The latest nerd-centric activity that has swept through the Patch involves a cell phone, GPS and some local travel and walking in sometimes remote locations to hunt down an illusive Geocache.

A typical cache is a small waterproof container with a logbook and some toys or trinkets, they can also contain items for trading and some trackable artifacts. This one we found locally is a ‘nano’ cache and only contains a rolled up log sheet.

After downloading the Geocaching App you pick what treasure you want to hunt down using GPS to get you in the approximate location.

Our treasure hunt took us into a local graveyard.

No I don’t think it will be down there.

Good exercise this Geocaching.

We honed into the location and started to look around.

And we continued to look around,

and around.

This part of the process can make you look like you should be in a state hospital wandering aimlessly around and around head down. I personally caught my self mumbling at one point around the twenty minute mark.

It took us half an hour to locate it and there was no trinkets or treasure at this particular find just a rolled up log book to sign, but someone was a very happy cacher.

Back in the Patch:

The light quality has started to have a wintery feel this past week.

Bamboo Muhly and tropical looking loquat catching some rays.

My Mexican firebushes

Hamelia patens

 

are living up to their name

You could warm your hands up on these in colder climates,

and behind these, the slender unfurling panicles of Lindheimers muhly

Muhlenbergia lindheimeri

 

a great native, and a good softer alternative to the flesh slicing pampas.

This soggy toadstool says it all.

With our recent rains they have been popping up everywhere.

When the sun came out so did the anoles and lizards.

I got very close to this usually skittish and very fast Texas spiny lizard,

Sceloporus olivaceus

 

 those long toes are adept at climbing trees.

This was a large one, about a foot in length. Its body temperature must have been low which allowed me time to get close with my camera. The spiny body coloration blends perfectly with the bark and lichen on our large trees.

I will leave you with this sobering image…

Yes, my strobilus finally detached itself this week.

It had been lolling around looking sad for weeks now with just a few fibers keeping it attached to the sago palm. I decided to perform the delicate surgical procedure myself and trudged off to my shed for my hook saw and gloves.

I am thinking of mounting it to a wooden frame and hanging it up in our hallway.

Stay Tuned for:

“ Extraction”

 

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