The Great American Desert. And Acrobats.

a pink sunrise on my 59th birthday

In the 19th century, Kansas was part of the region referred to as The Great American Desert.  "Desert" was often used if an area was treeless -- arid or not. In this case they were sandy wastes eastward of the Rockies and considered uninhabitable by civilized people. Today that region is considered the High Plains.  There are still extensive districts along the Arkansas River designated as Sand Hills. (this month has FELT like a desert! hotness!)

David brought me a birthday surprise this morning

from one of my fave Wichita establishments - Nifty Nuthouse

and I finally got a VW bus! Thanks Jerri!

Asher caught onto using a shoe spoon quickly! 

Andrew was amazed at how much easier his shoes went on with his

8-13-15: Had a wonderful birthday today with a "sweet" surprise from David that he picked up at the Nifty Nuthouse -- our fave candy shop, and a spectacular sunrise on my morning walk!  Then we spent the day with the A's and took them shoe shopping for back to school.  Taught them to use shoe spoons (or shoe horns, depending on where you are from).  They got a kick out of that.

another majestic Kansas sunrise

Larakeet BAM's new habitat

Justin had fun setting it up and re-constructing the ladders

LBam bonding with Brooke's finger

8-14-15:  Had a great game of Panties today with Linda Sue and Greg (well, not GREAT cuz the boys won) and then went shopping tonight with Justin and Brooke for Asher's birthday gift. We had planned on getting him some worms (he asked for a worm farm), but decided we'd go in with them to get him his requested Parakeet.  So we went with them to pick out the bird, the cage, and all the fixins while the boys are spending the weekend with some of their other grandparents.  Asher said if he ever got a parakeet he'd name it Larakeet.  And he'd also name it Mommy.  LOL.  He's stretching that creativity.  Brooke told him having 2 Mommies in the house could be confusing, but he could use her initials: BAM.  So it'll be Larakeet Bam.

Asher was thrilled with his new pet!

8-16-15:  Asher was totally surprised when he got home from church to meet Larakeet BAM!

he'll be teaching us some parakeet trivia after reading this book

And immediately started reading up on parakeets!  He has always been a prodigy at reading and he never forgets anything!  So I'm sure he'll be educating us on parakeets soon!

a couple of Kansas wranglers

long, tall drink of water

Our little cowboys!  And, yes, they got to go to a rodeo with other grandparents this past weekend!

plenty of fat toads at ACRV Park -- in the mornings a lot of them have gone from fat to flat

2 beauties - Laura Lee and Hannah

8-17-15:  Loved getting this pic of Laura Lee from her friend Amy this afternoon.

Surprise to our 7 year old!

Enjoyed Asher's birthday get-together tonight at his house.  Then they came home with us to spend the night.

Grammy's boy

8-18-15:  We'd planned on taking them to Exploration Place today for his bday, but now that he has a new bird, he decided he'd rather spend the day at home with Larakeet! So after sleeping in and going out for breakfast, we headed out to their house for the day.

working on his science kit from his Mamaw

it's gonna fly

there it goes!

it's all about how you hold your tongue

Grandpa coulda done this all day -- and nearly did!

He spent a lot of back and forth time from Larakeet to the "science table".

the birthday boy

Andrew let me win ONE game and only one! He's unbeatable!

Andrew, our little gamer, challenged me to checkers over and over.  And beat me over and over. When I finally beat him, we were done here.

a quick glimpse of the camel herd on our way home

jamberries -- love 'em, but I still need some practice!

Wonderful times in the "desert".

Elk City State Park -- dam

8-19-15:  In October we are planning a camping weekend with Justin, Brooke, and the A's.  So David, Rocky, and I took a day trip to check out the destination: Elk City State Park.

some gulls having a meeting

David found this cool snakeskin on a log

It met with our approval so we are looking forward to the camping trip.

Asher is looking forward to his new teacher because he's heard he's funny!

Andrew is growing up way too fast!

And our boys started school today!

great waking up to these temps!

8-24-15:  We're having a cool snap! Sure makes for some great walking!

David, me, Greg, and Linda Sue

 8-25-15: Joined Greg and Linda Sue and some of their friends (and David's golfing buds) tonight at Botanica for Tuesday's on the Terrace.  Tonight's band was Sunshine the Bunny. They're really a fun band and play a wide variety of tunes, but evidently are used to playing to more "adult" crowds. (googled). But since this event is a family affair, they were told to power down and they did.  Really enjoyed them!

#davidlovesselfies

Sunshine the Bunny

perfect night for sitting outside listening to music

trying to get pix of our group -- watch the photobombing unfold

wait for it..............

there it is!

since I couldn't get my group to wave -- I joined the photobombers!

one of the band members serenaded a birthday girl in the audience

he plays the kazoo! 

Wonderful night with friends (and cousins) and making new friends!

these ACRV guys needed some bibs

Gave this group some bibs tonight.  They are my "cheerleaders" .....  hecklers, mostly..... when I walk at the RV park.

gotta love the things you see on a drive through Kansas

harvest time

day trip

8-26-15:  Been wanting to do a day trip to this spot for a couple of years.  Today is the day! It's a wonderful federal wildlife refuge that is home to Whooping Cranes and Sand Hill Cranes during their migration once or twice a year.  Hoping to see them in October. Quivira is home to inland salt marshes (makes sense because it's not too far from the salt mine in Hutch) and 13,000 acres of prairie covered sand dunes.  The Great American Desert, right?  A unique habitat for shore birds of which we saw a huge variety. Quivira is a name given to this part of Kansas by Spanish explorers during the time of Coronado.

Showy Partridge Pea

the salty and sandy wetlands

unique land 

Prickly Poppy

very prickly

Blue Winged Teal

Pelicans

Prairie Sunflowers and Saltgrass

so happy to see so much Milkweed throughout the refuge

We saw several Redheaded Woodpeckers and a few Monarchs (thx to the milkweed).

Small Marsh

several Great Blue Herons were fishing

huge herons

Pelicans are huge and just cool

Gumweed

possibly Blue Verbena or Woolly Verbena -- this was the only batch we saw all day

a typical Kansas scene

Umbrella Plants

Our first glimpse of Common Sunflowers of the year -- Kansas State Flower

a bunch of Bee Balm (purplish flowers)

a little Egret acrobatics

An Egret fishing with the other shorebirds

American Avocet

they were SO CUTE darting through the water together

and a lone Avocet scoped out the shore

Avocet Acrobatics

scooping up some bugs off the water

Black-necked Stilt

White-faced Ibis

super cool hooked beak

busy, busy

Ibis taking flight

Blue Winged Teals

a multitude

lots of duckweed in the Big Salt Marsh

this is where most of the shorebirds hang out while passing through

Egrets have huge wingspans

Ibis

salt along the shoreline

David planned a great day as always

This was a wonderful experience.  We will be watching their website so we can hopefully catch the cranes coming through in October.

Cheyenne Bottoms

Afterwards, we drove over to Cheyenne Bottoms, a state wildlife refuge that works hand-in-hand with Quivira.  But it was getting late and we decided to save this one for another day.

my new volunteer gig til Thanksgiving

8-27-15: Began my volunteering today at the Great Plains Nature Center.  This has always been one of our favorite places to walk and visit in Wichita. So I decided to volunteer about once a week in order to learn more prairie info. Great first day with very nice folks.  Master naturalists are the coolest!  And so is Heidi, the volunteer coordinator!

Ranger Jacob's update on the Hardy Orange at MOLO

my babies and my besties

Larakeet is getting used to his new family

American Goldfinch

think he sees himself?

Rec'd some special pix today and tonite.  Ranger Jacob at MOLO in Mississippi sent me an updated pic of the Hardy Orange as it looks now. I think it's a pretty sour, bitter fruit not to be eaten by humans. It was a new plant for me.  We watched it when we volunteered there and it had huge thorns but no fruit yet.  He's been sending me progress reports over the months.

Then Cranford and Kathey had Laura and Gus over for supper tonite in T-town and sent me that great pic.  Miss my people.

The next pic we got was Larakeet outside his cage sitting on Asher's finger.  I do believe that bird is plumping up. Must be happy.

Today on my walk I FINALLY got a pic of the goldfinches playing in the water.  They are always fluttering around the Prairie Sunflowers and getting cooled off in the puddles.  But when I approach they depart.  So I felt lucky to get these 2 shots.


This is from this mornings Texarkana Gazette, "The Way it Was" column

50 years ago
Aug. 28: Ladies hold scramble at Northridge—The Ladies Gold Association held a gold scramble at Northridge followed by a dinner and presentation of prizes to the winners. The first place team with a score of 37 was composed of Murial Avery, Jean Guillot, Sylvia Waldrup and Elizabeth McClendon. Two teams tied for second place, with identical scores of 39. On one team were Louise Barnes, Judge Audrey Poulos, Dr. Mary Witt Hughes, Frances Hubbard and Juanita Goff. The other team was made up of Alma Brewer, Donna Curtis, Mary Patterson and Mary Sue Hitt.


8-28-15:  David made my day when he found the above article about my mother and some of her golfing buddies 50 years ago!

some sideline action

Andrew kicking it in

"Go 3!"

Asher used Grammy's phone to call Grandpa -- who was about 50' in front of us

Rocky loves his Asher

sugartime

Justin and Andrew on the sideline

Grammy getting some good stories from Asher

break

heading toward the goal

Andrew celebrating his goal

my little naturalist and I checking out the dirt dobber nest in the tree

like father, like son

NOOOO!! It stopped.

2 goals by this guy! And it takes a certain skill to get a blue mustache

they both immediately hit the monkey bars after the game

grandson acrobatics

waiting to get picked up

8-29-15:  Enjoyed a morning at the soccer fields in Douglass, KS watching our superstar, Andrew! He's a natural at this sport!  Asher didn't want to play this year, so he kept me entertained in the back of the sidelines.  Love those boys!

#davidlovesselfies

fixin to take a Full Moon hike

Rachel led our expedition

Wonderful Saturday night!  We went to Saturday night church at CCC, then caught a wonderful Kansas sunset on the way to our Full Moon hike at the nature center.  It was a full, perigee moon on a super clear night!  Perigee means it's at a point closest to earth as it gets in its orbit. This month's moon is a Sturgeon Moon and is the first of 3 consecutive supermoons! Native Americans gave every full moon a special name and the one in August was often called a Sturgeon Moon by their fishing tribes.  The sturgeon were most readily caught during this month according to the Farmer's Almanac. It's also known as the Red Moon (and it was def red as it was rising), the Green Corn Moon, the Harvest Moon, Angel Moon, and Grain Moon.

The hike was great!  It was a little over a mile and such a clear night.  In fact, some of us saw a shooting star as we got started. Rachel, our guide, tried to call in the screech and barred owls to no avail.  But we loved her calls she did with her own voice.  She nailed it! Other than some honkers coming in for the evening and a few deer, we didn't see much in the way of wildlife.  But there were about 20 of us (plus a few other night hikers on the trails) so I'm sure they could hear us coming.

a rather large Waved or Elm Sphinx Moth Caterpillar on the trails

8-31-15:  Nice, breezy (tho 97% humidity) for my 7 miles this morning in Derby.

As is often referred to in my blogs, Wichita's nickname is "Doo-Dah" because historically it's considered a low-key, simple town with few exciting things to do for fun.  However, we always manage to find lots of interesting things to do in or near here.

Looking forward to our September in the Great American Desert!


Love to all,

Sunshine, Bunny, and our little Acrobat