Not So Nature Boy And Trip Pics

Well, Nature Boy (that would be me) decided he wanted to sit out in the backyard tonight and watch the birds. That is, until Nature Boy set up the folding chair and then noticed the tarantula climbing the side of the house. Nothing skeeves me out more than big spiders, and they don't get much bigger than this. The outdoor excursion was cancelled for this evening. And yeah, I know they're harmless, yada, yada, yada, but they still just freak me right the F out. Now I'm going to be a nervous wreck for a week. Gah!

On another note, here are some pictures from my trip last week:

This is my parents' back yard. I love that they have mountains nearby!

This is my parent's dog, Oreo. He's a border collie/chow mix, so maybe he's a chorder collie? Or a chowder collie? He's basically a big teddy bear of a dog.

Some of the local scenery

These are the blooms of the saguaro cactus. Unfortunately they hadn't quite opened into flowers yet.

My mom has several bird feeders in the front yard and she has created a watering hole for the critters. It's practically a zoo out there when the feeders are full.

There are a couple of different types of ground squirrel that live there, this one kind of looks like a prairie dog.

There are lots of quail around the yard. I also saw roadrunners, doves, cardinals, flickers, finches, cactus wrens, lizards, rabbits, and a coyote.

With apologies to Anne (just think of it as an homage), here is a prickly pear flower. These things only bloom for a few hours and then they shrivel up.

Yes, this cactus is really purple!