There's lots of critter activity in the Chiricahuas, Portal, Rodeo and surrounding areas in August.  The birds are beginning to migrate and the arachnids are searching for mates.  Caterpillars are eating their way across the yards and along the roadways.  Wild grapes are ripe for the picking.  They are incredibly small, but tasty none the less.  There's a lot of snake activity, though we haven't seen a rattler in our yard yet, just a small garter snake and lots of alligator lizards.  One in particular had an encounter with a bird or other predator that got all of it's tail.  His movement now is not quite as graceful as a fully tailed lizard, but he seems to be doing just fine hunting among the wisteria vine outside our kitchen window.

We went with our friends Stevie and Greg to Palomos Mexico on Friday.  Bud & I had never been there.  It's a nice drive across Highway 9 in New Mexico as far as Columbus, then just 3 miles south to the border crossing.  In Palomos, we picked up a couple of bottles of antibiotics & a couple bottles of Kahlua, then had lunch at the famous Pink Store.  What a neat place and the food was excellent!  They sell handmade Mexican tiles, so when I re-tile the rest of my kitchen counters, I'll get the tiles there instead of Tucson.

We stopped in Hachita which is pretty much a ghost town and marveled at the beautiful stone church that is still standing but in dire need of restoration.  The old school house next door was probably once the rectory for the church.  New Hachita replaced the old mining town of old Hachita after the El Paso and Southwestern railroad was built in the early 1900s to ship ore to the Douglas smelter in Arizona.  When mining shut down, the railway shut down and the small towns along the route have gone the way of the earlier mining towns of the bootheel and southeast Arizona.

In Columbus New Mexico we passed the Pancho Villa State Park, which interprets the history of the invasion the United States at Columbus New Mexico by Pancho Villa and his soldiers in 1916. This attack led to General "Black Jack" Pershing pursuing Villa with 10,000 soldiers 400 miles into Mexico for 11 months, but they failed to capture Villa.  According to history, it was the first time an airplane was used during combat by our military.   That little known invasion is the last time that foreign forces invaded the Continental United States.  
Another interesting side trip in Columbus is to The Perfect Man Shrine.  I kid you not,  The Perfect Man, Avatar Meher Baba, is honored in the tiny town of Columbus New Mexico and though it is no longer being maintained, there were still pamphlets about the enlightened one who is honored by this replica of his tomb in India.  

New Mexico Highway 9 goes all the way to El Paso and for those who like to avoid interstates, it's a great alternative route to travel.  

Just a follow-up on our story of the "Little Guy" finally breaking down in the Chiricahuas.  Bud, Brandon & Luke went up the mountain yesterday with a trailer and after several hours of exhaustive work, got the Toyota onto the trailer, lashed down and brought it down to Portal where I got to empty the many years worth stuff that had accumulated under and behind the seats.  They were ahead of a storm that eventually dumped some rain on us, but at least they were back on pavement by that time.

Brandon bought the truck and hauled it back to his Elfrida home.  He'll have quite a project on his hands, but we are relieved that we won't have to put any money into getting the truck back on the road. It's a job for a younger person for sure.  The truck looks great!  You'd never know it had a busted lower ball joint.  We know it will be a good truck for Brandon when he gets it fixed.  We're also grateful to Brandon and Luke for their help and hard work.  If not for them, we don't know how we would've gotten it out of there.

So we headed to Long Park yesterday which is about 2 miles past Rustler Park Campground on a rocky mountain forest road.  We were driving our 1995 Toyota Tacoma which has never let us down in all it’s 400,000 plus miles.

This was going to be Bud’s first mountain hike since his knee surgery in July and we’ve been walking every day to get his legs in shape, so we felt good about the day.  We had a good breakfast of bacon, egg & potato burritos and packed a lunch of sandwiches and grapes.

As we slowly made our way up the rough narrow road, we had to back up to a wide spot to let two vehicles pass that were coming down from Long Park.  We passed the trailhead to Bootlegger’s Saddle and about 100 yards beyond that we bounced over an unimpressive rock and heard a loud bang and we stopped dead in our tracks.

We both said “that can’t be good” and I looked out the passenger window and the front wheel was parallel to the axle instead of perpendicular.  Definitely NOT GOOD.

We got out and accessed the situation.  The ball joint had broken and the wheel was still connected, but no way to hold it aligned to roll with the others.  We were sure we were not going anywhere in a hurry.

Bud thought if we could jack it up and drop the wheel onto the ball, it might hold enough to drive out, but after working at it, we could see that once we took the jack out, nothing would hold it together.  So......... plan B, my idea was to take some wire and wrap it around the works and twist it tight to hold the wheel and ball joint together and maybe we could at least get it off the road so other trucks could get by.  I walked down to the trailhead for Bootlegger Saddle Trail with my trusty pliers and cut a piece of old barbed wire (that was not strung to anything important)  and Bud twisted it around the whole mess and when we let down the jack, everything stayed together.  Small success.  

In the meantime, a fellow came up the road behind us and another truck came down from Long Park.  Both were bear hunters who were tracking their dogs, but could not get around our roadblock.  Brandon and Luke were coming down.  They had a dog still out that they were hoping to catch up to as it moved down the drainage toward the Turkey Creek crossing.  The guy behind us backed down to the wide spot and turned around and went back down.  Bud started the truck and tried to go forward, thinking it would be better to go slowly forward to a spot to turn around.  The truck just spun it’s tires, so I found a wide spot behind us about 40 feet and Bud tried to back up.  Again the tires just spun, so I got in front and pushed and we were able to maneuver the truck to one side and leave a wide enough spot to allow other trucks to get by.   As Brandon and Luke came by, we asked if they could give us a ride to Portal and they agreed, so we grabbed our packs, sticks and camera from the trusty “Desert Rat” and left him there on the mountain.

We had mixed emotions over leaving him there. (yes, he's a him!) Bud bought that truck new in 1995 and it has never left him stranded.  It has over 400,000 miles on it and all original parts except for a starter and fuel pump.

The “Little Guy” as Bud calls him, has been a great, dependable vehicle and this event hasn’t changed how we feel about him, but now we worry that this may be the beginning of the end for “Little Guy”.

Coming down the mountain, Luke was tracking his dog with GPS and the dog was staying put about a mile up Turkey Creek, so we pulled off the road and the guys headed up the creek.  Bud & I walked behind them for about 45 minutes, so we did get a little hike in before returning to their truck to wait for them.  It was a busy area.  There was a group of German researchers from the Southwest Research Station collecting or monitoring ants in the smaller drainage just past Turkey Creek and the other group of bear hunters were tracking their wayward dogs in the same drainage.

While waiting there, we had our sandwiches and watched vehicles go by and about 3 hours after heading up the creek, the guys came out with their dog in a backpack.  The dog was alert but he had fallen off a waterfall, so he was pretty banged up.  He did not appear to be in shock or have internal injuries, but was definitely going to be sore for a few days.

Coming down the mountain, Brandon asked Bud “what would you take for that truck where it sits?”  Bud said “if you can get it out of there, I’ll sell it to you for $1000.  Brandon asked for our phone number and said he was definitely interested.

This morning Brandon called and he and Luke were coming out from Elfrida to see if they could get it down off the mountain.  Bud decided if they get it down and want to buy it, he’d sell it for $700.00.

Though it’s been good to us, we can see that once things start breaking, it’s like a job on old plumbing, as you fix one thing, something else breaks.

So, Bud is up on the mountain with Brandon and Luke.  I hope they are successful in getting the “Little Guy” on the trailer and back down here.  

Stay tuned for updates to this saga……….

July has come and gone and left us with a Blue Moon, the second full moon of the month.  My grandmother, mother, and siblings all communicate through the full moon, so it's a special time to remember Mom & Nano and the others who have left this earthly life.  That night the Arizona Banjo Blasters performed at an outdoor venue in Green Valley Arizona, but didn't get to see the moon, thanks to the monsoon clouds & rain!  Luckily a good number of fans stayed around for the entire 2 hour concert.  And the band has concluded that a two hour show is an hour too long!

Bud had been in Tucson for two weeks and was anxious to get back to Portal.  He had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee on July 20th and is feeling 100% better and is able to walk on fairly even ground for about 2 miles and hopefully will be hiking again soon.   It's was torturous for Bud to not being able to get out and walk, so we're both happy to be enjoying the outdoors again.  

The nectar feeding bats are visiting our hummingbird feeders again. These bats are smaller than the ones earlier in the summer and not very cooperative when I try to get photos. 

It's been a fairly dry week and hot in Tucson, but tolerable here in Portal.  We still see the Great Horned Owl fledgling on occasion with his/her Mama.  He's still food begging quite a bit, so he hasn't mastered hunting yet.  The migration seems to have begun for hummingbirds.  We've noticed a few more at the feeders lately and the Black Headed Grosbeaks have returned to the yard after raising their families.  Yesterday a couple Lazuli Buntings visited the yard.

We took a walk the other evening around the block on Cathedral Rock Road and after taking photos of an interesting weevil of some sort, I was startled by the rattling of a large rattlesnake on the edge of the road.  I had been distracted, telling Bud about the bug, and not watching ahead like I usually do, so I was startled and jumped back, tripping over my own feet and falling backward where my elbow landed right on a stag horn cholla joint.  OUCH!  Bud found two sticks and flicked the cactus out of my arm as the snake continued to rattle and flick his tongue to determine what kind of a threat we posed.   I quickly focused and got some great pics of the defensive Black Tailed Rattlesnake.  He was a good 3-3 1/2 feet long and well fed, but he let us know he was not to be messed with, so after a few photos, I lowered the camera and he slid away into the brush.   Of all the rattlesnakes we've encountered on the trails or in our yards, the Black-tailed has always rattled a warning well before we are close and often until we leave the area.  Most of the Diamondbacks we've met, remain still and quiet, another defensive maneuver using their camouflage in hopes of not being seen and molested.  We never mess with rattlers, only taking photos, unless it is right outside our door, then Bud will move the snake with long handled grippers just far enough so our dogs don't stumble onto it. :)

We've had a few house guests the past week.  Friends John and Mary Hunt from New Jersey spent two nights in our Bird Haven and last night Ron & Paige Hinkle stopped on their way home from the All Frets Convention.  Living here in Portal is like heaven on earth and we're so grateful to be able to call this home.  

The monsoon is a time for courtship, mating and laying eggs among the invertebrates that make their homes in southeastern Arizona. Bud & I drove to Animas the other day and noticed a lot of millipedes crossing the road.  These many-legged critters are rarely seen because the are nocturnal and spend most of their lives underground.   During the monsoons, they are often washed up to the surface and onto the roadways.  I imagine it is their time to find mates too so they are on the move.  Tarantulas, Tarantula Hawks, Palo Verde Beetles and Blister Beetles are some of the other invertebrates we encounter this time of year.  And ANTS, we can't forget the ants.  If you never seen an ant hatch, you're missing quite and event as hundreds of winged, mostly male ants emerge from a small hole in the ground, fly up in a cloud of ants where they attempt to mate with a flying queen, before dropping back to the earth, where the males generally die rather quickly.  The mated females (queens) will attempt to establish a new colony.   In addition, we see  an occasional Vinegaroon.  Quite scary looking, but relatively harmless.  They simply spray a vinegary liquid to deter their predators.  Very secretive, they don't come out in the open often.
The creek is running quite nicely now and the restoration that was done in the creaked behind our neighbors house seems to be keeping the creek where it should be.  Hopefully we won't get another onslaught like we did last September from Hurricane Odile.

We had a beautiful Celebration of Mother's life on July 3rd at Bethel Hill United Methodist Church in Lansdale Pennsylvania.  Tom Hallam and George Alt, two of our former pastors officiated and family & friends reflected on Jean's life and how she brought a ray of sunshine into the lives of those who knew her.  Shared memories left us smiling and crying at the same time.  Our cousin Deb Hogshead played the organ and did a beautiful medley of Love Walked In & Oh Promise Me.   Mom's ashes were buried with Daddy in the cemetery across from the church.  We placed flowers at the graves of Nano & Grandpa Perry too.

On July 4th 2015 the descendants of Miles, Wayne & Clarence Perry celebrated family together in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania at the home of Skip & Nona Alderfer.  There were 98 family members in attendance from across the country, from as far away as Alaska and as close as Pottstown.  Tom Perry Sr. was the oldest, at 92 and Sophie Alderfer the youngest, at 7 months.  The weather wasn't too cooperative, but with the tent we were able to stay dry and catch up with each other.  Some of us had never met, some had not seen each other for 50 years!  Thanks to Briana Bill, we created an art project of a family tree and each family branch got to paint a canvas to represent their branch.  It was a great project and when assembled the tree reflected the creativity and closeness of our family.  Each canvas was then sent home with the artist who created it. 
The Alderfer branch of Miles Perry's family was the largest of the families represented with my 4 siblings, their children and grand-children, totaling 52 people!  All 4 Hogshead cousins were there.  All 5 Shakeshaft cousins with their spouses & some grandkids.  All of the Nesters, 2 Bittings, & both of John Perrys daughters were there.  Uncle Bob & Aunt Joy from Illinois could not make it, Aunt Kathe and Aunt Becky could not make it.
Diane & Fred Martin represented the Clarence Perrys.  Maryellen & Bud Stuart, Linda Mather, Carol & Woody Woodcock, Tom & Sally Perry and Tom Perry Sr. represented the Wayne Perrys.
Re-uniting with family is a wonderful refresher and keeps us connected when we go about our daily lives.  We are so blessed to have a wonderful family.

Well, lots of lightning and thunder, but only 1/4 inch of rain from our first Monsoon storm yesterday.  Today, the clouds came in real black, with distant thunder, but it just passed by us with a little bit of spit and that's all we got.  I've taken the volunteer position of "Keeper of the Green" in downtown Portal.  That is simply a task of watering Shaughnessy Park, in front of the Post Office and Library.  There are three pine trees, each with a story behind it's planting, and the gal that previously tended to them has passed the torch to me, and the next generation of Portalites.   It's just 100 yards from our house, so I can walk down and drag the hose across the parking lot and leave it run very slowly overnight, then go coil up the hose in the morning and I leave the hose in a pan of water in the birding area next to the library so the wildlife can get a drink when they're thirsty.  I'm giving the area a good drink this weekend and with the monsoon rains, I shouldn't have to worry about it again until fall, unless the rains don't materialize.
It's pleasantly cool this evening with clouds and a nice breeze, so even though we didn't get much rain, we are still feeling the benefit of the cooler temps.
Last night while taking down the bird feeders, I noticed eye-shine on the oranges we have out for the birds and as I got closer I could see it was a large Black Witch Moth.  Very cool.  6 inch wingspan on these dark moths make them look like a bat when they are perched or flying.  His long proboscis (tongue) was deep in the meat of the orange to get the juice.  We never know what we're going to see when we go out our door here in Portal.  Just one of the many reasons we love it here.

It's been hot here in southern Arizona.  We spent nearly a week in Tucson with record highs of 109-ish.  Enjoyed visits with Melody and the boys and are happy to be back in beautiful Portal.  It's quiet, people-wise here this time of year, but wildlife abounds!  The baby Great Horned Owls have fledged.  A Western Screech Owl nestling is still perched in the nest cavity of a Sycamore tree next to the Portal Store and the Elf Owls are busy feeding young.  We are seeing lots of other fledglings too, Bridled Titmice, Cardinals, House Finches, Blue Grosbeaks, Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers, Acorn Woodpeckers, Lesser Goldfinches.......too many to list.
We watched a Bronzed Cowbird displaying for females on several occasions, but so far as we can tell the females are not impressed, even though I was!  He finishes off his display by levitating straight up into the air about 3 feet above the female, then slowly drops back to the ground and stares at her with his red eyes and best Darth Vader impression.
The usual skunks, foxes, raccoons and deer show up in the yard regularly and a black bear visited once, but we bring in all the feeders at night, so there is nothing for him to score here except the fruit on our trees.
Speaking of our fruit trees, I just harvested peaches from our peach tree!  They are small, but very sweet!  YUMMMMMM!  The birds, chipmunks, squirrels and deer have beat me to most of the peaches, but I got a good handful in two days of decent fruit, so I'm okay with sharing.  We have Apples, Pears, Peaches, Pomegranates, Persimmons & Pistachio......Don't know if we'll get to enjoy any of the other fruit before the bear returns, but I hope so!
The monsoon has threatened a bit, but hasn't really gotten started here yet.  We anxiously await a good monsoon rain and hope we get several over the next 3 months.

Being a birding community, it just seems so natural to have a Great Horned Owl family as neighbors.  We've been watching this pair since February and through May there has been a nightly gathering of birders from around the world hoping for a glimpse of Mama Owl feeding or tending to her owlets.  The first nestling came out of the nest cavity branching on May 12th and 9 days later I was lucky to capture on video, the father bringing a mouse, handing (well, beaking) it off to the Mama and she in turn fed it to the branching nestling.  We thought there must be another nestling that hadn't branched yet and sure enough, after this one fledged, the second nestling emerged for a nightly show for the birding public.  Locals as well as folks from Germany, Canada, Great Britain and states across our country gathered for the nightly show.   It was 9 days Being a birding community, it just seems so natural to have a Great Horned Owl family as neighbors.  We've been watching this pair since February and through May there has been a nightly gathering of birders from around the world hoping for a glimpse of Mama Owl feeding or tending to her owlets.  The first nestling came out of the nest cavity branching on May 12th and 9 days later I was lucky to capture on video, the father bringing a mouse, handing (well, beaking) it off to the Mama and she in turn fed it to the branching nestling.  We thought there must be another nestling that hadn't branched yet and sure enough, after the first one fledged, the second nestling emerged for a nightly show for the birding public.  Locals as well as folks from Germany, Canada, Great Britain and states across our country gathered for the nightly show.   On Saturday, it was 9 days since first peaking out of the nest cavity,  for nestling #2, & Sunday, Mama wasn't in her normal day perch where she kept an eye on the nest, so we figured owlet #2 had flown Saturday night and sure enough, as we looked for it, a mobbing by the annoying acorn woodpeckers alerted us to the adults and we soon spotted the newly fledged owlet #2 on a branch of a dead sycamore on the creeks edge, near the nest tree.  Since Mama has moved her day perch location, we doubt there is a third nestling, but we'll continue watching for a few more days just to make sure there isn't a third nestling waiting his time in the limelight.
to see the video, cut & paste this link: