Chico R&R

We haven't been very vagabond-y the past four weeks. Our friend Ann graciously invited us to stay at her lovely home in Chico, California, even while she herself was on vacation in Michigan. (Thank you for your generosity and thoughtfulness Ann!) It's pretty hot here in Chico, so we've been getting full use of Ann's beautiful lagoon pool and enjoying the yard. 

Our mascot for this vagabond stay is Kingston. Being a herder, he likes to patrol the perimeter and always lets us in the door first. 

As many friends know, I have animal allergies, so I cannot pet Kingston. However, he does enjoy my foot belly rubs! He also gets very excited when John takes him for a walk at the park down the street.

He couldn't keep his eyes open!

There is also a kitty, Solace, who mostly keeps to herself. Unfortunately, because I do like cats, I cannot have interaction with her. Isn't she pretty, though?

As if COVID isn't enough, California has had to deal with extreme heat waves and fires across the state during August. We had some pretty extreme temperatures ... break out the lemon ice and the gel packs! 

Those cool socks, a gift from Emily, are fantastic. They can also be heated if warmth is needed.

There were some fires in the general vicinity, as well as large fires in Napa and the Bay Area, causing smoke, haze, ash, and poor air quality. Here are some photos from one of the worst days:

(A brief digression, following up from a previous post where I discussed the crossed palm trees that are found at most of the In-N-Outs. Founder Harry Snyder began the tradition of planting the crossed palms in 1972. They are inspired by the treasure hunt in one of his favorite films, 1963's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, where the characters find treasure under four crossed palms that form a "W.")

While here, my friend Tara told me about the Seek app. This app allows you to take photos of a variety of species in order to identify and learn more about them. It keeps track of your observations, for which you earn various badges. You can also participate in challenges to collect particular species. Right now I'm working on the Backyard Challenge and the Pollinator Challenge. 

These are some cool species I've captured during our visit:

This was a sweet capture! Flame Skimmer (also firecracker skimmer) dragonfly, native to Western North America. Now, with dragonfly being my spirit animal, you'd think I would know that there is an orange variety, but it was news to me. Had never seen such before. Isn't it beautiful?!

This is a scrub jay who likes to come splash in the filter fountain.

Indian Shot, a type of canna lily. The flower was so delicate, only in its full beauty for one day.

Mediterranean Cypress. We really like these and see them all over California.

And, of course ....

To be fair, we haven't been totally lazy. To make a contribution, John has been working on Ann's honey-do list, and I have been building her family tree. We've also made a few excursions, and we have a few more planned before we depart Chico, but I will save those for our next post.