07.01.07

Boy has it been a long time since I posted!

I have several blog entries I've been working on, but I have to admit my motivation is kind of low.

I think it must have something to do with being in one place for so long.

I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this Camp Hosting business. On one hand, I really enjoy it. I like meeting all these new people, and I certainly like having folks in Lazy Daze come to visit. The work is not hard at all, mostly social, which I enjoy a lot, but I feel a kind of ennui setting in that has me puzzled.

I believe that it stems from several places, one being that we are under the trees. Manzano Mountains State Park is lovely, small and pleasant, but I miss the wonderful open skies that I've grown to love so much. One of our duties here is to lock the gate at 8:00pm and when we drive out to the gate, every time I see that open sky, it's like my heart opens up.

Also, I think it's got a lot to do with being settled in one spot, a kind of lethargy sets in.

Lest you think that I am unhappy here, let me tell you a bit about what I love.

The wildlife here is varied and amusing. We have a little lizard who lives in our fire pit. He's quite fat and happy and seems to like us as well as we like him, so we have named him Jack.

A breed of squirrels know as Abert Squirrels are all over the park. They are quite unusual, with exceptionally full tails and high tufted ears. Their back legs are quite large and sort of resemble those of a jack rabbit making them quite agile. Using their powerful legs, they have the ability to jump from tree to tree, often going great distances without touching the ground. They could almost be confused with flying squirrels, but they have no arm flaps, and really just jump but they're quite a site.

We have put a bird feeder outside our living room window and the squirrels seem to like it as much (if not more) than the birds. Manzano is directly in the migration path, so we have lots of birds for short periods of time. Except for the hummingbirds and the Stellar Jays, most come for a week or so then move on.

About the hummingbirds . . .

They are pretty amazing. We have a suction cup feeder on one window and it's great to watch them come right up to feed. We recently added two more feeders on our "patio" and we often have four or more at one time. They're quite noisy but so beautiful. We have one little white female who is quite fearless and buzzes us almost every day. They're also pretty pushy when the feeder runs out (which seems to be every other day or so.

We've been trying to get good pictures of the squirrels and the hummers, but unlike Jack the lizard, they just refuse to stay still, so the pictures aren't close to the reality.

Well, that's it for now, hopefully I'll get on the move and finish some of the posts about the amazing pueblos of the Salinas Basin.