Super Moon, Temporary Evacuation and Other Stuff....

The Super Moon was this past Monday night and Memo decided that instead of having a Monday morning walk, he'd lead a beach walk, through the sand at the ocean starting at 7pm.  I think there were 15 of us in all....  meeting at the Plaza arch to begin our trek in the dark.

We had already met most of these folks, but there were a few who don't usually join us on the morning walks, so we met some new friends.

I took a few photos...  we watched the moon rise up over the mountains to our east and it was bright enough to cast our shadows as we walked.

I realized after taking several shots that I hadn't changed the settings on my camera from trying to capture the hummingbirds in action, so I never did get a sharp photo of the moon.  

My favorite photo of the evening wasn't even at the beach...

On our way home after the walk, I took this photo a few blocks from our house.  

It kind of shows this little town the way I like it...  so quiet and peaceful.

I have been able to get some photos of our hummingbirds...

This looks like a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird to me.

We have other species here...  and have seen at least 3, maybe 4 of them so far.

This is my view as I sit on our front veranda....  looking out at the bird feeders, and beyond the wall, to the constant activity in the street.  

Not constant as like around the town plaza...  but there are folks walking, bicycling, driving vehicles...  sometimes riding horses...  there's a man who takes his 2 sheep (on a rope) several blocks to graze at the ball field....  there's the occasional vendor, selling everything from fish to mattresses.  Mostly it's a quiet street...  it makes sitting on the front porch very pleasant.

I really appreciate our quiet street after the past couple of days.  The insect exterminator came to do his job on Thursday morning.  We had to leave for 36 hours while this was going on.  We rented an apartment right on the plaza to stay overnight.  There was a huge party at an open-air restaurant across the street and it was very festive.  This weekend is a National Holiday and there will be a big parade Sunday morning.  I think around 9:30 or so a man rode his horse onto the cobblestone street and practiced his (the horse's) dance steps for a half hour or so.  If you've never heard a horse tap-dance on a cobblestone street, you probably don't want to when you're trying to sleep.  And there were the occasional fireworks going off...  very loud...  very, very loud...  probably in the plaza.  Some little kid started screaming (kids are up and about at all hours here) and like to never got calmed down.  And of course, the music....  which you'd have thought would have drowned out all the other noise.

We only had to vacate our own house for 1 night, so I guess it wasn't too bad....  but it sure made me appreciate our own place!

And, speaking of our own place...

Our own bananas!

These are from one of the banana plants in our backyard.  Once the "tree" produces a hand of bananas, it is cut down and another is planted.  We're told that the bananas hanging at the bottom will ripen first...  good thing they don't all ripen at the same time.  We have another banana plant that is starting to flower...  I'll have to record its growth as it progresses.

(the bananas are really hanging upside down in the photo above...  you can see where the stem was cut)

This Streaked-back Oriole often comes to the tree across the road from our house.

Sometimes, like here, it ventures over this way.

We bought a lot of flowers and other plants at that nursery last week...  most have already been planted, but some have to wait until the new sewer line is put in, hopefully next week.

But this Hibiscus, which is now in front of the porch, bloomed beautifully earlier this week.  The hummingbird did indeed visit it several times while it was at its peak!

One last photo...

That gourd-like jug at that man's feet holds something to drink.  I don't know what it is, but the man walks around and sells glasses full of it.  You can see him handing these folks a glass.

I'm going to have to find out just what it is...  but I believe I'll just continue drinking the bottled water that is readily available here.

That's All For Today!