The first day of Christmas vacation

. . . and we had to do something other than hang around the house!  We went to our favorite park-in-the-foothills that has interesting water features due to a warm spring that comes up from the ground in that location.  Lots of ducks and some fish and turtles in the closest pond.

They came up out of the water and didn't seem to be looking for handouts, just interested in the little patch of grass between the water and the bank of the pond where I was standing.  I think they were wild ducks, not ones that hang around the park and that's why they weren't looking for human food.

The park people added a couple of free telescopes last year, but this was the first time I noticed them.  You can get a nice look at the birds in the lake as well as the mountains in the background and a close view of other visitors as well.  LOL

My girls get a kick out of climbing up the palm trees until it gets scary.  For Mom too!

Beautiful Saturday at a strangely odd park

Last Saturday I took the girls to a park on the outskirts of our city. We'd been there one other time with our neighbors. I've discovered the way to find out about interesting places in your town is to make friends with someone who has lived there years and years and years. I've lived here less than two years, so I'm always open to my neighbor's suggestions.

I'll let the pictures tell most of the story. We brought along a picnic lunch. In fact, I think using our picnic basket is what made the girls want to go to the park in the first place. :-)


Of my three younger girls, these are the two I'd expect to be little daredevils. If you look at the protrusion on the upper left side of the trunk, you can see a cactus growing out of the palm tree!

Palm trees gone native:


Remember, I live in the serious desert.


There is a large pond or small lake with fish and turtles in it.

After walking along the edge of the pond for a few minutes, we followed a path out in the natural area. Sure looks like desert, doesn't it?

Aren't they cute?

All four of us:

I'll bet you didn't have THIS done today!

This is one of the pleasures of living in a warm climate--getting your palm tree trimmed every year. It wasn't overly expensive (about $40) and was a lot of fun to watch. The tree guy had a set-up like a mountain climber around him and a chain attached to that. That's what he used to shinny up and down the tree. He had a small chainsaw on a lanyard attached to another waist strap. That was so 1) he couldn't drop it on anyone below him and 2) should the palm fronds collapse on him from above and cause trouble, he would have his chainsaw close at hand and could cut himself free.

Apparently it had been about three years since the last trimming. We'll get it done annually. We'll probably get some other work done on various trees on our property. We have a huge mesquite tree in the front yard that needs some TLC but it's kind of expensive to have it done. We'll have it done eventually as money becomes available.



The last picture shows some of what was on the ground after the trimming was done. :-0 The guy cleaned it all up while I skimmed the pool. Unfortunately the pool is right next to the palm tree and the wind was blowing so a lot of tree bits fell into it. He used his blower to blow the surface of the water and that pushed many of the pieces to the far end where I was able to skim them out. I skimmed for more than half an hour, then put the net back on and I was bushed! I think I need to exercise a little more often. ;-)