We Mourn

The disc golf community lost two good friends this week. John Todhunter lost his long battle with cancer. Craig Myrick lost his battle with diabetes. They are both tremendously missed.

Dalton

Guests staying at the hogans came over to watch the feeding Thursday night. I showed Dalton what happened to my man created tree that was made so the birds can watch for the hawks. He looks at it and says. "You want me to re-build it for you? I have all my tools in the truck." So the next day before Dalton and his family check out he comes over and an hour later all the branches are back, the tree is upright and packed with birds.

Unbelievable. Thank you Dalton.

The Storm

I've shown you the damage the storm did right out front of the lodge.

Jax and I hiked the property expecting to see some of the disc golf baskets down but they were all up. However two of the turf tees had been relocated.

Got the grills turned back up but they have significant damage and will need a pretty good cleaning before even attempting to start them.

Got the branches cleaned up and taken to the gravel pit. Can't burn anything as there is a fire ban across most of the state.

In the evenings I use scissors to open the hot dog packages when feeding the critters. You can see where they were sitting on the counter when the storm hit.

It's Raining Somewhere

The river is red for the 4th day in a row so somewhere up river it's raining every day. Beach vegetation is doing well.

Base Camp Sign

Guests checking in miss the Base Camp sign to turn off. Jax and I go out to see why. It's because it isn't standing up anymore. It's very heavy. Not sure how I'm going to get that fixed.

I Will Remember This Day

I'm working in the office and Jax is sleeping on his bed on my desk. I've been looking out the window and a storm is coming. Happens all the time. No biggie. Then the wind picks up quickly. I'm thinking probably best to close the outside doors just in case. By the time I get from the office to the kitchen it's a desert sandstone blizzard. I get the back door closed but the wind is too strong to get the front door closed. I have to put all my weight against it and just barely get it closed. I come back in the office and see the watering jugs go flying by. The small desert willow is almost horizontal. A big branch on the large desert willow breaks and is gone. Kobae didn't come out to eat yesterday. I look across the driveway and see a raccoon run out of his house. Then I can't see his house anymore. I've never seen wind like this in the whole 20 years. It continues for nearly 45 minutes. Then the wind quits and it starts raining. Time to step outside and see the damage. It's considerable.

Two large branches are gone from the desert willow. Both grills are down with one of them being blown 20 feet from where it was sitting with the propane tank still attached. The man made tree is destroyed. The bird bath is in two pieces. The former stack of wood is just a pile of wood now as this storm finished it off.

In the two minutes it took me to get from the office to the kitchen to close doors the floor and counter covered in sand. You can see where my plate was on the counter and the wind blew the cover out of the office window and dirt came into the office. I had to take the AC out.

Lot of work to salvage the tree if at all. It began raining but didn't fase Kobae who came over to eat on the porch.Then, it was over.

Wind

Grill blew over again so got to really tighten up more straps. Took the telescope stand next door and more of the wood pile bit the dust. Last week or so sitting on the front porch I noticed there were no flowers on the desert willow but after a good rain they have come back.

Hurrah Pass

I woke up early not wanting to miss a good day of hiking so at 5am, barely light Jax and I headed up Hurrah parking at the first turn. This time with plenty of water and a nice breeze and no sun yet when we got to the balanced rock we jusg kept going. Didn't have the great view of the sun coming down the far cliffs as it rose in the morning sky as it was pretty cloudy. I enjoyed listening to the rock wrens in the ledges above us talking up a storm and scurrying around. The bolts in the Hurrah Pass sign have rotted out again so I put some in the truck to tighten it up next time I go to town.

Thirty Three

The pace is slowing down however so hopefully I can quit catching them soon.

Last Hurrah Next Door

I got up late, sun was approaching so not time to do a long hike so we hiked next door to see if there was any damage from the storm but it appears to have held up well.

Groomer & 32

Jax got a tight haircut. The groomer said we butchered him so much while she was out she had to cut it tight to clean it up.

Rain

The monsoon season has arrived. We got a good rain and then brief hail. Kobae came out of his home and just sat there in the rain for an hour.

Thirty One

Usually when we catch a rock squirrel it's early afternoon and I put it in the laundry room until I feed Kobae and then take it to Dripping Springs. However last night Kobae didn't come across the drive way to eat until 8pm. By the time I got the squirrel to Dripping Springs it only had an hour plus of daylight to hole up and find a safe place. I felt bad about it but got it there as soon as I could. I rarely see a rock squirrel anymore looking out my office window but I hear them running around on the porch so my job is not done.