Bunnies, bugs, birds, bovines, blooms, and making videos

Temperatures rising into the 90s causes me to be awake early enough to see lots of morning wildlife and gives me plenty of time for making videos.  I wish making videos included traveling, almost anywhere.  Instead, I’m taking the time to learn and experiment making videos.

Grand Canyon from Crazy Jug Point 7-8-15

With no shade on the 5th-wheel and temperatures in the 90s, I dreamed of summer travel to higher elevation.  I still think about working at 8000 feet at Bryce or Grand Canyon.  My first planned summer travels in 30 years would cover at least 5300 miles and cost $3000 or more just in diesel fuel.  That’s really not in the budget.  Yet if it consistently gets hotter here I’ll be weighing the balance between paying the electric for AC—which I don’t really like—or diesel fuel.  I could at least camp on the 8000 foot Kaibab Plateau only 140-325 miles depending on which side of Grand Canyon.  Then I’d be making videos in a known environment.  Mostly I dreamed to avoid thinking about going back to town the next day.

I was up early and saw a Jackrabbit and cow before leaving the house.

Good thing I went to town early as I got lucky parking in the tiny lot at the laundromat.  Thirty minutes later I’d been out of luck.  Fuel at $5.34/gal diesel, a few groceries and back home.  I’d left the AC on for Sierra so she wouldn’t overheat.  Up to mid-90s isn’t really that hot, except inside the RV is at least 10° hotter even with windows open and a fan.

Typical down day after braving town.  But always plenty to do.  Windows opened early and as I sat at the computer making videos I heard the motion of lizards scurrying about.  Cliff Rose bloom outside my windows.  A bush I learned to love at the Grand Canyon with its sweet smelling blooms.

Flowers here open in the morning, bees pollinate, Metallic Woodborers eat the blooms and within an hour, the petals are gone.  More buds hold tight until the process repeats the next day, and the next…

Later it gets warm inside and while sitting outside reading in the afternoon shade I heard a raucous.  Sure enough, a murder of Ravens on nearby boulders appeared to be having flight lessons with the fledglings.  Sadly, way too far away for making videos.

And then a soft sunset.

My desk window view is a micro-world of life from front row lizards and bovines, birds and bunnies on the other side of the berm, and beyond to deer and coyote, plus Turkey Vultures continuously kettling overhead.

Although I see two adult Quail several times every day their call back and forth is even more frequent.  Yet still haven’t seen any little ones, though I suspect they have a nest nearby, or maybe they’ve fledged.

And every day, more Cliff Rose blooms to be eaten.  Can you see the metallic sparkle of this Metallic Woodborer?

The AC on my truck quit working last fall but I didn’t worry about it over the winter.  Now that the temperature is rising I thought about having it looked at.  Seems the AC compressor clutch is shot.  So now I get to decide if I can live without AC instead of spending the money on repair.  Only driving to town once a week at most doesn’t make this a high priority.

View from my shady seat

Instead I’ll stay home making videos.  In fact, I made a video to introduce Geogypsy and share Herstory.  OMWow!  YouTube shared that video all over the place and so far it has 1.7k views.  I gained more subscribers too but am still working on the next 100 for the month of June.

And because I’m a retired Park Ranger, who is a national park junky, I read the National Park Service’s daily news releases.  It dawned on me that other people might be interested in some of this news, so…  I’m making videos of National Park Updates.  Wouldn’t you know it, the first one is about a woman gored by a bison at Yellowstone.  Wonder if anybody was making video of this touron.  I didn’t have to go to town this week so I’m happily staying home, watching wildlife, and making videos.

Check it out, I thought this Jackrabbit had three ears.  Then I cropped the photo and see the ear is split.  Guess this bunny got lucky and got away.

Also appeared it was trying to “get lucky” with the other Jackrabbit within sight.