The Burrow

There's something about boys out in the wild. They will find an adventure ten steps from the parking lot. This the the top of the secret place . Big Cuter wondered how I managed on Mt. Lemmon with Amster and her kids on Sunday. I told him that I was able to creep through the secret place with no problems. " The secret place?" he wondered. " You know, there are always secret places," said I. "Ahhhh, yes, I know," was his reply. For a moment, I think, he was back on Mt. Tam with his little sister and his mother on an adventure - hunting buffalo and tracking them silently with our Nature Explorer backpacks and our sticks. The buffalo were everywhere, just as Amsters' kids' imaginary terrors were stalking us this weekend. Up and over and under we went - or they went and I observed and photographed. "Will we be on the blog tomorrow? I like to know when I'm on the internet." That was the permission statem...

Last Friday we went up Mt. Lemmon to Summerhaven, 25 miles up the Catalina Highway, 7500' or so above sea level, where the air was cool and the clouds provided just enough shade.  Marshall Gulch and Aspen Loop were the trails we traversed, and they were beautiful.  Miss Marjorie felt like she was back in South Carolina, with the pine needles beneath her feet.  I'm not sure if the mushrooms were on her list of favorite memories, but they sure were pretty: We crossed streamlets that could have been on Mount Tamalpais in Marin.  The water was cold and clear  and just deep enough to tickle my toes in my Keens: Yes, I hiked in sandals, with silly socks, and no, I didn't get pebbles or stones or prickers in my feet.  These things are amazing, with the elastic gripper closure quickly accessible for loosening or tightening as the need arises.  Plus, they are green.  I love colorful shoes. We've had some incredible windstorms this Monsoon, with gust...

There's a bunny in my courtyard. He's nibbling the leaves of the moorea lily. He's kind of scruffy looking; his ears have notches in them. Has someone been nibbling on them? The monsoon has arrived. We don't say "monsoon season" because it's redundant - the monsoon is the season in which most of our rain falls. The monsoon start date is determined when the average daily dewpoint is 54 degrees or greater, according to NOAA. That is, it was up until 2008 when The National Weather Service decided that it would start, every year, despite the weather or the rainfall or the dewpoint, on June 15th. These people must be related to the fools who decided that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were both born on the 3rd Monday in February, thus depriving generations of school children the pleasure of having two 4-day weeks happening two weeks apart. A bobcat just strolled by. Happily, he was outside the gate to the courtyard. Anyhow, back to the monsoon. ...