Plantas Y Maderas - Garden Benches

We've got the occasional bull or herd of bulls nearby...at times it's a bit of a challenge.  The burros are plentiful...then the rattle in my hand freshly broken off from the rattle snake we got last week near our outdoor shower.  I swear the thought did cross my mind to get a video of it coiled up with it's tounge out and rattling at me, I was in the position to close the door between us and go grab my camera...but hey, what can I say..I ran to Papa for a little assistance on this kill.  Maybe next time...for your viewing pleasures.
Meanwhile, here's Gene riding out the Dog Days of August...sometimes it's just plain loco round here...just gotta keep on keepin on...

Wow, here I am thinking we had a baby owl come visit us for 12 + hours (see previous post dated 19 July).  I stand corrected thanks to a couple good folks that spend a good portion of their year living here in our community.  These two different sources pointed me into another direction.  Turns out "Tricky" isn't a baby owl after all, but a pygmy owl.   ...Thank you for your input, guidance and support Tom K and also Anne of  www.annepopperwell.com
Classic, I had to google the pygmy owl and find out this species is also possibly endangerd...still waiting for a response from the owl research institute in Montana to confirm....the internet is an amazing tool...especially for us out here in the desert without a library access..gotta love it.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_cactus_ferruginous_pygmy_owls_endangered

Imagine that....
"In wildness is the preservation of the world"  Henry David Thoreau

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.

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.

We received another beautiful desert winter rain this week, what a treat. Already at ages 4 and 6 Fort and Ellie are pretty savy at how to protect our environment, planting trees provides shade, building material as well as oxygen for us to breathe...it's all connected.  Just before we planted all of our palo de arco seedlings ...nice timing on the munhckins part, now the little trees have a head start in getting their roots established.  While digging and planting they sing their little song "What's it gonna take?  TEAMWORK"  They are so classic together, never a dull moment around here....what a blessing.

During the winter, the rains are all together different than those in the summer.  Although we don't get the intense humidities, bobos, dragon flies, butterflies and velvet colorful desert...we do get happy plants and cooler weather.  The skies are crystal clear the next morning, it's as if a cleansing has occured, the lighting is incredibly intense...it's breath taking and beautiful. 

The next day on our normal daily journey into town, some of the roads are as smoothe as butter, while others have obviously seen better days. The first photo below is just behind our place, after this summer we have nurtured a tree to grow in the center, along with the rugged drainage...the advantage, less traffic!  

Along the coast road we saw a bobcat/lynx cross somewhat slowly in front of our truck.  Although I was so stoked to see him/her, the camera didn't make it for the shot in time....at least Fort and Ellie also got a good glimpse of something beautiful and wild.  We also hear the coyote nearby, get a glimpse of the red fox, and the random rabbit hopping accross the road which our faithful dogs Rubby, Dora and Thunderbolt gladdlly chase after.

In the early mornings we are starting to see tons of whale spray, as they expire their breath at the surface...it's beautiful as the sun is rising behind, the mist is lit up.  Today we caught a mama with it's baby just off the shore (within swimming distance) *staying close to the surface...she must of just had her calf and teaching it how to swim...I'm only guessing...I just am always excited to see the return of the whales...yearly they make an incredible journey from Alaska to Baja......and back again.... Mother Nature at her best.

It's so classic.  My grandpa Waldo used to always say "Where there's a will there's a way"  No doubt I have seen it time and time again while living here in Mexico.  There's that easy way to put it "Mexi Can".  It is so true.  This is just one example.

A few years ago the coast road had been moved inland to accomodate for some new development.  No longer is it a straight shot along the beautiful sea of cortez to our nearest pueblo, La Playita.  They went all out and cleared the trees going up and down the rugged hillsides and put in pavement, to accomodate for a new development...yep, imagine that.  No longer is La Playita the quaint little fishing village, it is now Puerto Los Cabos.

If you drive out to the East Cape today you will see what I mean when I say "This pavement has seen better days"  It's as if you have to get agile in your vehicle...turn left/ quick right/ trying to avoid huge potholes, or perhaps find the pavement what little there is left.....meanwhile avoid the cattle, look ahead the oncoming is in your lane..oh and then there is a nice build up of sand on the right bank coming out of one of the local ranch roads so you have to go onto the oncoming traffic lane...it is nothing but classic and down right Dangerous!  This is our daily venture to take the munchkins to and from school.  There are no school buses, yeehaw that would be us. 

Alright, every once in a while you see the road crew out working and it is some serious manual labor.  First they work on one end to the next by foot trying to clean the road and break it down even more to get all the loose debris, yep.  Then a few days later, they come in with a truckload a asphalt dumped on the side of the road and these folks go back and forth filling the holes with a 5 gallon bucket on their shoulders.  Nothing like utilizing workforce, providing jobs and some serious physical labor.  Today I did saw a rental mini steam roller flattening out the tar...I believe it was all of 3 to 4 feet in width.  These folks have their work cut out for them...

Yep...where there's a will there's a way Mexi Can!!!

Meanwhile...We saw a king snake in the road.  A roadrunner run out in front of us, an osprey picking up a fish out of the sea...a few cattle..oh, yes and a bat ray jumping out of the water.  It has been a shile since I have seen that, the water must be getting a little cooler.  Time to take a venture out and go for a swim.

 Today I saw several whales playing off the coast of La Laguna.  Tis the season, ojala...here they come.  Just yesterday I saw a lynx...(aka gatos de montana para los locals) cross in front of my path after a morning hike up into Punta Gorda.  Life is good.  Mother Nature at her best.

The lightning show last night was outragous, without a drop of rain.  The sound of the surf pounding inland was intimidating, folks headed out as fast as possible early this morning, by car, by plane...while the intensity of the hurricane diminishes, still preparing for the worst, hoping for the best...enjoying the moment.   Our children are now singing "rain rain go away come again another day"  hmmm, where did that come from, we live in the desert.  It's beautiful

Another one of life's great mysteries upon us.