Mystery solved

Well in case you haven't looked at the comment section, I solved the mystery of the odd plant. It is tree tobacco, a South American native which has naturalized throughout the West. It can grow to be 25 feet tall. So we took this photo and then pulled it out . The tap root was about 2 inches thick and headed under the retaining wall. We saved some seeds and sprinkled them out back--we'll see... Next is an American Kestrel which was perched on one of the trees out back. We have seen them in the area before so maybe they are back for the winter. And finally, yesterday we found out that another lot owner has applied for a building permit. So our few months without building activity is about to end. We are off to the East coast for several weeks, maybe we'll get some "fall color" photos for this page.