Fragrant Desert

Spring this year has been different to say the least. Our rainfall is normally 4.5 inches per year. I have no clue how much rain we have gotten, but it is surely a lot more than that. It all seems to have arrived at the best possible time. Luckily I hit the runways and the "ranch" yard with some pretty serious weed killer, and those areas are pretty nice. I have had to mow the runways in years past and I can tell you that the trips required to mow a 25 foot wide runway 1/2 mile long is not something that I look forward to. Riding 5 miles in a cloud of dust is not one of my favorite things to do.

It has been pretty cool and even at this late date the temps were in the low 70's. Wed. is supposed to be 89 degrees. Should be fun! Not sure what effect this cool wet spring will have on the game bird populations. I know that the Pack Rat populations are booming. Curly has become a real serious Rat killer. This is of course the time of the year that the juveniles strike out on their own to establish their own territories. For a while he was finding and killing at least one a day.

Mostly they get into the Rock Jacks to hide, although at least two made it into the attic. The most fun however was one that took refuge in an extra piece of the flex hose that one uses to dump the effluent tanks on Motor homes. Curly insisted that there was one under some shelves in the hanger. I picked up the hose and found that was where he was hiding. I took it outside and dropped one end, thinking that he would bolt, but he stayed. Curly stuck his nose in the end, getting a good whiff, and started trying to catch up to him. His nose would only go so far into the hose, but the hose kept moving. Curly was running in short circles with his nose in the pipe and his butt up in the air. When it became too much to stand anymore, I flicked the rat out. After being bit a few time, he has decided that the quicker they die the less he gets bit.

We have had more than our fair share of "Bull Snakes" as well. Those get transplanted across the creek. I would leave them alone if I could, but between the little chicks running around and Karen's screams, its best to move them.

The area across the creek is very sandy, and that makes it a good place for "Birdcage Evening Primrose". They are all over and their fragrance is a light "Bordello" smell, that is quite striking and permeates the entire area. Some are white, others have a slightly pink color to them. They close up in the sunshine and open when the sun starts going down. All that fragrance then starts wafting across the desert.

Unfortunately either I or my camera lens are not quite up to the task of taking a good picture. They are a bit past their prime however, as I have been putting off this entry for too long. Of course all the other desert flowers are blooming as well. The Sage is colored up quite nicely with Mallow and several other flowers that I can't name. (Karen can't find her flower book)

The wind hardly ever quits this year and the flowers were most uncooperative.

Some are quite small, in fact so small that the flowers are hardly visible at all.

Of course with all this abundance comes a price to pay. When all these weeds dry up and the dry lightning starts cracking across the desert it will be most interesting.