prickly pears

Extremely abundant,


extremely pink,


We decided to make...


prickly pear syrup!

This looks a bit repetitive when placed above the previous post. I made the black and gray skirt and am quite proud of it.


One of various patterns...


Skeleton man.

Playing the saw

I decided that a musical saw would be a fine addition to our band, so I bought a $14 model at Ace Hardware. Playing the saw is actually trickier than I expected, but it's fun.

We adopted another cat. A friend found it in her neighborhood, and we agreed to take it in.


We named him Steve. Here, Steve is settling in to his new home.


Steve is a very sweet cat. For a long time, we thought Steve was a girl. Even the vet wasn't sure at first. It must be all that eyeliner.

Steve and Toby are getting along well, considering. Hopefully they will become friends.

And now... the Pink Wonder is fitted, greased, adjusted, restrung, and ready for action! Amazingly it sounded better than it was before painting, even before I added the Dominant strings. It's not half bad.

The Pink Wonder

The Pink Wonder- a crummy pink violin found in the free bin by one of our band members. (Did I mention that I play in a band?) Despite its poor construction and thick pink coating, this violin actually sounds half-decent, especially when hooked up to the amp.


The violin Andrew's father gave to me condescends to pose beside it here.

Although it's not exactly mine, I hope to play this beast a lot in the future. It would be especially good for venues that might be dangerous for my finer instruments. But... Aaaagh the pink!! It clearly needed a face-lift.


I started by sanding it, to remove the glossy finish. Then, I added designs with my high-tec design-making tool [sharpie].
Next, I applied several coatings of semi-transparent acrylic.


Finally, the Pink Wonder is painted and ready to be re-strung! (My other fiddle has kindly posed next to it again.)


A detail of the finished Pink Wonder, sans tailpiece and chin-rest. Once I fix the pegs, fit the bridge, and re-string it with Dominants I can see how it sounds.

Southern Sonora

I spent the last week in a very remote part of southern Sonora, Mexico, near the town of Alamos, doing biologist stuff. Here are some pictures, with minimal text.

5AM: Alamos. There are about five roosters per person in this town.




Hibiscus.


The lower ranch house, in the tropical deciduous forest.


Part of the kitchen.


The rest of the kitchen.


This mare was purchased for $600 that morning, for the purpose of breeding mules.


Walking to one of the insect trap sites on a neighboring ranch.


Typical wildlife on the ranches. Note the giant fig in the background.


This is what the tropical deciduous forest looks like.


The pool at the mouth of the slot canyon, where we swam.


The slot canyon from above.


A spider the size of my hand looks for fish.


An ant trail carries my fluorescent-dyed cookie crumbs up a tree.


An attempt at night photography: the moon rises over the hill.


Setting out the next day for the upper ranch.


The upper ranch house.


We examine barrel cacti on a rock.


In fact, these cacti only grow on rocks.


If you look closely at this vertical cliff you will see about 20 barrel cacti.


Ephebomyrmex(?) visits a cactus nectary.


A very exciting Cephalotes ant shows up as well.


Another attempt at night photography at the upper house.


Moonlight on the neighboring ranch house.


Hiking through an oak and pine forest.


Agave.


Coral Bean Tree.


Remote canyon.


Me, holding a gigantic oak leaf.


Blacklighting for insects.










Lobo (a.k.a. Bozo) the dog.


The ride down.

Backpacking

The wonderful thing about backpacking is that it reminds you of the really important things in life- food, shelter, and companionship. Worries about bills, plans, and academia fade away, replaced by more important concerns like warming up cold feet and finding comfortable rocks to sit on. Minds that are accustomed to staying up all night suddenly crave sleep when the sun sets, and stomachs that were barely hungry for months start demanding 900-calorie lunches.
A backpacking trip was just what I needed to put this long and miserable semester behind me. So, last weekend Andrew, Becky, Cal the dog, and I set off into the Chiricahua Mountains for a four-day trip.

We were eager to escape the rising temperatures in Tucson, so we planned to take the crest trail along the top of the Chiricahuas. This trail winds along the backbone of the mountains at an elevation between 8000 and 9000 feet, visiting various springs, peaks, and meadows along the way. We had heard that the flowers were blooming, and we expected cool spring-like conditions and perhaps ripe strawberries. The hailstorm during the drive up the mountain should have been a sign that all was not as we expected. As we set off and trudged along in the rain, the trail began to look more and more ominous.

After several miles we began to notice that it had hailed along the ridge as well, and that some of the hail had not yet melted. Piles of hail began to appear, and soon we were slipping and stumbling through two inches of remarkably snow-like hail.

Although our planned campsite was only six miles from where we parked, we had not been on a long hike in a while and walking through the slippery snow/hail was particularly tiring. When we finally arrived that evening we were cold, wet, and hungry, ready to sit around a nice fire and roast the steaks we had brought. Unfortunately, all of the combustible materials in the area were also very cold and wet. As the wind picked up and the sun set, we spent two frustrating hours trying to coax a fire from wet wood and damp paper. Just when we were loosing hope we managed to start a nice warm fire to cook our dinner and warm our feet. In this picture, you can see Andrew attempting to dry his socks over our precious fire.

The sunset that night was cold, but beautiful.

The next morning began with sunshine, and I was even optimistic enough to begin cooking pancakes on my stove. Our hopes for a nice day were dashed, however, when a large hailstone punched a crater into the middle of my fourth pancake. We decided to try our luck at lower elevations, and packed up to head for the van.

Cal had his own pack, in which he carried his food, bowl, blanket, and Becky’s tent poles. He also had special dog boots to protect his feet.

Once back at the van, we drove down the mountain. We made a brief stop at the Portal house to get the forks and spoons we forgot, then headed for the South Fork trail at 6000 feet. In the gathering dusk we walked in two miles and camped at Maple Camp. Although it was still raining it only took us 20 minutes to start a fire.

After such a long day, the campfire burritos were delicious and the fire was mesmerizing.



We awoke to a warm and sunny day in the canyon, and made many successful pancakes. We sat under the lovely Maple Camp maple trees and had real maple syrup from Andrew’s parents.

Although we initially planned a long trek up the canyon that day, we were distracted by things like nice deep swimming holes.

We ended up going only three miles before coming to a spot so lovely we were forced to camp.


There were thousands of cicadas in the canyon, singing in the trees and occasionally landing on us.

I picked up this newly-emerged cicada and watched it pump up its wings on my finger. Here, it is almost finished.

We found a variety of interesting things, including this beautiful fungus growing on a rotting log.

That night we had no trouble starting a fire, and because we had eaten so much food it was easier to hang it out of reach of skunks and bears.

The next morning we hung around camp and then headed back to the van, stopping to swim along the way in a very cold and deep pool called ‘the bathtub.’ Even Andrew jumped in.

All in all, it was a very nice, very relaxed backpacking trip. We hiked a whopping total of just 22 miles, and we carried all sorts of luxurious and heavy foods like steak, gouda, and potatoes. The extra weight was definitely worth it. I would like to do more backpacking this summer, on more difficult trails. I will not, however, be carrying freeze-dried food.

Night Hike

meow

We went hiking Sunday on the more remote eastern side of the Rincons. While we were resting along the trail partway up the mountain, something started calling in the canyon below us. It sounded like a very large, very loud cat and my first thought was "mountain lion!" even though I've never heard one call before. It was on our mind as we hiked back down through the canyon, but we didn't see any tracks and didn't hear it again.
When I came home I searched for recordings of mountain lion calls, and sure enough, this is what it sounded like.
This is the second time we've encountered a lion since moving to Tucson, though admittedly less dramatic than the last time. I'm glad to live somewhere wild enough to still have lions. (I'm also amused that such large cats still essentially say "meow.")

pastels

Today on a whim I decided to draw with pastels for a couple hours. I haven't done any pastel drawing for a long time. I thought I would try sandpaper so I walked over to the hardware store and bought five sheets of 320 grit sandpaper. Here are the results:






Not so bad, and I'm sure I will improve if I keep doing them.
Unfortunately, I do like to smear and blend pastels using my fingers. This is a problem when working on sandpaper- right now my left pointer finger is unnervingly transparent.

hanami

It's palo verde blossom season here in Tucson, and everywhere trees are erupting in brilliant yellow. It seems to me that this occasion should be celebrated, as the cherry blossoms are celebrated in Japan. But no picnickers spread out beneath the golden trees, and no one strolls through the parks admiring their beauty. In fact this would be quite impossible, as the city of Tucson prefers to plant palm and olive trees in parks. Instead, the palo verdes line road medians, parking lots, and yards. People seem to go about their business oblivious to the beautiful trees, their perfume, and the carpet of yellow petals on the ground.

Many, Many Markers

Andrew gave me a fabulous Christmas gift- many, many Prismacolor markers.
Although the markers have proved to be fabulous for color drawings of all sorts, they are especially conducive to doodling.
The interplay between the different inks is especially striking on thick, high quality drawing paper (which I just happen to have a pile of).



Different colors, when layered on top of one another, react in different ways.



These sorts of effects only work on thick, sponge-like paper.



Anyway, I'm having fun.

Sycamore Canyon

Last weekend Kim, MJ, and I went hiking in Sycamore Canyon again. We ventured farther than we ever had before. There were deep pools of clear water, orange leaves overhead, and fabulously sculptured cliffs.


During our hike we came across two guys sitting by a shady pool. They seemed friendly, so we said hello. Soon we were deep in conversation.


One of them works for the Sky Island Alliance, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting our beautiful desert mountain ranges. The other is a lobbyist in Washington DC, working to help preserve wilderness areas.


We talked all afternoon, about politics, the environment, life, academia, bugs...
Eventually it got dark and it was time to go.


It was a real treat to feel such a connection to people we met randomly on the trail. Andrew and I may go hiking with one pf the people we met and some other SIA people tomorrow.

All Souls

Tonight was the All Souls Procession, one of the most creative, unique, and beautiful events in Tucson.

This is me.




This is Andrew.




This is the burning of the urn.









This picture is for you Jess, from last week. Now he's a puddle of pumpkin goop on the porch... pumpkin goop full of awesome little Histerid beetles, that is.

Now I'm tired! Sorry for abandoning this blog for a while. The dissertation proposal is sucking my brains out.

Sycamore Canyon

Last weekend I organized an insect-hunting trip to Sycamore Canyon. This canyon is along the US-Mexico border, east of Nogales in the Pajarita Mountains Wilderness. These mountains are part of the larger Tumacacori Highlands, which need protection as a wilderness!! The area is extremely diverse, and it is the only place in the United States where many subtropical plants and animals can be found. There have been occasional jaguar sightings.



We planned to hike about halfway down the canyon, but there were so many fabulous insects, plants, fungi, and amphibians that we didn’t make it very far. We turned around when ominous clouds began to rumble.



There were so many wonderful things in the canyon that I’ll need to break my report into multiple installments. I will start with caterpillars, which were abundant in all sorts of crazy shapes, sizes, forms, and colors.
Caterpillars are not my forte, so I will leave these unidentified except to say that the fuzzy ones are probably in the family Arctiidae.












Adult butterflies were also tremendously abundant, and huge clouds of orange and yellow sulfurs lifted off around us as we walked. The butterflies clustered around damp patches on the path, looking like piles of yellow leaves.



If you look carefully, you can see that the butterflies have extended their probosces to suck liquid from the mud.



This mud-sipping behavior, called puddling, provides the butterflies with much-needed nutrients and salts to supplement their nectar diet.

Backyard Ants

I realize that although my primary research interest is ants, I have yet to write about them here. Today I thought I'd start close to home and write a little about the ants in my backyard.
On Wednesday I watched several small colonies of Solenopsis aurea, a native fire ant, in my flower bed. They were preparing for a mating flight in response to the heavy rains.



The female alates (winged reproductive ants) climbed carefully up a dry piece of grass, preparing for takeoff. In the photo above you can also see a medium-sized worker, who has follwed them up.



As the twig became more crowded, the alates at the end either took off or were knocked to the ground, forced to start the arduous journey up the twig again.



A large colony of a second species of ant, Forelius pruinosus, dwells under our brick patio. They are small, fast ants that can be quite active at high temperatures. Out of curiosity, I mapped their foraging trails across the backyard. This is the result:



The nest has multiple exits, all located in the area of greatest trail density. The ant highways are anything but random- one takes the most direct route to the garbage can, a second leads to a wheelbarrow full of yard debris and compost, and a third heads to a flower bed.

I leave you with one last picture of a very beautiful and cryptic grasshopper on my mallow plant. True, it's not an ant, but it's nice anyway.

Beautiful Beetles

On Wednesday I went blacklighting with some of the other students in Insect Systematics. We set up in Box Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains. The lights brought in a fantastic selection of insects.



This is a male Dynastes granti, one of the largest beetles in the United States. I was standing near the blacklighting sheet when I heard a large crash behind me. It turned out to be this guy landing. A female Dynastes came to the light a little later. One of the other students has both of them in a terrarium now, where they happily munch on bananas. In the wild they strip bark from ash trees to eat the sap.



In this photo Dynastes is posing with another charismatic Arizona beetle. The gorgeous green scarab on the right is Chrysina gloriosa. They feed on juniper leaves and are fairly common in the mountains at this time of year.

After packing up the blacklight equipment, we went and found spadefoot toads, a diamondback rattlesnake, a tarantula, and a gopher snake. However, I had volunteered to videotape some of our activities for an educational program so I was too busy using the expensive video camera to take any pictures of my own. Maybe I'll get another opportunity to write about snakes, tarantulas, and toads in a few weeks. They're certainly plentiful right now.

And finally, a mockingbird update. The babies all fledged, and flew away. The parents were extremely hostile toward humans and cats on the first day.

A smattering of topics

In case you were wondering, the baby mockingbirds are doing great. As far as I can tell there are three of them.



Toby has become less interested in harassing the parents, but he is happy to defend the yard against neighbor cats. I may need to supervise him more once the young birds start leaving the nest.

The monsoon is a wonderful time to be at home in Arizona. As I sit and write this a sudden rainstorm has begun and the sound is amplified by the sheet metal over the porch. Monsoon storms often bring wonderful sunsets. We watched this one from the roof.



In other news, the weeds in the front and back yards have finally been vanquished! It even looks rather nice. Now if only the weeds in the back-back yard were under control.



I mentioned before that I remembered the orange flowers in our front yard from last year at the Santa Rita Experimental Range. Last Saturday we were pleased to discover that the range is again knee-deep in a carpet of orange. I took this picture on what I hope will be my future study site.