Remember that Texas Firebush?

It totally died and we cut it all the way back to the ground.

Then it showed a sign of life so we left it alone to see what it would do.

It grew back.

And after being gone all summer, we come home to this…

December/January.  It will be time to whack it back down again.  Maybe only knee high this time though.

Along the way

Both homeowners decided that solar power would be a good idea.

I suspect that they each spent the about same amount on the infrastructure that makes the panels work and ties them into the house’s electrical system.  From there, one went max, one went mini.  I wonder what the factors were that sent each their own direction.

Along the way

I looked for some good close-up bird pictures to send out and couldn’t find any.  I need to get out more.  I did come across some ducks on a pond in Arizona.  Usually, pond ducks are a whole mix of different colors and patterns, domestic Mallard hybrids paddling about in search of soggy slices of bread or crackers.  These ducks were different.  They all looked the same.

They’re not domestic ducks.  They’re all wild American Wigeons.

American Wigeons like to winter in the southern states.  Their breeding grounds are way north in Canada and Alaska.