Sunday at Cedar Ridge

 December 6, 2020

There were tons of little birds in the trees that morning. I wished I'd gotten up earlier--I snoozed until almost 7:30. When I finally got out to look, it was Ruby-crowned kinglets, mostly, but there was a wren or two that could have either been Bewick's or Carolina. Sounded like Carolina. Then I saw a pair of slim, dark gray birds fly into the trees and disappear. I could have sworn I saw a flash of red on one of their heads. Best guess I can venture, they were Gray Catbirds and the "red" I saw was the rufus color under the tail.

After that I made pancakes, which I burned slightly around the edges. Why do I have to be in such a hurry, that I always make pancakes that are burned on the outside and raw on the inside?  I got it right last time...but it seemed to take a short forever. Maybe the answer is one of those 2-burner griddles that lets me cook more at once. There would be no rush, because the first batch would be enough for two people and the second batch would finish up the batter.

Still slightly sore from the one-hour jog of two days before, I took a quick 45 minute jog during which I saw an Osprey and a Roadrunner. It was almost warm enough to sit outside, so I sat outside to eat a bit of lunch. Sitting in the sun with the breeze on my back, it was bearable. A lot of people left but not as many as I'd hoped--by the end of the day the campground was about 1/4 full. The people next to us, with the annoying bright light, stayed. But I didn't see a sign of them all day.

I wonder, sometimes, how many of the people I see might be full-time campers. At $24/night it is cheaper than a $1000/month apartment rental, and the biggest downside is that you have to move every few weeks because the COE won't let you stay in one spot for very long.

The old guy in the van came in, too. Actually, I don't know how old he is. All I know is that I've seen him here and on the other side of the campground several times now. He drives an old green-ish van, and he sets up a hot plate and teakettle on the picnic table. I frequently see him sitting outside at the table, doing what appears to be nothing. (No computer; no cell phone.) Is he a writer? An independent contractor? A bum?

Around 2:30 or so we headed into town to play disc golf at Heritage Park. I played as badly as always--the only good shot I got in was a putt at one of the longer holes that we happened to be walking by to get to the next tee. If we'd been counting, it wouldn't have counted.

The plan for the evening was sushi, so we had to cut the golf short and head back to start supper. We barely got in nine holes. Sushi doesn't take all that long to prepare--the rice which takes about 45 minutes to cook and 30 or s minutes to cool down enough to handle. It's the tempura vegetables that take a while -- a good hour.

While we were working inside, deer moved through the campsite. Here's a picture of them taken through the window.

Shortly afterward, a flock of turkeys meandered through. Cool!
The guys counted twelve or more of them--I was too busy tempura-ing.