Did You Hear The Coyotes Last Night?

It was after bedtime and Bea was already halfways in dreamland, when I heard the familiar yapping and howling of a bunch of coyotes not too far from our trailer. By then the moon had come out behind the clouds and it gave me that very special feeling of being in close proximity to nature. There are coyotes on Campobello Island as well, but we never see or hear them. Here, in the southern desert, these animals are so much more present. In fact we have seen a single coyote many times under our walks with Dixie. And once, we walked along the canal, Dixie found one sleeping in the bushes and chased him up. Luckily, Dixie has no interest in pursuit, so she is more than willing to turn around and come back to us. Besides, she is bigger than the coyotes around here.

Free in the desert

Now, that day temperatures have been rising for about a week, we can find other desert creatures as well, most often tiny small lizards. They are so incredibly fast that whenever Dixie sees one it is already gone before she gets her snout anywhere near it. Of course, we are getting a bit leary about Dixie finding a rattle snake. As even night temps are now above 10C (50F) snakes can be expected to be around in the open after dark or hiding in the shade of a creosote bush during hot day hours.

Fresh green in the desert

So yes, that's the other side of being near nature. We know it and we have spent many winters in this desert environment. 

We enjoy daily walks and are meeting wonderful people with similar interests.

Our plan for the next month includes a stay at the Cibola Wild Life Refuge, Quartzsite, the Wild-West town of Oatman and Petrified Forest Nat'l Park. Being back home at around April 15 would be sufficient to start work in the garden. Are we looking forward to a delightful warm northern summer? You bet we are!

And when someone has a birthday we gotta have a party about it

No lack of cakes here

A large birthday crowd gathered