Going South

I've been watching the sky for days, waiting for the annual vulture migration.  I'd just about decided I must have missed it when I glanced out late yesterday afternoon and there they were!  A drawback to the otherwise marvelous digital camera is that it's hard to take "instant" photos; there's that tiny delay when the shutter clicks.  I could only catch a small portion of the many birds circling before they drifted over the hill to the east on their trip south to the Owens Valley.  It was a perfect opportunity, too, as they were more visible in front of the white cloud backdrop this year.  Ah, well, it is enough that I got to see them.  The wing span of these birds is as wide as I am tall and they look like glider planes in the sky as they ride the thermals, rarely needing to flap to rise and circle; awesome in the best sense of the word.

It's been a long while since my friend Arden has come by so it was a special treat when she came for a visit yesterday.  We munched on warm zucchini puffs as we caught up on each other's news, traded and discussed books, and laughed.

I love this picture.  Going out at sundown, the clouds to the east were reflecting the reds and pinks of the sky to the west.  I leave it to the imagination as to whether this portion of the driveway is leaving or coming home.

Thinking this was a better shot of the clouds, I didn't see that the girls, especially Tessie, were in the picture.  The others are on their way down to the barn.  This is one of the best times of the day for me, the other being sunrise.

It was a good day.