When we were at Moss landing, we were right next to Castroville.
Castroville represents itself as the artichoke capital of the world. There
are artichokes on every menu. That area represents itself as the flower
capital of the world as well. There are flats of flowers in outdoor
greenhouses. The outdoor greenhouses are like carports. Carports are like
garages with no walls. As we were driving away, through the fertile inland
valleys, we found ourselves in the garlic capital of the world. Do you know
that you don't have to be cooking garlic for it to be fragrant? Do you know
that a gazillion acres of garlic can be very fragrant? It's true. That
would have been a very nice drive for a garlic lover.
Back through the California savannah, up the grade to the windmills at the
Tehachapi summit. A few days in the Mojave, east of Barstow. An easy drive
east on Interstate 40, out of California, and into Arizona. Spotted a sage
sparrow in a rest stop. Holds his tail up high like a wren. New bird. A
right turn past Needles, and down the Colorado River to Judy's sister
Susie's house in Parker. We stopped eleven miles short of Susie's, and
checked in to Buckskin Mountain State Park. Nice place. Nice weather.
Nice day.
The grackles don't have tails. Great-tailed grackles all around, all
without tails. Must be a mass fall molt underway. They are a motley crew.
Grackles are not a favored bird. They seem to be universally despised.
They are a big aggressive bird that dominates the territory it occupies. A
whole flock of grackles makes quite a racket. They eat all the seed at your
feeders. Me, I like grackles. I like the sound they make, even though it
is described in the bird books as: "a series of loud unpleasant noises:
mechanical rattles, sliding tinny whistles, harsh rustling sounds, and sharp
hard notes."
