Rain!

Big deal, you say? Yes, a Big Deal, as we have not seen any measurable rainfall at the WD in months. It has been cloudy this past week, and it has rained other places (mostly on asphalt). It always seems to take the weather a bit to figure out how to rain again after a long layoff. It spatters a bit, just enough to have you think it may work itself into something, and then it quits.

Now that it has rained 0.25 inches, I hope it remembers how to do it some more, the desert needs it and it is time for "monsoon".

June

It is dry. It is hot. And today is the start of summer.

Everybody is seeking relief: birds, including chickens, are holding their wings away from their body and find shade or a moist indentation (made by someone watering vegetation) to spend the time. The bunnies and hares lay sprawled under the trees, all legs to one side, with only the ears showing.

The ones apparently taking the heat in stride are our horses and the young quail. The horses have ample shade available but stand in the sun by the hour. The baby quail seem unaffected and scratch under the feeders as their parents stand with beaks open trying to stay cool.

Everything appears stressed to me. Plants and trees seem to crisp in degrees around 100 F. I do some extra watering, especially to plants that have many, and thin, leaves. This weather shows who really belongs in the desert. Even our Arizona ash, though native, belongs at a river's edge; here it stands next to a water dish which only supplies water to wildlife.

I would love to know who all comes to the water dish, especially at night. We have seen a bobcat visit in broad daylight, and our neighbor called at dusk last night to report that he surprised a mountain lion at his birdbath. We should hang a night time camera in the ash.

So garden and orchard are getting extra water, and the wildlife appreciates it. The hares have started eating the bottom branches of the apple trees, the birds keep testing the ripeness of the peaches. Still, all is well right now. We are looking forward to monsoons.

Remembering Buggs

My Oregon friend Linda loved Buggsy. He was her "ride" when she would visit and she had some memorable moments with him. Once, on a ride that included lunch we took the horses to graze by the banks of a river, the grass was lovely there. Buggs had other ideas: why eat grass when you can beg a bite of a ham sandwich instead?

When Linda came over last month to take care of the WD while we were in Costa Rica she brought her own tribute to him.

Buggs was the gentleman, and we are missing him.