feeding that whatever-it-is bird? Viral video here we come….
Besides, who can resist feeding these creatures of Mother and Father Nature?
Wonder what these two pigeons are saying about the new signs:
I’m sure when I show the Judge this picture, s/he’ll let me off:
Of course, if s/he’s a Judge who rules on the law, I’m sunk. I’ll be back after serving my jail time and paying my $20,000 fine.
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Who knew there was so much life in a cemetery?
My home inspection yesterday was across the street from a huge cemetery. Cemeteries are rare here in San Diego, certainly much rarer than in my home state of Texas where I think there were just as many cemeteries as there were churches.
Although we used to play in the cemeteries in Kingsville, Texas, when I was growing up, and they have tours of cemeteries in New Orleans, I had not been in a cemetery in 20 or 25 years.
I took 357 pictures in the cemetery in a little over two hours. Here are fourteen of my favorites:
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
How long you gonna watch me?
I wonder if he has friends. Better check over here....
....and over here....
....and behind me.
Now that nobody's looking
Let it all hang out
See ya later!
The cemetery was actually quite relaxing, and I wasn’t the only one who thought that:
Mallards, a snow goose, and turtles
Squirrels were frolicking everywhere but were wary of me:
Where'd you come from?
Squirrel on a eucalyptus tree
I saved the best for last. I don’t know if the gal in this picture is a coyote or fox. I’m thinking it’s too big and too light to be a fox. Anyone?
Coyote or fox?
I was at Mt. Hope Cemetery, a municipal cemetery for the City of San Diego. Two other cemeteries are nearby: Holy Cross Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery; and Greenwood Memorial Park, an endowed care cemetery, which means you have to pay big bucks to be buried there.
Me?
Cremate me, scatter my ashes one-third at Blacks Beach in San Diego; one-third under the Century Oak at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas; and one-third on the railroad tracks at the Union Pacific Railroad yard in Omaha, Nebraska. Then forget about me and get back to enjoying life.
Oh, by the way. Ask me how many living people I saw in the cemetery in two hours.
YOU: Russel, how many living people did you see in the cemetery while you were there?
ME: Three. A San Diego Gas & Electric employee was hiding out in his company truck parked under a tree. He was sleeping. Probably wore himself out at the Padres game the day before when we beat the dastardly Dodgers 8-4. A groundskeeper was mowing the lawns. A lady was pulling weeds from around the headstone at the grave she was visiting, obviously not happy with the job the cemetery was doing.
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