Spring!

What says Spring more than flowers and birds? One day last week we visited the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge and discovered a bird creature I did not even know existed - a burrowing owl. Since this area is a refuge, there are man made "houses" for these animals (I think this set of houses looks like an owl)and they loved to pose. Check out the little guy peeking out of the hole on the left.

Some of the owls we saw were banded, but not all.

This one looked like it might have a bad foot. And don't you think his face looks old...
They would let us get close if we were quiet but they were always vigilant.In addition to the burrowing owls, there were egrets. It always tickles my funny bone when these birds are in what looks like waterless settings. - there was a small canal just below this mound of dirt.

And I was actually able to capture a picture of a roadrunner. These creatures move very quickly and I have many many blurs...

See the cracks in this non-irrigated piece of ground.

Near the visitor center, the cactus were in bloom.

These flowers look and feel like very thin tissue paper.

And at home, my flowers are in full bloom. The gardenia smells even better than it looks.

The zinnias are full of color. They were mom's favorite flower and always make me smile.

This setting has been good for my garden.

On Friday, we took a drive up to Lake Havasu to check out potential campgrounds for next year. We ended up looking at several campgrounds (found a couple of possibilities) and checked out model homes. We weren't serious about the houses but it is always fun to get prices and see styles. You can tell you are in Lake Havasu when you see The London Bridge... go figure...

But the best sites of the day came on our drive home - just look at this sky!

And, we had some sad news this week. My good friend, Kathy Baker, died. Several years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, received treatment and had it beat. As happens, all too often, cancer reappeared in the last few months and it spread quickly. The last time I saw her was when she took a day off school and came to mom's funeral. Both of our summers were hectic, we talked, but never got together and I regret that.

Kathy was a person that brought joy to any setting. I met her at a principals' conference and quickly realized she was a person I wanted to have in my life. Mike and I and Tom and Kathy attended a conference in San Diego once, went to The Price Is Right, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in the week we spent together. She accidentally dropped her purse off the pier and into the ocean and considerd Mike a hero when he grabbed a fishing pole and literally fished it out.

She was a faith filled person who encouraged you to be your best. Conversations were treasures because they got to the heart of life, not just surface topics. And she was competitive, oh was she competitive. Kathy loved card games and games in general and gave Mike a couple of "new names" when he beat her.

Kathy spoke at my retirement party and I have a picture from that party of she and I and Suz and Adrienne. It is sitting on the counter as I type. Good friends are hard to find; I am glad that Kathy was one of mine! I will miss her.