Sandy and Caroline are together again. It’s not very often that I see my wife hit it off so quickly with another woman. When she does, I can be certain that the person is as authentic as it gets. You might have guessed that Caroline is not into pretense and hiding behind fashion or makeup; she wants real experiences, and the same goes for the people she associates with.

While not ‘art’ yet, Caroline is on her way to understanding the craft. As they focus on that weaving stuff, I’m heading out to explore other things.

Janie’s husband, Don, who’s very active with local environmental issues, told me about the Sipe White Mountain Wildlife Area nearby. I’m out here checking the place out.

I’m not in a hurry as I have the afternoon to wander, so I’ll just check out things like this fly.

There’s an orange and black bug on one of those flowers; I think it’s a boxelder, but I’m no entomologist; I just play one on TV.

Who doesn’t love hummingbirds? I tried getting a good photo of them in flight, but with the contrast and my distance, they turned out horribly, so I present you two hummingbirds just chilling out.

And like that, I’m back at the alpaca farm.

But before I got back to my wife, I stopped to visit a nearby couple I was told about who was living off-grid in a yurt. They are from New Mexico and, after showing me their outdoor kitchen invited me into the yurt so I could check it out. If only we could live in a yurt down in Phoenix…

Yep, they are still at it, studying, doing, listening, watching, weaving.

I’m waiting for him to sneeze or spit on me while all I want is a little snuggle of his furry face. I played it safe and kept my distance, but someday, I’ll know the softness and that beautiful face.