June 2024 – Page 2

Nesting Success

This is the follow-up from my post at the end of May about a nesting doves in our backyard. We first noticed the nesting white winged doves when we returned on May 15 from a quick trip to Mexico.

On June 1st, we spotted both parents in the nest together. It was 9:00 in the morning, which is when the parents often switch duties. The female tends the nest in the cooler night hours, and the male takes the hotter day shift.

By the time we spotted a chick, it was surprisingly large. Here it is with one of it’s parents on June 4:

Here is another picture, this one taken three days later on June 7:

Then we went to Colorado and didn’t return until June 17. By that time, the nest was empty, as would be expected.

Doves incubate their eggs for about 2 weeks and then the chicks are in the nest for only about another 2 weeks. Given the size and probable age of the chick when we left, we’re going to assume the baby chick successfully fledged while we were vacationing.

To send me a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.

Life Coaching for Neurodiverse Professionals

Stalling on the New Car Project

Or if not completely stalled out, we are at least kicking the can down the road. All I wanted was a small electric car with good visibility. How hard can that be? By good visibility, I want to be high enough to both see and be seen. Like in a hot bar, except, in a hot car. Ok I’ll stop now with the dumb jokes.

Seriously, I just don’t want anything huge and hard to maneuver, and I don’t want anything low slung with a really slanted back window that you can’t see out of. I just want a cute, small, electric hatchback that’s tall enough so people don’t change lanes into me.

I also want something that looks at least a little bit distinctive. There’s a bunch of midsized electric SUV’s that all look exactly the same, like the Ioniq 5, Kia Niro, Kia EV6, Nissan Ariya, and I’m just not impressed. And they’re bigger than I want. Oh, plus there’s a Toyota with too many random numbers and letters, bZ4X maybe? I mean, who names a car that?

It’s frustrating that there are tons of totally cool small electric vehicles in Europe and Asia. All sorts of adorable little cars and mini trucks. But can we buy them here in the US? No. We just get enormous clunky things that all look the same.

Not only do they all look the same, they all look kind of pissed off, with their big grills and slanty headlights and angular “modern” styling.

In the US we get this:

While India gets this:

Lol, it looks like a little piece of gourmet chocolate candy. No wonder everyone thinks we’re the big evil empire – we drive big, evil looking cars while the rest of the world drives hilarious cuteness. Although, no I don’t really want a itty-bitty pale pink puff-ball car, but I am seriously not happy with my choices in the US.

There are a few exceptions. The Fiat 500 E is quite cute and maneuverable.

I think it’s the smallest electric vehicle currently on the US market, and it’s definitely on my list of cars to consider. I would just hope it’s big enough to be noticed out there amidst all the enormous pickup trucks and SUVs. When I drive my Mini Cooper it’s common for people to start to change lanes right into me. I try very hard to stay out of people’s blind spots, but it’s not easy being so small in a sea of gigantic trucks.

There was also supposed to be a new electric version of the Mini Cooper. The previous year’s models have poor range, and the newest one, with much improved range, failed to arrive as expected. The Car and Driver magazine says, “Mini’s electric Cooper enters a new generation and it was expected to launch as a 2025 model year in the United States. However, some changes in tariffs for EVs built in China—the Cooper Electric is assembled in Zhangjiagang—has caused Mini to have to push back the hatchback’s launch here.”

There is a larger 4-door version of the Mini Cooper called the Countryman, but it has grown in recent years and is now bigger than both the Kona and the Niro. I would have to test drive it before having an opinion because I’m worried about the suspension. My Mini Cooper’s suspension is far too stiff for the rutted, potholed roads in Tucson.

I have never, ever lived somewhere with such bad roads. I’ve lived in big cities and small towns, I’ve lived in upstate New York with vicious freeze-thaw cycles, I’ve lived in the desert with searing heat, I’ve lived where it rains non-stop, I’ve lived in very poor towns, I’ve lived in a lot of conditions, but I have never seen roads as bad as in Tucson. My Mini Cooper bounces all over the road and nearly gets lost in the potholes. We’ve done actual damage to the car by hitting potholes, and I do what I can to avoid them (they’re hard to see at night). And they’re everywhere!

I’ve been slightly considering the Hyundai Kona electric, mainly because it’s reasonably small compared to most of what can be had in the US. And it comes in a rather outrageous yellow-green that is distinctive, if nothing else.

I’ve been wanting to see one in person, to check out the color. On the internet sometimes it looks yellow, other times it looks green. But there aren’t any in Tucson of that color at the dealership. We’d have to go up to Phoenix to see one, and I was not about to order a car in a color I’d never actually seen, especially some weird yellow-green.

Then on our way home from camping on Memorial Day, while we were passing through a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, I saw it out the window. Abruptly I asked John if we could turn the van around and go back a block. Mystified, he complied as I directed him into a parking lot. I had spotted the neon Kona from the street as we drove by, and I recognized it.

Here I am, standing in my hiking clothes next to it, all proud of myself for spotting it as we drove by. Sure enough, sometimes it looks yellow and sometimes it looks greenish, depending on the lighting.

If we bought that car, I’d always be able to find where I parked!!

But I don’t know. It’s definitely not a cute car. And it’s not all that distinctive except for the crazy color.

I just can’t quite see myself in that car.

Then a few days ago I was idly googling electric cars and came across this amazing graphic (https://telotrucks.com/).

There’s my Mini Cooper, and look at that orange mini-truck hiding behind it. It’s my next car!!! I sat there, jaw-dropped and transfixed. Now this is what I’m talking about. It’s cute, small, sits up high, great visibility, and…

It’s a pickup truck!!! It’s an entire 4 feet shorter than any other pickup truck on the US market. (https://telotrucks.com/#specs)

It’s completely adorable as well as infinitely practical. I could toss my bike in the back! I could buy more plants at the nursery than we have room to plant! And it seats 5 adults. Which is darn hard to believe. My 2-door Mini Cooper has back seats, but the back seats are really only big enough for the dog. So it would be interesting to see how good the back seating is in this Telo truck.

The biggest problem is the Telo is still in concept phase – it hasn’t made it to the market yet. This amazing mini truck may never be actually available. Another issue John noted is the lack of a crush zone in front of the passengers – I don’t see how it would pass the safety tests.

Telo is accepting pre-order reservation deposits, and I couldn’t resist. I signed up immediately. I recognize I may never see my $152 deposit again, but that is an amount I am willing to lose just to be able to feel like I’m in on something that’s going in the right direction for once!

Meanwhile, now what? The Telo truck won’t be available for another couple of years, if ever. And my Mini Cooper is 17 years old and showing it’s age. But the Telo has spoiled me for car shopping! I don’t want anything else now.

To send me a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.

Life Coaching for Neurodiverse Professionals

Short Camping Adventure

For Memorial Day we went out to the Mt. Graham area north east of Tucson. Originally we were going for a 4-day weekend, but I was sick the second half of that week and we delayed our trip until Sunday. So it was just an overnighter.

The road out was rough and steep. We drove slowly, which was lucky for this bull snake, stretched out across the entire road. We were able to stop before running it over, and John got out to encourage it to move.

Turns out the snake was quite happy to stay right where it was, van or no van. Bull snakes are not dangerous, but they can do very good impressions of rattlesnakes when threatened. When John approached, it coiled menacingly.

I would not have stayed there to take it’s picture! But John was confident it wasn’t a rattlesnake.

Suddenly, as I watched from the van, I saw John leap backwards into the air! The snake had tried to strike him! Luckily it was too far away to make contact.

I did not expect the snake to put up such a fight, or I would have been out there with my video camera. Although it was probably just as well, because I would have been so scared I probably would have run off the cliff. Although I’m quite afraid of cliffs too. Stuck between a cliff and an angry bull snake pretending to be a rattlesnake is not on my list of favorite afternoon activities.

After showing John who’s boss, the snake was content to slither off and we continued on our way.

After awhile I couldn’t take anymore of the steep, hairpin, sheer and rutted road, and we started to wonder if we could find somewhere to turn around. That’s the problem with roads that get increasingly worse – it’s always easier to go forwards than get turned around.

Finally we found a little spot where the road flatted out with trees on both sides and we could get the van off the road and parked. I needed a walk! If we had to, we could camp there, but it was not a great spot.

We continued up the road on foot, and very soon we came to a large, park-like flat area with ponderosa pines. Biska and I checked out the area while John jogged back down the road to retrieve the van.

We were still 3 miles from the trailhead, but we were done driving for the day. It was a beautiful spot, and by Sunday afternoon everyone else had gone home. We were the only ones there.

We got our Starlink set up for internet and enjoyed our perfect camping spot.

Here’s Biska playing in the dirt. She loves the dirt!

The next day we packed up and decided to drive the final three miles up to the trailhead. We got about halfway there when we realized the road was simply too much for our van. We really did need to get turned around. I did a bad job of directing John as he backed up, and I got the van stuck, the left rear tire spinning with no traction. Luckily we were able to get it unstuck with not too much effort. We just had to pile some rocks around the spinning tire, and remove a rock that was blocking another tire.

We got turned around, reparked it facing downhill, and started hiking up the road to the trailhead.

On the way up, I jumped back when my brain said “Snake in the road!” I have a very strong startle reflex.

Turns out it wasn’t a snake, it was just a bungie cord, lol.

I didn’t make it as far as the trailhead. It was steep and hot. And I’m going to blame Biska too! She was off running around, and was reluctant to come back when I called her. So I called her in my “I really mean it” voice. She came rocketing down from up the side of the mountain at full speed. I was standing still in the middle of the road, and instead of running up to me and stopping, or running past me, she ran right into my knee at full speed. She over extended my knee and knocked me flat on my butt. She was fine.

I assume she didn’t mean to run into me? But it felt so dang passive aggressive. Sometimes she’s like a three-year-old in the mood that my mom used to call being a “stinker.” At that moment I had in mind some stronger words than stinker. She’s the sweetest dog usually, but I swear she has a bratty side sometimes. She gets annoyed just like everyone else.

Anyway, that knee was already my weak knee and I have a bum ankle on the other side, and it was time to turn back. Meanwhile, my brain had forgotten all about the bungie cord that looked like a snake. So on the way back down I startled a second time at the same bungie cord, my brain again screaming “SNAKE!”

John decided to taunt me my putting his hand on the “snake” and pretending to pick it up. This of course being the day after he was actually struck at by an enormous and very real bull snake.