Plantas Y Maderas - Garden Benches

Just a few days ago I was sitting on the back of our Dodge tailgate under the shade watching the horses running in the road before taking them back to the corral.  There was a comotion.  I glanced quickly to see what it was, the chickens were runnin and clucking like wild thangs, then I was amazed to see a young bobcat just 10 feet away from me.  The chickens got away and without noticing me, he turned back from where he came.

This morning I come back from the Ranch and Gene tells me the news.  "Terri, come here....The bobcat got LuLu...over here, by the big cardon, do you see me?" I grabbed my camera and this is what we captured. 

Please click photo above to enlarge.....
Vaya con Dios LuLu.  You were one big crazy rooster,  you have been with our family for 19 plus months...we'll always remember you buddy... it was just your day to die...now your soul feeds another.  Another reminder that we live at the edge of a vast desert.  This Bobcat is just trying to survive and he found a motherload today.......
Wow, what a sighting

An unexpected treat came our way 4:30 this morning....rain!  What a concept, rain in the desert.  The weather from the mainland crossed over and made it to our little piece of paridise.  The smell is unbelievable after months without a drop of liquid gold from the sky the plants put out their distinct fresh healthy scent, clearing off the dust....awe, nothing like it.  "I've been waiting for her for so long...here comes the rain"  This song from Cult has had another diminsion to it once living here.

Cherokee and Warrior are often seen running up and down the road, but today Cherokee was pouring it on lovin it....run it off babe.  Tomorrow she will be going to summer camp with Vicinte our friend the horse whisperer...she is so beautiful, but so wild...with the right training she will make an incredible horse...but gotta say after getting kicked twice and bit in the back busting some ribs..I am open for a real cowboy to step in and take over...Unfortunately the previous owners kicked, whipped her...and my being there while loading her onto the trailer put me in her eyes as one of the bad guys...  So, I named her Cherokee after seeing her trail of tears, my heart sinks....but like the life giving rains her spirit has the potential to become awakened with a shift in perspective fresh and anew...ojala, vaya con Dios joven.  God she is beautiful..what's that saying this ol cowgirl told me in Jackson "Just cuz they look good don't mean they ride good"  yep, such is life.

This morning Ellie got up early jumped into our bed and giving us hugs, telling us what she dreamed about, and told me she wanted a little parakeet in her cage.  Then within a moments time she says..."Mom, look there's a big mariposa outside in the tent.  We sleep with our doors and windows wide open with the alternative of sleeping outside in the tent.   She finally convinced me to go check it out, we do get enormous butterflies in the summers after the rains, so her comment wasn't all that unusual other than we haven't received the rains yet.  Wow, I couldn't believe my eyes, here is a baby owl hanging with us.  Imagine that.  The sightings of owls are far and few between and here now we have a baby wanting to hang out with our family.  This photo was taken this afternoon, the photo below was taken this morning.  Fort and Ellie just named the baby Tricky....as she just now flew off after spending 12 + hours with us....and they are walking around the yard calling her name.............classic, now that doesn't happen every day.

Classic word ...Responsibilities, Lord knows we all have our em.....here...We have Fort and Ellie, what a beautiful pair..Gene and I count our blessings daily to have Fort and Ellie  in our lives as well as the other dimensions we have welcomed in our lives.  I never had a notion of the concept until I had children and so do recall while being a ski bum back in Jackson , Tahoe and Verbier ..why the mom's didn't get out there skiing like they used to......now I know, didn't understand and didn't care to ...for I was to busy enjoying myself, life, my own thang...never thought I'd get married, etc and all that goes with it.  Now other priorities take precedence and it takes a strong individual to see what's most important in our lives....keep focused.  In my youth there is no way i could of...perhaps that's why I had children in my later years...gracias A Dios para su ayuda con my vida porque sin tu corazon...I would of been lost..to say the least.

Here Responsibilities are a daily thang....and ya just take em on....but keep pluggin away and the days go by and months and years then....before ya know it ....here ya find yourself.  Wow...what a concept.  ...takin it on.  Thank you Great Spirit...

Now....let's take it a step forward...as a whole what are our individual responsibilities, Lord knows I have mine and you have yours...but together we are all connected and what can we do with that connection.....

......the way I see it ....the sky is the limit.  Let's join our vision, hearts and hands ....together we can make a difference.  So subtle, yet so strong.

please check this out

lhttp://www.financialpost.com/news/Lawrence%20Solomon%20Avertible%20catastrophe/3203808/story.html

Talk about the responsibilities ....phew...talk about the importance of protecting our waters, our liquid gold ...our future...our children, our future, our planet.  We are all connected regardless of our skin color, the language we speak, where we were born, the religion we believe in...I believe we are all connected.  ....and there is no doubt in any mind we share this planet together.  How does that saying go...oh yea,  "Together we stand, divided we fall". 
Thanks for this info Al and Annie of  www.loszacatitos.net  thank you for your insight.  Although the challenge within the left and right within the US seems like childhood school play and the principal needs to step in.   Here we are.  How do we as humanity step up and take responsibility.

p.s. use less plastic, it takes oil to create and oil to recycle

Yesterday I caught these photos above to share a portion of our daily views.  The morning starts before sunrise, Fort's up early to help feed the horses and clean the stalls. He especially enjoys his solo time our 2 month old colt he named Warrior.  I keep my distance listening to him talk to her...about thangs, life as a 6 1/2 year old boy sees it.  Warrior takes a nice big stretch, then Fort joins in.  The white pitaya opening in the morning bringing an exotic bloom in the midst of the grey landscape.  I notice the lomboys are putting out their green seed pods as well as tiny pink flowers.  The Cardons, oregon pipes, and various other natives are producing seeds, preparing to reproduce during the summer rains.  May we be so fortunate to receive life giving as we did last year....

After morning chores, readings and artwork with the munchkins, a little work in the shop, house, casita, caretaking homes etc... I venture into town for our supplies.  Caught a few photos of the new bridge passing over the arroyo connecting La Playita and San Jose del Cabo, then there's that classic Statue....
I sure do enjoy the simple life, less trips to town now that the munchkins are out of school, stalking up to see how many days can pass without needing anything that we don't have out at Milagro Ranch. On my way home, taking my sweet time.... I have to take a shot of the Osprey in the dead palm, Iguana on the rock, can only see his head.  Then the cardon looking over the Sea of Cortez with a little chipmunk talking to his buddy with his tail on the rock to the lower right.  Then there's the guard shack just around Punta Gorda selling cow skulls.....yep. 

A little more work then the evening chores come.....guess my trip to town was like a siesta, taking it in...instead of the go go go.  Awe summertime.  Back at the ranch there is plenty to be done, Gene always tells me there is not enough hours in the day....so true.  We got to see a king snake between the casita and the shop, they are beautiful and actually are known to eat rattle snakes.... :)  we call this one Harry.  Later while Fort Ellie and I are taking the alfalfa back to the corral we go the long way around and see rattle snake tracks.  "Mom, it's summer time gotta keep our eyes open for rattle snakes right?"  Yes Fort :)  The red cardinals, doves, cactus wren are flying around just before they quiet for the evening and then the sky puts out some amazing colors whenever we have clouds. 

It has been so incredibly quiet..most folks have gone back to where they are going, and less workers, less traffic other than the occasional water truck to come out to the coast to keep the folks plants alive while they are away.  Yes and to keep us that remain in constant supply of that liquid gold.  Just another day.......just another day filled with simple pleasures.

The CNC machine has most definitely added a new dimension to our woodwork.  Incorporating the carvings into doors, frames, benches...the sky is the limit.  Add a little color and the marriage is defined.  Here our family works hard together, but raising our children with the concept that work can also be play...work hard...play hard.  Just enjoy what's at hand and success will follow.

 

In my youth I remember one of my grandfathers....Wallis Tractor Campbell, yep...that is what his parents named him, so I have been asked to confirm over the years...a true cowboy.  From the days of the 60's and then some at the Wagner Ranch just south of the Red River border between Oklahoma and Texas  100 head of horses and ten times as many cattle, he even journed into the Tetons, Jackson Wy country before I was born with his work.  He and my Grandmother lived just to the north in Oklahoma, on an old ranch house that generations before him lived, a soulful place for our family gatherings, the priceless memories of my childhood.  My grandmother Clarabell, was couragous and strong, living in a place somewhat like here...with pioneering spirit, a tough Woman and the heart of our family back in the day...it was there I continue to find many soulfulness memories of my youth with my cousins, aunts and uncles.  Wallis had a lot to say, but one thing he would bring up ...was.. the weather.  I just assumed that was what old folks do if they had nothing else to say when I was younger...must be aging myself, because I find the weather is a topic worth discussing...beyond numerous other potentials floating out there.  Always a good way to start out a conversation if you have nothing else to say "How's the weather"  it's amazing where that phrase can lead you.

This 4th of July weekend started with 97 in the shade to 77 within hours and winds unusual to say the least this time of year.  Waking to 60 degrees wearing jackets here in baja in July....nothing like most folks are accustomed to.  Just days ago the water was turning blue, then came the south winds and a Big southern swell turning the water a cool green.......Happy 4th to the USA....no fireworks here, just sending out to friends a family all our best and enjoy the celebrations.

"Nature is a volume of which God is the Author"  Moses Harvey


I am so very thankful the oil is not hitting our coastline as BP continues to fill the gulf of Mexico just off the US and now we have another recent similar problem elsewhere, imagine that...... and my heart goes out to the folks that are directly affected...yet it is all connected ...like the web of life..

"A moment's insight is sometimes worh a life's experience"  Holmes


http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill/



At times like these it is easier for most to talk about the weather......

"The truth was knocking at the door, I said go away I am looking for the truth and it did"  Pirsig  author of Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance.


After all ....Life is what we make of it

Yesterday while waiting for Ellie's school to start in La Playita, we heard the sounds of Guns and Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" load and clear from a neighbor starting out his day. It put a big smile on my face....thinking "Welcome to the desert"...... Classic to even hear tunes in english in these parts....pura espanol!  The previous day we even witnessed a group of mariachis walking down the La Playita roads in full costume.  At any rate...

Countless photo opportunities have passed me by...still working on the ol girl, the camera that is...I am finding that the words flow more freely with visual affects.  My words can't possibly begin to give this experience in the tropical desert justice. 

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the horses run free during the day then back into the corral at night...growing healthier daily..Milagro is now providing milk to her babe Warrior, what a transition occurring in just a few weeks.  Fort and Ellie will be out of school this coming week...phew..yeeehaw!  We continue to produce fine custom woodworks out of our off the grid shop and thankful for the continual flow of work in this tough economy. 

The wildlife continues to amaze me. Yesterday a red fox ran out in front of me, and in that same spot just days ago a small bobcat and I had a few moments where our eyes met.  The orioles, blue jays and cardinals bring brilliant colors  of yellow, blue and red upon this dry vast landscape.  Where you would think no life could survive you often see lizards, chipmunks, road runners and rabbits scurrying along finding shade and food...lord knows how they exist here.  This past week I looked up at a nearby cardon while sitting on a bench outside our place and saw a red cardinal, a dove and a chipmunk each eating the seedlings on 3 separate limbs of the same cardon cactus...classic.  During the full moon phase we could hear the coyotes at night near by, along with that the neighborhood dogs barking at burros, cows, coyotes...imagine that.... Desert solitude.

The cactus are in bloom always so hard to believe how these native plants can produce fruit and flowers when they are obviously lacking the life giving rains...yet they continue their cycle of life, regardless of these desert elements.  As Fort put it last night in a little song "Only the strong survive" while taking his evening outdoor shower.

God I love it here.