Summer approaches the Sonoran desert

The weather has been very windy these past weeks, following an incredibly dry winter that made records! I haven't seen a Gila monster, Javelina or coyote in a very long time, although the coyotes have been active at night. The wind has broken our outside table and a chair and broken off several plants. Can't say I enjoy it--had thought the winds were only this bad during monsoon season.

Walking in the desert I've been astounded by how nature survives these weather changes...just today I saw many blooms on the purple

Chollas, and several wildflowers that were still going strong. This is without a good rain since the beginning of December! And the wind has been  hellacious, sucking any residual moisture right out of the ground.

 The Saguaro's bloomed at least a month early this year, but the white winged doves who come for the blooms have been oddly sparse. When I asked a man at 'Native Seed Search' about this, he told me that the native tribes gear the blooming of the Saguaro's with the ceremony to bring the rains.

Since these incredible cactus usually bloom in late May or early June, it takes until late June or early July for the fruit to ripen. They harvest the fruit and make the wine and then they have their ceremony. He said he wasn't sure if this early bloom meant earlier rains or if it was just an affect of global climate change. It will be interesting to find out.

I've seen only one rattlesnake so far this year, and that one seemed oblivious of me or my dog, lying immobile in the middle of the narrow wash I was walking in. I jumped over him and continued. I miss the snakes, not the rattlers, per se, although I do like them, but the King snakes and the Gopher snakes. The year we moved here they were around, but now they're not. We even had a Gila monster that first year! Perhaps human activity and dogs and cats caused them to change their habits.

We are planning a trip in early June up to cooler climes in the Pacific Northwest, but it will be hard for me to leave. There is something magical about this place even when the temperatures soar. I don't want to miss any of the strange and wondrous insect invasions or the baby quail coming to our feeder...(they've been here but I have yet to see them) But as my friend in New Mexico said: "The best thing about living in the desert is going away and coming back."

thunder, lightning!

The last couple of days have been humid--heating up to thunderstorms in the afternoon. Yesterday our storm fizzled, but the day before we had a doozy! I wanted to sit outside and watch the clouds build, listen to the thunder rolling across the valley but after the first lightning strike and a CLAP of thunder right above us, I scurried into the house. The temperature went from 90 to 60 in the blink of an eye.

The Catalinas completely disappeared during the storm. The hill behind our house was lit up in an eerie yellow light coming from the west and beyond that a wall of dark gray. Truly spectacular! And at the end of it all we had a double rainbow! I'm beginning to really appreciate monsoon season. The moist air, the call of doves, the fluting voices of finches make me think of  Hawaii--the difference being no lush plants, just desert cactus, Saguaros, and now Ocotillo completely covered in tiny leaves! Maybe the novelty will wear off but the speed with which things change after a rain is mind-boggling!

Because of the cooler temps, I've been able to open my windows again to the night sounds. I've been wondering where the coyotes have been and last night my question was answered--they've been raising their young. I heard the baby yips and barks mixed in with the older voices around 9 o'clock. At 1:30 I

woke to deeper yips very close to our house--I think the babies had been taken home by that point.

Maybe it was their first hunting expedition. 

I love living amongst the wild things--they make me smile despite the loss of our cat two months ago. 

I have yet to see the Javalina but I know they're around. I've seen some strange deer-like hoof-like prints in the sand of our road that may or may not be theirs. We did lose several small succulent cactus while we were out of town--were they the culprits? I can't imagine a rabbit eating something so spiny.

Every day my dog gives chase to one of the myriad bunnies hanging out under the bushes surrounding our house...yesterday the bunny took off with Buddha close behind and a minute or so later the bunny had circled back to end up under the very same bush. Buddha looked perplexed, his head cocked to one side in confusion as he arrived panting and exhausted.