It’s been hard to put together an organized post this time, so I am sorry to say it is just a menagerie of various stuff.

Winter is coming on a lot more quickly than I want it to. Every year, the cold season seems longer, earlier and colder than the previous year. I am already dreaming of white sandy beaches, fancy umbrella drinks, desert-scapes full of saguaros and warmth, etc. In Moab, for me, cold weather means a lot more time in the house, and a variety of cold weather activities. I find that I cook a lot more in the winter, I knit, make jewelry, and do other crafty-type things. 2 days ago, I knitted a hat. It’s a very simple pattern, but it turned out to be a nice little hat:

I visited my parents yesterday, as I do almost every Monday, and like almost every visit, I was treated to the lovely song of their local Rock Wren. I think the Rock Wren lives in a large pile of rocks on their property. He has a very nice song, and very interesting habits. You can learn about him by clicking HERE. In any case, on this visit I walked down the garden path, and toward his rock when I heard him singing. I didn’t see him when I got to his rock, so I whistled (like I whistle for my dog), and out popped the Rock Wren, up onto the rock. He seemed curious, and held still for several really good photos. Also, there is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk that hangs out in their side yard, waiting for an opportunity to eat a finch or sparrow. Here are my favorite pics from each:

Last Saturday, I decided to go geocaching again. My mom had invited me over for lunch, so after lunch, I dragged her along. I had a list of 16 geocaches in my GPS. These were all along hwy 191, which is the main highway going through Moab. I had only listed the caches that were right ON hwy 191, so it was really vehicular geocaching (no hiking or riding involved). We managed to find 15 out of 16 of them, and had a good time. Here are some pictures from Saturday, including a few habitat shots of Yucca baccata. Note the deer in the first photo.

A friend in Tucson sent me some seeds from a Screwbean Mesquite tree (at my request), so I have sown 8 of those seeds. To my surprise, 4 of these have already germinated (it’s only been 4 days)! They are supposedly hardy down to 15° F, so I am thinking maybe they would survive a Moab winter (even though Moab goes down into the single digits about 10 nights a year). In any case, I am excited that 4 have germinated. Here is a picture of the first one:

Thanks for reading, and PLEASE COMMENT!