July 3rd, 2017

The days have been quite hot, threatening to to tip over from the high 90's to triple digits for the last week. It managed to make it to 99 degrees today. Tomorrow should hit 100, and will likely remain that way for the rest of this week. The wind normally comes up in the afternoons, so if I am going to fly, I need to get out early. Dust Devils await those who venture out after one PM. I saw a couple the other day that must have been a 1000 feet in the air. I had to climb up on the roof to make sure that the columns were not smoke.

I wanted to check to see if there was actually anybody actually living in the Teepee that I had seen last week. A neighbor in that area. (20 miles or more away) related that some woman had been staying there last year.  ( It is an indicator of how remote this area is when someone living 20 or more miles away is a close neighbor. ☺) If you will notice there seems to be a shortage of "wimps" residing in this area of the world.  Either that or she is one cranky broad!

There was no one home, and it appeared that the place had been empty for quite sometime. I am guessing, but I don't think she has taken up residence yet this year. With the nearest water about 10 miles away, and 100 degree temps, that seems like a good idea. I got the idea that the area where the Teepee is located might be one of the numerous little private holdings out in the middle of the desert. It is quite amazing but there are a lot of little 5-15 acre plots with no rhyme or reason to them. As I flew over Coyote Lake I saw a small campsite tucked back into a little opening. His dog was up and about, but he was still sitting in his bed. Talk about "unplugged".

https://vimeo.com/224120539  password   owyheeflyer

 ( click the size to 1080, pause it if necessary  to make it run smooth )

Karen and I have been keeping a pretty low profile in this hot weather. July is the hottest month of the year here. It seems that as the days heat up, the heat pulls what moisture there is in the ground and builds thunderstorms, and wind. The friction over the Sage seems to build static electricity, which manifests itself as "Dry Lightening". We have already had a couple of fires so far. The Sunsets and Sunrise's are some small compensation for the phenomenon. I will share them with you.

This particular formation is called "Dumplings"

I have no idea what causes them.

Notice the wind sock. A good strike

will run pretty fast with that much help.

As long as it is only the sky that is on fire.

This one and the next are Sun rises.

You can see the clouds have become too full

of water, and are dumping their load.

The beginning of a new day.