Absolutely Exercise

Normally I suffer from the two left legs syndrome, a bicycling equivalent of the two left feet syndrome (aka Gerry Fleck syndrome if you are familiar with the movie Best in Show ). Today, all my leg issues had moved into my left leg and my right leg was in great shape. I was surprised that despite my groaning and complaining, I completed my route in a respectable time by my standards. Think how it will be on the day I experience a two right legs syndrome event! After therapy, I might even be able to dance like the Eugene Levy character was in the movie!

I was taking a photo of some flowers growing in front of the Sky Ranch entrance sign when a hummingbird flew across the image in my viewfinder. It sipped nectar from a clump of similar flowers about twenty feet distant. The images are not top quality, but I enjoyed them enough to include three of them here at the end of the thumbnail matrix.

The thistle is the national floral emblem of Scotland and 'Flower of Scotland' is the title of a song that is sometimes described as the unofficial anthem of that country. I was delighted to find this fine trio of thistles growing on a piece of wasteland that I crossed on my walk.

The wind slackened in the early afternoon and I opted for a walk. These delightful flowers grow wild (or feral, at least) beside the road in what I would judge to be an inhospitable environment, although they seem to thrive. They are visible from passing cars, but perhaps mostly unseen. Enough foot and pedal traffic passes that maybe their efforts are not in vain.

That baler moved north to the next field and I could see and hear it from my computer desk. It was making a clanking and clunking noise that reminded me of hearing early-morning sounds from the railway-freight shunting yard when I was a child.

The roads were quiet, but the skies were busy. The planes from Hurricane airport were repeating landing & taking-off routines. A hawk on a utility pole alongside the Dick Stout Field at Grandpa Gene's Orchard seemed less than pleased with having his space invaded by these mechanical fliers. The bird was screeching loudly and ruffling his feathers. I rode round into the Fields on the fresh asphalt: all was quiet and the birds there were singing contentedly.

Talk about it all you want. Any birdwatching today was completely accidental and came as a surprise when I was processing images for the blog gallery.

The ' Fast Show ' catchphrase " Black, Johnny, Blac k" is often heard in our house. " Trapped in a Bottle of Shadows " is a line from one  episode  of a series of sketches featuring the Johnny Nice Painter character and his companion Katie . I enjoyed my experience. Poor Johnny.

I was not expecting to see roadside fruit so early in the season. I hope this means that there will be a bumper crop again this year. It was a delight to pull over and watch the cloud shadows moving across the gently rounded summits of the line of dormant volcanic vents running south from Sullivan Knoll (formerly Volcano Mountain).

The snow has disappeared from the Pine Valley Mountains and in the valley the farmers are making hay while the sun shines. My own progress was labored and I fecklessly cheated myself out of a couple of miles by forgetting to turn on the Strava app, neither of which bothered me. I may be getting my stats obsession under control.

Tonight at 7:00pm MDT on YouTube  you will be able to watch Bike Love for free from the creators at Filmed by Bike out of Portland, Oregon, and hosted by Southern Utah Bicycle Alliance ( SUBA ).

Hello! Don't just stand there; go away!

Southern Utah Bicycle Alliance ( SUBA ) is hosting a movie viewing on YouTube tonight at 7pm MDT for you to get your adventure shorts on. Following the live broadcast, I will update this post with a short overview of the event and comments about the movie.

My walk this morning began as an intended bicycle ride. I was prepping to leave when I noticed a thorn sticking into my rear tire. I casually plucked it out and listened disconsolately as the air hissed out of the tube. I was somewhat hissed myself to the point of glumming intensely. In fact, it was a close call as to whether or not I was more deflated than the tire. I felt better after walking off my blues and reflected that a flat at the steading is far preferable to a flat out on the open road. Oh well, I will try again tomorrow.

RLington Parkway climbs over the shoulder of Sullivans Knoll (formerly known as Volcano Mountain) with extensive views 180° from west to east. Those views take in the Pine Valley Mountains, Anderson Benchmark, and Hurricane Mesa with the heights of Zion beyond. If I have an appointment on the west of town then this is on my chosen route. Click/tap on any photo to switch to gallery view

Identification of species is not my strong suit, but if this is a yucca then it's the first one I have seen in bloom this year. If it's not a yucca then it's the first whatever etc etc. Whichever, it's a dramatic sight on the roadside. The plant has obligate pollinators that are members of the Prodoxidae family of moths. Neither can survive without the other.

The humble creosote bush ( Larrea tridentata ) is not the first plant that comes to mind when thinking about desert blooms. Today it has the opportunity to strut its stuff and show that beauty is both in the eye of the beholder and also where we find it.

The natural world is far from being benign; however, I realized today that I have not encountered a stinging nettle in this millennium after relocating to the Southwest USA. My mother often said, " If it's not one thing then it's another ", and today, when I ventured onto some untamed desert to photograph this cactus flower, I discovered what that 'other' actually means hereabouts: two socksworths of one-inch long darts. Yes, 'socksworth' is a word; it's an old Imperial measure just like the inch was before metrication. I had to use tweezers to remove two handfuls (aka one ' gowpin ') of them when I arrived back at base. Click/tap any photo to switch to gallery view View a STRAVA entry for this post (free login required); click below for limited access:

It was warm and sunny today, but with a blustery wind. Between 'lowsing time' (the end of the working day as indicated by loosing the draft animals from their harness) and supper time I went for a short wak to stretch my legs. My hat was blown off my head. I have had worse days.

The springtime riding has been delightful. The weather today achieved that delicate balance between warm sunshine and a cooling breeze. Yesterday, I saw a small dog out for a walk by himself and he seemed agitated by my presence in a very quiet subdivision. I stopped and made his acquaintance. Today he ran out from his property, but approached me much more readily for a pat. I look forward to getting to know him well.

I almost missed St Francis of Assisi as he emerged slowly from the shadows. The real person was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone in 1181/1182 and died in 1226. It is difficult when we are so distant to resolve the inherent contradictions in his life that we may perceive from the context of our own time. He is predominantly known in popular culture as an advocate for animal welfare, but that should not be conflated with a modern take on that ethical position.

The legend of the Red Baron has endured for 102 years since the man behind the legend, aviator Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (02 May 1892 to 21 April 1918), was fatally wounded in an aerial dogfight over the Somme battlefield. Amazingly, von Richthofen lived long enough to land his equally famous Fokker Dr.I 425/17 red triplane.

When I started out on my walk I had no idea that I would see so many flowers.

It is a quantum leap from Danny Boy (see my post for yesterday) to  Howlin' Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett 1910-1976) the blues musician. The howlin' wolf (see below: you would howl, too, if you had just sat on that cactus) was accompanied by what I thought was a Mexican balalaika player because of the triangular base of the object he was holding.