The Weekend's Over Already? Whaa.

So I think most of the destruction phase of the median is over. It certainly caused a lot of hoopla.



They took out some really nice fountains, the sculpture portions I'm guessing will be put back eventually. Then they leave this ugly thing.

Like the rest of the project, I'll hold my judgment and see how it all turns out in a few months.

Friday night we headed to Grapeables for some reggae music by Walter Richardson. I wouldn't exactly bill him as reggae (nor does he really - he calls himself a "storyteller"), although he certainly looked the part. He had an interesting mix of music styles and a great smile.

When his friend came in on his guitar, and later someone else on the drum, the foot tapping and head bobbing really started. It was supposed to be over at 10:30pm, but they (and we) were having so much fun, it went until 11:30pm (making it a 4-hour jam). I love when that happens.

You'll note that the last time we were there, we whined about all the kids - we must not have been the only ones because, starting on May 2nd, Friday & Saturdays after 8pm will be for those over 21 only. Thank you.

Then a storm front moved through, it got cold (50s at night/60s during the day) - we even got a little rain. I refused to leave the house on Saturday. As a matter of fact, I stayed in my pajamas until 1pm, took a hot shower, and put on a different (warmer) pair of pajamas to finish out the day. We ate a huge tub of popcorn for dinner and went to bed. Sunday, the air was still full of dust from the wind (my eyes are bloodshot, Michael's nose is running). After Michael made an omelet the size of Ohio, we knew we had to try to get some exercise in, so headed for the Fountain Overlook Trail. Can you see the haze?



We were followed by a turkey vulture for a bit, which was unnerving because I'd just received our life insurance policy 2 months early and gotten an unsolicited letter from a funeral planning service, suggesting I start planning. A friend told me not to worry, these things come in threes, and then this vulture followed me. Hmmmmm.



One bird I've had on my must-see list is a roadrunner. Even when we lived here last time, we rarely saw them, so I always thought it was cool when we did. Since our return, I've heard them every once in awhile, but they've been surprisingly absent on all our outings. Until now. I saw two Friday, and Michael saw one. Today, one ran out in front of both of us.



Not sure about the resemblance. Real life road runners don't sound like the cartoon version either. You can play all their calls here. They're quite distinct.

This is going to be a long week of work, it's sort of feast or famine for me, so I'll be ready for some Cinco De Mayo fun next weekend.

Goodbye Trees

Here's how Fountain Hills celebrated Earth Day. Moving earth.



The palm trees went down first. Transplanting? Not "economically feasible." This coming from a town that spends thousands on art... Wonder if the contractor even asked anyone if they wanted them (if so, never mind then).

I try not to get political here since everyone has a different opinion, and I don't want to alienate anyone, but every once in awhile I need to vent a little (I don't seem to be the only one). In the name of beautification, Fountain Hills has decided to spend 1.2 million dollars to upgrade a median on the main thoroughfare in town (for the 1st time since its installation in the 1970s, when the town was founded). No biggie, except that the project required the removal of over 30 trees (out of 45) - right in the middle of nesting season - some simply because they block the view of the fountain (19 of those). Hrmph.



Going down:







Not only could birds be nesting in the branches, but there are some birds and other animals that could be using the trunk as a place to nest too - so you wouldn't see them until you took the tree down and chopped it up (examples). There is a federal law that prohibits "taking" nests & eggs of migratory birds without a permit (via U.S. Fish & Wildlife). The list of migratory birds is immense (1,026 species). If there were any raptors, like owls, and other specific bird species hiding out in any of those trees, I think the AZ Game & Fish Department would have also come into play (it did in Chandler). Occupied nests mean babies - adult birds don't use nests. Of course, the question is did the contractors doing the cutting see any nests? Will they in the remaining trees? The answer is yes, they found one Wednesday. Does it change anything? Not really.

A regional park ranger, Fountain Hills resident, and many-animal-causes volunteer was immediately on this when she saw the construction fencing go up and asked them to contact her if anyone saw a nest - she'd take it and bring it to Liberty Wildlife (where we both volunteer - and you can too). She and someone from the Town of Fountain Hills were on-site before the chopping began, looking themselves. You couldn't have had somebody better on it, but it would have been hard to see anything in some of the trees that came down (like the palms) or those about to. Until they came down...

This should be transplanted.

I wasn't living here when this plan was debated on and voted for (about 2 years ago - one person did vote against all this, if it's any consolation), but there were quite a few people who seem taken by surprise by it all. I'm not sure why - there were public meetings, and the Fountain Hills Times has done several stories on it. The plan has been been posted online and available to the public for two years. Any long-timers who are upset by this need to pay more attention. But like most projects, when something is complex, we don't know its impact on everything until the individual steps start getting implemented. Median upgrade - shrug. Tree removals in prime nesting season - wait! And what sounds nice, replace 30 trees with 60, doesn't look so good when those 30 trees actually come down.

The final plan, end date Oct/Nov, involves more trees to be planted (60), so in the long run, this will just be a blip, and many birds will be born another day in new canopies as if nothing happened. I'm not really against the project (some of the improvements, like irrigation and the replacement of long-gone trees, were necessary), but I do question the timing. And I have to wonder if some of the comments that were said on social media in the past few days would have been said in a town meeting. There was a lot of unhelpful, immature, and even bullying banter going on, but through the noise some people rallied and took some meaningful action. Kudos to them.

We've got your back, little guys!

Short and Sweet

This weekend's hike was Spur Cross Ranch in Cave Creek. I see great pictures all the time of so many animals spotted in that park that I wanted to check it out. Not only does the ranger come across wildlife a lot, but they have a critter cam that takes photos of animals not normally seen. If you've got Facebook, check out their photos. We took a pretty one-hour drive, paid our $3 entry fee, grabbed a trail map, and took off. You'll note that this mountain range is not quite as severe as the mountains we've been hiking.


We decided to do a 2 1/2 mile loop initially (seen in blue, heading north) - from the Spur Cross Trail (SX) to Metate Trail (MT).

It was very easy, and yet it had so much to look at. We went at a very leisurely pace and were done in 40 minutes. If you want to work off your Easter ham or chocolate bunnies, this is the place to do it without hurting yourself.

We crossed a creek a couple of times. No need to get the feet wet though, there were boards to cross.



And we were so close to the cactus. It was a really neat walk.

You'll recall that we ran across a lot of wildflowers and blooming cacti on our last hike. This one had quite a lot too, but most were succulents. While there were lots and lots of prickly pear in bloom,

the saguaros also joined in this time.



We'd never seen this flower before.

Check out this complicated saguaro. I have no idea what Michael's doing there, but you can see how dwarfed he is by this thing.

Here's what a saguaro skeleton looks like.

We smelled blooming creosote the whole time. At one point, we came across some plants that looked like they were on irrigation - in the midst of the regular wild flora. How would that get there, and why? And then we came upon this pond (full of fish and frogs), located in what they called a solar oasis. Water is pumped from the old ranch well using solar energy, and they're bringing that water to newly planted Ironwood trees. Huh.



Look how thick and complex this spiderweb is. Yikes!



When we realized we were done after 40 minutes, we turned back onto Spur Cross Trail, the opposite way of the parking lot (seen on the map above in green arrows). We headed south and back to the parking lot, using the Dragon Fly Trail. It had a pretty view too. Can you see the bright green foliage in the distance?



It wasn't in the distance for long! We ended up right in there. Turns out it was Jewel of the Creek Preserve.



We ran across this cave that looked like it went pretty far back. I don't see it mentioned anywhere online, so am not sure what its story is. If we'd had a flashlight, we'd have gone in. Maybe next time. 

Michael wants to know if his butt looks big.



Then we crossed the creek again and ran into a different white flower.



We were back at the parking lot 2 hours after we'd left it. It was a really nice day. As far as wildlife, all we saw was a squirrel. We did watch 2 crows try to fend off a hawk from something clearly important to them, all three employing some amazing aerobatics. We're not sure who won. We took the whole thing at a more leisurely pace than we normally do, so weren't too tuckered out at the end. If hiking isn't your thing, you can always do it via horseback. There are number of stables nearby that offer trail rides.

Have a Happy Easter!

An Interesting Sundowner

Last night, we finally made it to the happy hour at Wicked Six Bar & Grill, located on the Sunridge Canyon Golf Course. We'd had this on our places-to-go list for awhile because they have someone play the bagpipes at sunset. That just seemed so weird to me that it was something I needed to experience. Every single happy hour in town runs from 3-6, except one at Copperwynd which is from 2-7pm (per their Facebook page). Six? You can tell this is a town of retirees... So needless to say, we rarely make happy hour because we actually have jobs and can't get there by 6, but we were able to hit the golf course bar by 5:30 last night and were glad we did.



The views are beautiful.



But you're not going to believe this. We got cold. It was 80 degrees out and cloudy. Brr.

That's my "I'm cold" face? 
And why do I look like I never have makeup on? Yeesh. 

I know, I couldn't believe it either. The server came to take our order, and I asked for a beer and a sweatshirt. He went to check if they could bring a metal heater out, but they didn't have any propane. Then he suggested we go by the fire. Why yes, I think I will.

And within 10 minutes, every single rocking chair was filled with other people who had moved by the fire because they too were cold. See, we weren't the only wimps, and most of those people were from colder climates half the year.

Beer, pizza (yummy), great view, and music. Perfect.



The singer, Mike Marriot, was really good. I'd compare him to Cat Stevens. He was quite soothing. Of course, most of us were talking over him. The horseshoe-shaped chair set-up lent itself well to chatting it up with your neighbors, so before we knew it, we were best buddies with a couple from Seattle and swapping contact info. Soon it was time...  Off in the distance, we could hear the bagpipes, and then like some strange mirage, the piper walked toward us. It was as weird as I thought it would be, but fitting.

Before the sundown send-off started, we were all given a free, small shot of Macallan Scotch. Bottom's up!



Yes, I'm holding my nose. Scotch, yuck! But it did ensure we were no longer chilly.

We and our new WA friends actually closed the place down (which would be at 9pm - I know, we're party animals). I highly recommend coming here if you're in town. It was a lot of fun, and they do it every Friday night at sundown - so obviously, the time changes with the sunset.