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Borrego Springs, CA

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

This ‘old dog’ has learned a new trick!

Because of the recent time change thingy, I made sure to set my alarm last night so I’d be sure to wake up in time for work today.  I’ve been sleeping a little later than normal (by the clock) since the sun isn’t appearing so early.
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It’s a good thing I did set the alarm with all of the fog we had this morning.  It was really socked in as I took Emma on her first outs.
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One thing about the fog, though, was that it made all of the spider webs apparent.  I just marvel at the work in each one of these creations.  Just about every strand had moisture beads clinging to them.
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Diana and I headed out to document the blooms, and other wildlife, on two trails today.  The pitcher plant blooms are just starting to come out.
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We finally got a butterfly to sit still for a minute on a thistle bloom.  Sometimes butterflies are harder to get a picture of than birds.  It’s that wing thing, I’m guessing.  Winking smile
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I’m not going to post all of the flowers we saw today, but I was excited about the first Candyroot blooms of the year.  The color of their blossoms depends on how wet the soil is.  These orange blooms occur in wet soils.  In drier areas the blossoms are pink.  Since pink isn’t one of my favorite colors, I was happy to find the orange ones.
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On the Dees Trail, we found the mother of all toadstools.  This mushroom was more than 8’’ in diameter!  More like a toad-table rather than a toadstool.
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I also found another fence lizard along the way.  You can tell this is a male by the brilliant blue color on it’s throat.  He was busy chasing his honey around the pine tree.  It was pretty amazing how he blended in so well with the pine bark.
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I couldn’t pass up a photo of this geometric seed head of the Toothache grass. (A=pi r2)  The roots of this grass were used to aid in the relief of the pain of a toothache by Native Americans.   It only appears after a fire sweeps through the savannah.  Since the Dees Trail had a prescribed burn last April, the toothache grass heads are abundant this spring.
Now, as for the new trick that this old dog learned.  I have been talking to my youngest son, Andy, and his family about them flying down to Mississippi from Minnesota for a visit next month.  It looks like they’ll be able to come for the weekend after Easter in April.  I’ll be picking out a place for them to stay while they’re here since I really can’t accommodate five people in the rig with Emma and me.  Andy sent me a text message this afternoon telling me that I should mention that they are a military family when I make the reservations.  It is the first time I have ever responded to a text message.  I have a dumb phone, and seldom receive texts.  My answer was:  “OK”.  So, am I a lady of the new millennium or what??  I’m feeling pretty up to date and groovy this evening!  Rolling on the floor laughing
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

27 comments:

  1. Too funny. The first text we ever sent was to our kid to wish him a Happy New Year. Took us forever to figure out how to do it.

    I love the picture of the bee "resting" on the flower and your caption. That is priceless.

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  2. George Stoltz said --

    Before we know it you will be getting text messages from Bill Gates.

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  3. I had Verizon block all texts, ingoing and outgoing, from my phone. I was receiving dumb advertising texts and being charged for them! That's adding insult to injury!

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  4. I have to agree with you on tryng to get a good photo of a butterfly, they just don't seem to sit still for very long and if they do, often their wings are closed and you don't get to see the beautiful patterns on them. Love your pictures they are always so good.

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  5. Now you are going to start a new addicition, texting!

    Very interesting about the toothache plant and how the Indians used it.

    What kind of plant did they use for hemorroids?

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  6. Hmmmmmm. Five things I could not do without in my RV: (1) an Atlas or map so we don't get too lost; (2) the Trailer Life Directory, which we use to find a comfy spot to stop; (3) my comfy bed for both nite time and nap time; (4) something to listen to music with (radio, CD player, MP3 player); and jigsaw puzzles, to keep our minds from getting rusty. Love the flower pix. Yay spring! Ann

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  7. Judy you were totally groovy before you ever posted that giant text message.

    As always your pictures are beautiful. I love spring because of all the first flowers. It's so much fun to discover each one. Gives me a thrill every time.

    That seed head picture is a prize winner!! Enter it somewhere. Mother Nature's geometrics. Very fine!!

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  8. I resisted texting at first, but its the easiest way to "talk" to my daughter. You may want to check your phone plan and make sure you are not paying a lot "per text". I have an unlimited family plan.

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  9. Whoa, Nellie - learned two new things in your post - toothache grass and orange candyroot. So, I'm off the hook for learning new things for a coupla days! Welcome to the 21st century - something we over-60 crowd enter kicking & screaming!

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  10. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous today. Every one of them. Thanks for the info, too. :)

    I don't text, either. It seems to take up too much time, but my kids say it actually saves them time. I supposed I'll be texting one of these days, but not for a while, I hope.

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  11. That is two more letters than I have ever texted. Don't have a clue. Good for you moving up in our high tech world.

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  12. Great picture of the toothache grass...and I even recognized the formula. I guess some things are never forgotten, even when they are seldom used!! Good job on texting! Now you'll need to learn the shorthand. Take a gander at http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php OH MY!!

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  13. You can post as many flower photos as you like. I LOVE them all! ~wheresweaver

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  14. texting is awesome! if you get junk messages like someone mentioned there is always the option to reply STOP...just fyi!

    have fun with your family!!! that will be a great visit and hopefully good weather still in April!

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  15. You are an awesome photographer. . .I'm so happy that Jan White turned me on to your blog. I find myself looking at things to photograph in a whole new way. . .for example. . .who knew that spider web photographs could be so beautiful.

    Thanks for sharing your lovely gift. . .

    Janice
    ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing.com

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  16. Aha, my Mom texts! She loves it. I find it odd that she likes it so much since she doesn't like email. I'm not all that fond of texting, but my phone isn't fun to text on. But good for you!!

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  17. You are rocking the technology! I hate to text, and so I let Google Voice catch my text messages and I respond on the computer.

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  18. Your pictures are absolutely wonderful today. You really have such a great talent at getting just the right photograph. The one of the toad stool is amazing. Thanks for sharing.

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  19. I don't text. Although apparently I could, but since I tried it when I first got a mobile phone here in Vienna, the thing kept trying to shift into German. You know how it tries to "guess" what you're about to write?
    So my only response to a note from our relocation lady ended up being the same as yours: "OK". That's been the extent of my texting. If I text in German, it would only be with my wife, and she speaks not a word. So that....is that.

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  20. Love the shot of the toothache plant and the butterfly

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  21. Great pictures, never heard of toothache grass. Always good to learn something new.

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  22. Judy, you have such a talent with that camera.

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  23. Yep, we old dogs can learn new tricks--I just started texting not too long ago. Loved your photos today.

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  24. Ha ha ha - now, sit, rollover. Welcome to the year of 2012 technology. We're proud of you. I seem to have more trouble taking a photo of a bird that a butterfly. Either way, you've got me beat. Love your photos.

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  25. You're doing better than me. Our daughter sent me a text message and I didn't even know it until she sent me an email to ask why I hadn't responded to her text. :)

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  26. I love the history of roots, herbs and medicinal grasses used by the Native Americans...very "cool beans"....And...you don't need a smart phone to be cool, girlfriend, you already are!!

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  27. Toothache generally means pain around the teeth or jaws. The severity of a toothache can vary from chronic and gentle to sharp and unbearable. The pain may be aggravated by chewing or by cold or heat.

    intramax side effects

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