Lovely days

October is Best-Weather-Month in our desert. Daytime temperatures are in the low 80's and at night it is in the 40's or 50's. I am still in shorts pre-dawn on the morning walk, but I do wear a sweatshirt. The landscape is drying out, as are our noses, and the mountains are turning tan with still yellow composites blooming in many places.

I have a cactus in a pot that is blooming however, and Dan has had a great time taking photos of it. I have had to put it on the table as I know from experience that it is rabbit food, in spite of those fearsome spines.

As for animals, the wild variety, most of the vultures have left for down south and the hummingbird migration is about over. I still have a feeder up because there are always stragglers, even in the winter. We see a lot of the roadrunner and his/her two chicks, who are now full grown, though still thin. The adult roosts in the barn again, over Buggsy's feeder. Talk about going to bed early: the roadrunner is perched as soon as the sun goes down, which is 5:30 right now because we are in the foothills of Mt Glenn. This early darkness is not unwelcome as the evenings are perfect for sitting around a little fire at Dave and Barbara's, looking at the stars and making some 'smores.