Rains, again

What happens in a good rain year in an arroyo that has been a landing spot for spent pumpkins?

Jake, who loves the big splat, has long tossed old pumpkins off the roof into the arroyo north of the house. Add one good rain year, and watch for the pumpkins!

Rained a lot this morning. Lazy person that I am, Stu and I walked the dogs in the rain and wiped them down rather than give the dirty things a bath. What a deal!

And question of this post: Could this rattler actually have eaten this dove had I not rudely interrupted him?

The rattler chose to do this before people came over, otherwise I would have watched long enough to tell. Seemed like a gracious host thing (for human guests, not herptological guests) to move the rattly snake...

And I had the good fortune to watch a golden eagle over the Black Quartz Mountains today. Magnificent bird.

LCHS opener

Start of the new sports season...

Quincy and the band played at the first football game of the season Thursday. The band looked good (although there is more work to do...) and had ample chances to play the fight song, with at least 6 touchdowns.

Boys soccer had less fortune. They came in second in the annual southern NM tournament, after a 5-1 loss to Mayfield. Ouch. Of course, such a loss is less painful without a kid playing.

Jake: The next step

Stu and Jacob arrived in Salem Friday, moved Jake into his room Saturday, and said farewell for now. Jake is off on his own, at least sort of, and we look forward to Parent's Weekend.

Unlike lots of kids, Jake has always been a particularly interactive human being, and almost always in a good way. For years, he has brought insightful reflection and questioning to conversations on matters large and small. His thoughts were always fresh and unique, and he shared them with us generously. We now move on to a different stage in that sharing.

It was always clear that the world would be his oyster. So welcome him, world. Be kind to our boy.

Hero rats?

You need to watch this! (Damn, those are BIG rats!)

Land-mine sniffing rats!

Goin' North

Jake and Stu are in Boise tonight, Salem tomorrow. Jake, hope you are soaking in that sunshine, son, because it is a bit more rare in Oregon than it is at home!

Willamette bound

Jake and Stu left this morning bound for Oregon. They made it to Green River, Utah, tonight and are will try to make Boise tomorrow night. Yup -- all that way in the Echo!

Jake will spend a couple days hiking in the Cascades before reporting to Willamette for the semester. Stu should be home by Monday.

Updates on other stuff: Relleno party this year was re-purposed for Jacob's farewell. We posted a picture of the rattlesnake we moved earlier in the day as a reminder to all to be careful. The rattlesnake was eating a white-winged dove in the picture.

Caterpillars are nearly gone, Quincy is back in school, work is busy, and biking in to NMSU is working well.

Green, crawling things, and lot's of 'em

Talavera has been invaded by caterpillars. The ones that don't get smushed will become white-lined sphinx moths. They are everywhere!

They pop under the tires of my bike (gross) -- it is impossible to avoid them but entertaining on the long ride up the hill to try.

From an article in the Sun News: Dr. Carol Sutherland, New Mexico State University Extension Entomologist, said the following.

This is currently a hot topic in southern New Mexico. She explained, "When monsoon started this year, the rains just kept coming at the right intervals. Seed in the soil bank sprouted, providing food for the caterpillars and the little worms had a real buffet. They probably succeeded better than any natural enemies and now, about five to six weeks after hatching, they are ready to move on. The hordes are mature caterpillars leaving their pasture, looking for whatever is right to stimulate pupation. Sometimes the hordes can get so dense that they cross roadways, making them slick as cars squash them."

She identified the caterpillars in this case as "the mature and nearly mature larvae of the white-lined sphinx moth, Hyles lineata."

The larvae have been feeding on native evening primrose plants and related weedy native range plants, doing little permanent damage to the wildflowers or to landscapes and gardens. The adult form of the white-lined sphinx moth is a large dark brown moth with pointed forewings that is often seen at dusk sipping nectar from flowers. These moths are often mistaken for hummingbirds because both are similar in size, both can hover and both are easily heard humming as they visit flowers.

The Sun News had the entertaining little video below about the mothy dudes.

Dawg day

LCHS band performed at sunset Wednesday after 8 days of band camp. Another new band director, another year for hope?

The kids looked good, and Quincy reported having a good time with the band. (She is playing tenor sax this year instead of alto -- even more decibels!)

Road-be-gone!

In one of my earliest posts, I wrote about being one of the first cars across the new bridge out to Talavera. The road has been a persistant problem -- it washed out in the rainy season , and no fixes seemed to help.

So in came a bridge! And under flowed the mud! And as the water arose, the road washed away yet again.

The water that flowed over the bridge left mud on the road. And took away some asphalt. The guard rail is just hanging between a couple of the anchors.

Bikes a-plenty

Lots of photos to post, but they need to wait. Julia (officemate extraordinaire) photo'ed our bikes in the office today. Hers is the pretty white Trek, mine is the ancient Fuji.

My car last got gassed in early July, and it has about 60 miles on this tank. The ride to work is sweet, and home is a great workout. Judging by people I see on my ride in, you are never too old to strap on a bike helmet...