A Penny Dreadful

When the night wind howls in the chimney cowls, and the bat in the moonlight flies,
And inky clouds, like funeral shrouds, sail over the midnight skies
When the footpads quail at the night-bird’s wail, and black dogs bay at the moon,
Then is the spectres’ holiday – then is the ghosts’ high-noon!

            William Schwenck Gilbert (Sir Roderic’s Song)

October’s mood & wolf dog howls harmonize with the global winds of change (…and the beautiful music of Arjuna)

Fortunately history shows us that the phoenix rises from the flames & that through chaos there emerges some peace. I try to remember this as I watch the wars rage on everywhere around me. My friend still battling her personal war with cancer at home. Environmentalists & activists battle hunters & farmers in the war on wolves in this country & seems scattered & hopeless. Large scale protests in major cities across the globe at war with their own countries. Pockets of smaller protests popping up everywhere across the US in solidarity of New York’s Occupy Wall Street that started September 17th. The world is a ghastly battleground of corruption & greed, yet so much uncelebrated beauty & compassion is taking center stage as we start on a new collective path.

On October 1st we went to the starting day of the Occupation of Los Angeles city hall in downtown LA & it was a beautiful sight to see everyone rising up against a common enemy. Suddenly we were a part of something big in spite of living so far off the beaten path. A movement was spreading across the states like wildfire. Each day a new city popped up on the Occupy Together map. The internet was now a way to spread the news the press wouldn’t print.

It is nice to see people relearning the lost art of a good protest & doing something they believe in no matter how inconvenient it may be. One of my favorites was Julia Butterfly Hill who lived in a giant redwood tree named Luna for two years. She brought the issue of old-growth logging our dinner tables & showed beyond a doubt, one person can make a difference.

And like a cheap cliffhanger, a penny dreadful, we wait on the edge of our seats, to see what internet tricks & treats are in store for tomorrows Halloween.

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Waves Become Wings

This month was going to be about my new obsession & thing that keeps my mind off the heat, our new found 1973 Excella 500 Airstream Trailer. Beautiful!!

I am thrilled with the new temporary house for Oregon & it feels like we are moving forward again. Today though was one of the most horrible days I can remember having in a long time. This blog is about the wolf dogs, some strange desert stuff & people we encounter on the way to our new home, wherever that ends up being. It’s not a forum for politics but now the destruction of the economy has crept into every crevice of my life & those around me & it is definitely now part of this one. I have kept relatively quiet about losing everything we own, Noel losing more & more work, getting lower pay (having to work more hours for free), losing benefits, higher copay, insurance now not even paying their claims, every year things getting worse & worse (while the stockholders of his company continued to make a bigger profit every year – Eight million OVER their targeted profit this year), finally we lost our home & I guess this is really how this next chapter of wolf dog ownership happened… Living in the middle of nowhere, in a trailer, in a big dog pen, to keep us all together until we can get where we need to be. We were headed to Oregon before it all came tumbling down & we ended up here in Joshua Tree a few miles from our old house instead.

My workplace has been threatened plenty & we never know really if we can keep the doors open (being state funded) but they managed to keep pulling it off year after year until now. This month to stay afloat they had to cut everything in half & I was one of the few lucky people who got to stay. I was also one of the few that got to bare witness to those coworkers that weren’t so lucky, as they left. It was like being drugged & watching someone cut your arms off. Nothing you could do. Left with no way to help anyone else. Friends, people who had worked there for 10 years or more gone with one quick slice to the gut. Noel had already seen this happen at his work last year.

When this depression started here there was not much evidence. It is a community of people on welfare, desert people in hiding, artists, what’s left of the middle class & the self-contained military. Mostly things went along as usual until the glue, the workers that commuted to the lower desert started losing their homes & leaving. Then the small businesses started closing. Almost the only things left here are chain businesses, liquor stores & gas stations. One in every four houses are empty or for sale.

All this outside depression creates an inward depression but you keep going through the motions. While I was at work watching everyone get laid off, my beautiful amazing friend with breast cancer was having both her breasts removed. It was a hell-of-a day! I can’t remember ever crying so much for so many people. I cried for friends, the Ranch, the community & the future of this country that I suddenly felt more attached to than ever.

What seemed to happen as everyone drifted in despair, was that we finally found each other. We found a common bond & a drive to go the extra mile for one another like never before. Suddenly we all had a purpose bigger than ourselves that needed us to get up off our couches, turn off our televisions & be a part of this big beautiful change. It is evolution in the presence of chaos, like the forest fire frees the seeds of certain pines & clears the ground for new growth. It is the gift that comes from loss & change, giving us gratitude & a love for the simple & meaningful.

So it is on wings of courage & great aspiration to save the world that so many of us are caught up in this strange moment in time all of us connected but finally free.

And the wolf dogs? Happily oblivious, as it should be…

(sennnnnd meeeeeeeet)

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Blister in the Sun

OK I’m not even going to pretend to like the heat. But we did get a little break with some major thunderstorms. If you’ve never experienced one of these in the desert it is quite frightening! There is nothing for miles to dampen the sound & seemingly nothing else around for it to hit but you. Many times it doesn’t even come with rain so it can appear without warning. Even though the animals are pretty used to the loud military planes, helicopters & bombs they shoot off at the nearby 29 Palms Military base, this was way too much for them & they all wanted inside the trailer at once. This meant I had to stay out in the downpour (this storm came with rain) with them watching the lightening all around us. I love weather! But I don’t like seeing them so freaked out. It was over with shortly & we just enjoyed the rain.

This is the hottest, dustiest time of year & like the subzero temperatures in Colorado you do your best to stay indoors. However, indoors in a trailer is a bit like being inside a car in summer with the windows rolled half way up. Surviving in this kind of heat is something I never in a million years imagined priding myself on. But, some of the principals I learned backpacking in Colorado were helpful here in an “Opposite World” sort of way. The phrase “Cotton Kills” kept running through my mind, wishing it were true. In simple terms, in the cold cold if you wear cotton & it becomes damp or wet, it will never dry & you will die from hypothermia. Ah HA!! I was willing to give this a try. So, before going to bed I soaked my clothes & sheets, wrapped myself up in blankets so I wouldn’t dry out too fast & within 10-15 minutes I felt like I was freezing & could for the first time fall fast asleep & for the whole night! So here in “Opposite World” Cotton Cools!

Here is  a list of things we do for fun in this kind of heat:

Tug of War

Make more dust

Rat Tossing

Visit with our desert neighbor Coyote

…And our desert neighbors Maria & John. Maria has just started planting Jujubee trees to see how they do. I can hardly wait! The fruit is used medicinally in Australia & China mostly to help with stress & memory. This could be a similar climate to Australia. Hopefully they will do fine, I am going to need some! Hurry Maria! Give those suckers some miracle grow or something!!!

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M.O.O.N. that spells Tank!

Now the hungry lion roars, & the wolf behowls the moon…

(Shakespeare)

As the sun dips down below the horizon the desert starts to awaken. This is the only time you are safe from the heat & everything comes out to forage & play. Snakes & tarantulas roam just outside the fence, making a trip out to the car an exciting event.

Yes, this is also when happy little wolf dogs run a muck in the yard tearing stuff up after hibernating out of the heat all day.  Mornings you are jolted awake as they stampede across the deck & splash around in the little pool playing chase. After coffee (don’t attempt this before coffee)… you go out of the house in the morning to find pieces of hose & electrical wiring that came from who knows what (to be found later), and more hay bales torn apart. Then you find half chewed parts from the grey water system strewn across the yard, which explains the bumping & banging of the wind you thought you heard last night. Every morning is an adventure in patience…

Arbus in his scrawny summer suit.

To keep them from being bored, this is a good time of year to make big ice block treats with bits of meat or fish (if you have a freezer that is). And to hide things (when they can’t see you) in the yard for them to tear up or play with. Sometimes a pizza box will do the trick in a emergency fit of boredom… “I’m going to tear up your plants if you don’t do something quick” moment. But mostly right now when they get restless we give them raw soup bones to keep them busy & away from other stuff.

Summer howling lessons. Kodiak is the Grand Master.

Tank can be very unpleasant to be around for weeks & then suddenly have a spurt of happy attitude when he feels like playing. This is mostly confusing & often ignored. Although once in a while they play a careful game of “get Tank”, but not too often because even then he will sometimes still do a Jekyll & Hyde in the middle of a game.

Just waiting for Tank to pass on through…

One day the three little wolves got tired of the big bad Tank, and beat him up pretty good. Tank crawled under the farthest part of the porch & growled all day & all night, at anyone who passed by. Just as his family was about to drug him & drag him out to see how bad he was hurt, he decided to come in the house for a snack. Even though he had a good size cut on his leg he was feeling pretty happy! His family gave him lots of treats though some he thought might have had pills hidden in them, he ate them because he loved cheese. Everyone mostly left him alone & he was a little nicer to the three little wolves. For a while…

When I began treating Tanks cut & giving him antibiotics a strange thing happened… We noticed his eyes & his mood were much better. For some reason the antibiotics (Fish Mox – available at pet stores for about &18-20) had started clearing up the Panus covering both Tanks eyes. He could see! I wish there was a quick pill fix like that, that would last, but as soon as we stopped the Amoxicillin the Panus came back immediately. Hopefully his eyes will do better in Oregon where there is less sun.

I’ll huff & I’ll puff… Dharma got a visitor IN her house! OMG she looks happy!!! Only Shanna would squash herself in that tiny dusty hay bale house with Dharma. Shanna has a beautiful way with animals. Obviously…

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Roadside Attractions

How can anyone ever get tired of Road Trips? Bugs in your teeth, the wind in your hair & all that… everything you own in a couple of bags hurling 80 miles an hour down the asphalt in an aluminum can on wheels that can go almost anywhere!! Unknown destinations ahead, secret places to find, strange people to meet, untold stories to unravel, driving fast & eating aerosol cheese!

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A few places on the way…

The beautiful grasses in Tehachapi that go from a stunning bright spring green to a summer tanned gold, Astro Burger in Borax, a sign missing it’s Cafe near Edwards Air force Base (hmmmm), the last honest bakery in California, a dragon outside of Weed, Coffee Heaven in Cave Junction, the Worlds Largest Fly in O’Brien, & our new house in Selma… Just kidding. Our bus is a couple of years newer… hahaha

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Detour!!

Over the last month I made two trips up to Oregon in search of property & like always stopped at Patti’s house which is one of the few spots I go where the only goal is to hang out, spend time, & just be with my BFF. Occasionally I get to spend a few minutes with Patti’s Beth when she’s  not working. Patti & her family have an easygoing air about them that puts you instantly at ease & makes you feel welcome. Like you have just gotten home from a long vacation. Maybe they just like having people breeze in from out of town, I don’t know but I feel like they are my “other” family. And not in the creepy way like in Coraline… No buttons on their eyes… hahaha Love you Patti & Peeps!!

This is Amber the newest girl. Petite & beautiful. Her & Kenai make a very pretty pair! Amber was a little shy & kept her distance but circled ever closer the second day. Better than Arbus is with new people. Beth got her out of her shell a bit with a nice big rope toy.

THE handsome Kenai!!! He is so sweet & always happy like Arbus, a perpetual optimist! Patti used to take him swimming in the lake all the time when he was growing up. She also uses him in her wolf dog education program she does. Patti did a great job socializing him, & he LOVES people almost as much as Rowdy ;0)

Amber & Kenai

One of the trips up the map, I got to hook up with my sweet friend Petri & her daughter Aki at Patti’s. The boys in Colorado at Petri’s house, Ole & Mars came out to Joshua Tree to visit & I was thrilled to get to spend a little time with Petri too after about a hundred years… and meet their totally cool daughter Aki. We had an awesome slumber party, hung out, played with Patti’s fur kids, ate a smorgasbord of food & then when we couldn’t eat anymore,we ended the evening with movies & ice cream poisoning furnished by Patti’s comedian husband…

Petri & Aki were on the way back to Colorado from a trip to the California coast at Harbin Hot Springs, where Petri goes for workshops on Watsu. Know what that is??? I didn’t either hahaha… Watsu (or water shiatsu) is a form of therapeutic water bodywork & the hottest new spa treatment world wide! “Benefits include increased mobility and flexibility, muscle relaxation, fuller deeper breathing, reduction in anxiety and stress levels, decreased pain, improved sleep and digestion and a general sense of well-being”. If you live in Colorado Petri can hook you up. Otherwise check around, I did find someone here in Palm Springs so I can give it a try.

And then there’s Rowdy! OK, Rowdy is sooo funny!! He is a super freak about people! He loves to roll around in the grass with anyone that will play with him. THAT is a social guy!! Check out his amazing eyes too!

Petri & Aki with Rowdy RAWWR!!

 

Did I mention Rowdy was a lap woof?? Noel doesn’t mind…

This is my sister Hilarey’s dog/husband Hoss. What a funny guy. He is a homebody & doesn’t like to go out much. He keeps her on schedule, & at home in time for dinner. He also takes up most of the bed & snores… Hoss can also dissect  any chew toy as fast as some of the most determined wolf dogs.

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A Hole Lotta Fun!

As the weather warms up visions of Mojave Greens coming slithering out from under anything in the yard are overwhelming after last year’s FOUR encounters! So… this year it is time for some snake fencing. Snake fencing is a two foot high, tiny quarter inch mesh wire that they cant get through & placed a little ways under the dirt so the rodents can’t make holes for the snakes to pass through.

The dogs get bored easy & watching a fence being worked on AGAIN, is soooo old. However, when Noel started working on the new deck & needed some of the caliche, he decided to dig a hole that we could make Kodiak a pond out of.

A big giant hole is serious fun!!! This entertainment lasted at least a week if not more! So if you’re looking for some cheap fun for your animals… dig a big deep hole in the back yard. They will love you for it!

Stalking the Stalker

They chased, ran, hid, stalked & dug in the new dirt… They were HAPPY! After a while though it was back to rat chasing. Kodiak had this one saved for later…

With the temperatures climbing each week, we were at a good time for the plants to be growing like crazy!

Baby Eggplants (Eggplants LOVE heat!)

Maria’s Pistachios

Our neighbor Maria has been steadily working & hauling water year after year to her small pistachio farm. The trees are finally reaching maturity & growing their first pistachios! A truly incredible feat for the trees and Maria in this climate. She also works a full time job, takes care of her husband John who is recovering from several surgeries & drives out here from Riverside every week. If there was a desert award I would give her one!

I finally got to go to a Pow Wow this year where I met Clayton, a Pow Wow regular in Canada & also an interesting, enchanting person wearing that beautiful outfit. He was full of enthusiasm & anecdotes about Pow Wows, even told me about some incredible places across the country to meet up for other events later this year (did somebody say “Road TRIP”? …oh snap!). This new found itinerary just added to the pull I already felt from the drums, to put on my moccasins… & leave home to follow the magic Pow Wow circuit, go on a “sky walk” out over the grand canyon, spend my life photographing weeds & rocks across the land, dressed in leather, beads & feathers, eating fry bread & squash, listening to native stories… I am already gone!

(This was one of the women that traded her regalia for a man’s traditional outfit in the “Switched” competition)

… not really. It was a nice dream of a side road this week, but then as my friend Don & I packed the car it felt like time to head back home & to the wolf dogs. I miss having them around in spite of the real bed, hot bath & room service at the hotel …and yes even the beat of the drums.

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Testing, Testing…

OK! Finally time for Noel’s test in San Diego. Helloooo Katy???

Dharma’s a good girl!

Bye Pea! Be good & leave Tank alone! (hahaha)

It’s hard to leave these guys at home even when I know Katy will be there. I worry about them all the time. Our neighbor Maria keeps an eye on them too & gives us updates about stopping by to say hi.

We stopped at the beach first thing on the way to the hotel &… the wind & blowing sand were oddly familiar.

We stayed in Encinitas to have a place to retreat from the city for the hours Noel wasn’t at the convention center taking the two day long Land Surveyor tests. Then we go home & he has to wait six months or something horrible like that to find out how he did. Just slightly nerve wracking!

Encinitas is one of my favorite places to visit. Good food all around, accessible beach, groovy shops, and the beautiful gardens at the top of a seaside cliff where the Self Realization Fellowship Temple sits. This is where Paramahansa Yogananda wrote the famous book “Autobiography of a Yogi”. You can see how sitting here listening to the waves, smelling the salt air, surrounded by so much beauty & calm it is a perfect place to write.

Picture Post Card perfect as always San Diego! Well, La Jolla to be exact. It’s hard to leave all this green everywhere, blue skies & fresh air! Oh, I found the best Meyers Lemon Olive Oil here. I wanted to stock up on it with our return gas money but… decided to go home instead. But not before going to Sea World so we could see it before we move away from this part of the world.

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Sea World

Wow! Sea World was quite the barrage of advertising. Disneyland at least has a little panache. It’s not like you don’t know you’re entering a major sales zone but really, Sea World was more like an all out assault on your pocketbook, your patriotism & your role as an American family.  The animals were beautiful & amazing. No, they were extraordinary. I could watch them all day (without the guilt)… Here’s a few pictures. Believe me it was hard to narrow down the images to just a few.

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And by the way, Piranha’s are hella scary the way they all look at you at once! The white beluga whale had a baby with her & watching the two of them just took your breath away. It was beautiful.

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Spirit Is The Journey, Body Is The Bus…

Another rare neighbor sighting. The endangered California Desert Tortoise.

Kodiak has always been the snake alarm! He has a particular bark, the only time he barks actually… and when you hear it you say “Uh oh SNAKE!” Apparently it is also a Desert Tortoise alarm as well. I could hear him outside having a barking fit. I scrambled to put some boots on & get a shovel to defend us from a Mojave Green bite & there was that cute little guy trucking off into the desert. I ran back in to change my weapon to a camera & got a couple of pictures before it disappeared into the sandy landscape.

If you are interested in adopting or already “adopted” your own,  Joshua Tree Desert Tortoise Rescue can help. They are dedicated to education, adoption & outreach programs for this highly protected desert creature.

Katy! What can I say. Katy is always there when we need her! She is our only woof sitter! She is brave & full of wolf spirit as she wades through all the licking & jumping & nipping & any other undesirable behavior you can think of without missing a beat.

This time she came & hadn’t seen Arbus in over a year, I was thinking it would take a while but maybe by the time we got back from our weekend trip he would come closer to her than halfway across the yard. She came in, said hi to Dharma & Arbus just walked right up to her with no hesitation at all! Amazing!! He was so young, we had moved, so much time had past since he had seen her & he remembered her like it was last week! So Katy is the ONLY other person Arbus will come up to besides Noel & I. Oops! I forgot Jordan our adopted son. Arbus thinks its funny to try and bite him on the legs… So with the kids in good hands I’m off to Vegas (where Noel is working right now) for a short vacation!

Road Trip!

Crazy Desert Stuff…

You just CAN’T go through Amboy without another picture! Right Marco?

OK, even with car trouble all the way there & back, all roads lead to relaxation or adventure somewhere if you let them! And it is a whole new experience breaking down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere with cell phones & access to the internet. You can call for rides, tow trucks, auto parts, surf the internet for troubleshooting & repair instructions, kill time on Facebook, take pictures, then text them to your peeps, all while listening to music you just downloaded from iTunes. If you’re having a lousy time being stranded, you’re not doing it right or you don’t have a smartphone.

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This Island Earth

 

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We visited Cal-Earth (The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture)  Founded in 1986 by its director, Nader Khalili (1936-2008), its scope spans technical innovations published by NASA for lunar and Martian construction, to housing design and development for the world’s homeless for the United Nations.

Continuing in his tradition, Khalili’s associates and apprentices are dedicated to research and education of the public in environmentally oriented arts and architecture. Cal-Earth’s mission is guided by three principles: (1) shelter is a basic human right, (2) every human being should be able to build a house for him or herself, and (3) the best way to provide shelter for the exponentially increasing human population is by building with earth.

These superadobe structures will keep you warm in the winter & cool in the summer with little heating & cooling cost to the pocket or planet. We are hoping to incorporate this idea with straw bale building for the new place in Oregon. It was cool to see them in person finally after reading about them for so long. We now have even more ideas & inspiration than before. And… Arbus can now have his own room!

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Visitors From Another World…

Just as cold weather boredom sets in…

And when you least expect it…

That’s right!

Visitors from another world! The Akselsen boys (Ole & Mars) dropped in for a visit, eating anything that comes on a stick, all the way from Colorado. Another world, another lifetime ago. Why, last time I saw Mars… he wasn’t even a fetus yet. What a great moment seeing them transported across space & time to step out of the car onto this little piece of dusty desert soil in the middle of nowhere.

Dharma checks their IDs… Decides they can handle two laps at once! Obviously she is super happy they could time warp here too. Ole says they are here to go to the Palm Springs Modernism Week but shhhh don’t tell Dharma, she thinks they are here to see her.

Dharma eventually let them go & we took a little side trip to Joshua Tree National Park before they had to head out (to you know where).

Mars on mars!

Ole on too much cheese on a stick

And now I miss Petri (one of the Akselsen girls) thank you very much! It is was so nice to see a friendly face from the past & still be able to speak the same foreign language. Seems like everyone you think you are going to know forever dwindles down to about three people you can still relate to. And even though it’s a little scary having people visit us here where we are licking our wounds from a bloody war, it felt good to have a friend cross time and space & still be a friend. And it felt good to make Ole feel a little better about his life knowing he & his family weren’t living in a trailer in a dog pen in the middle of nowhere in the desert… And that’s what friends are for.

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Winter Wolf?

The winter skies here are an ever changing kaleidoscope I can’t take my eyes off.

Winter is a tough time for everyone. Personally I have always thought there is more tension between everybody during severe wind storms. I see it at work & I see it out in town driving & at the grocery stores etc… While “Winter Wolf Syndrome” is reserved primarily for intact high content or pure wolves, this is when we have had the most issues with testy attitudes.

Sweet little Dharma Jean in the picture above, keeps a very watchful eye on Lady at all times. Dharma is not only the alpha female, but the alpha of the pack & tolerates Lady just barely. This quick move to our little patch of the desert didn’t leave us a lot of options in separating them unless it became an absolute necessity. A week ago I thought we had reached that dreaded moment in time. Dharma had some issue with Lady & in a fight, tore a hole in Lady’s left leg. This posed a real problem. If we take her out of the pen to the vet, we will not get her back in easily if at all, without Dharma trying to kill her. Do we take her & Dharma out? Bring Dharma back later? What are we going to do with Dharma for half a day? Will Lady’s leg be OK if we don’t get it stitched up? How quick can we build another fence… on & on, more & more questions. Fortunately Lady wasn’t bleeding or even limping. She was still eating & drinking like normal so we decided finally to wait & see how she was in the morning. The next morning I went out to check on her & she still seemed to be doing fine. So I went to the feed store to see what they had for wounds & called to make an appointment at the vet. Hoping the next right indicated thing would become clear… At the feed store I found all kinds of emergency wound treatments for horses and picked out something called Vetricin and picked up a new spray bottle of Colloidal Silver at the health food store. This seemed like the direction to go since the vet couldn’t see her for a day & a half. I could start her on this & then keep the appointment or cancel. Lady did great & the wound healed at a rapid rate with the two treatments alternated twice a day. The only trouble I ran into was Kodiak diligently trying to protect her wouldn’t let anyone get too close, even me when I tried to clean the wound. I was very happy he was keeping Dharma away though. Fortunately everything I had was in spray bottles & I could be a short distance away & still get it where it needed to be. I ended up canceling the appointment for the vet & her leg healed up just fine. Whew! Dodged a bullet there!

(Yep, another beautiful sky interlude)

Fish Tank However is another story…

“He’s LOOKING at ME!!”

Tank is always grumpy! Doesn’t matter the season. And he hates Arbus! He has never liked him & surely never will. However in Tanks defense, Arbus is a tricky little bugger that can wait forever until the precise moment to get the very thing that Tank has been watching over diligently for days. Tank doesn’t have winter wolf. Tank has Arbus which is like Superman is to the Penguin.

Did I mention the ever changing sky???

Our awesome neighbors Maria & John’s place next door (in the distance).

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Gimme Shelter!

Oh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away

War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

I tell you love, sister, it’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

December begins with a little wet weather and then just leaves us out in the storm. Wind storms that is. Winter equals wind in the desert & you find yourself wishing you had taken notice of the two weeks of nice inhabitable weather known as “Fall” before it disappeared. Sometime back in mid October you say to yourself, “Go to the store, get gas, pick up dog food – Gee it’s nice out today!! – go by Don’s house, drop off stuff to the thrift store & then home.” That was fall in the high desert. A barely noticeable thought only caught when looking for it in hindsight.

Home is… where the string lights are. Everyone together, safe & warm in our new surroundings we can relax a little. Everything’s starting to settle to a new normal. Learning to haul water, use a composting toilet, live with little to no power & navigating the world of solar. Every day is work & everyday something new is learned.

Shelter from the storm! New straw bale houses to keep everyone toasty…

Dharma looking fine in her new fur coat. I have to post summer & winter coat pictures together one of these days. Unbelievable!

Tank & Lady have all the coats they are going to get…

Beautiful clear cold days keep us indoors & Noel studying for the Land Surveyor test in San Diego next year.

Handsome!!!

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Turkey Carving 101

How to carve a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving dinner…

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Turkey Donations from Noel’s peeps at work, Beth D. & Mario Z…. Thank you! They are SOOOOOOO HAPPY!!! (The wolfdogs, not the turkeys… duh.)

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All Howls Eve…

Arbus posing with his pumpkin…

A smaller yard means MORE ENTERTAINMENT needs!

Thankfully everything new is fun! Big pumpkins, small toys, rain in a new yard, getting whacked in the eye with a new toy…!

Hahaha Kodiak! I’ve got your bone!

Dharma sees everything…

 

And now for something REALLY SCARY!!

The California Green Mojave… Three of them so far!

Crotalus Scutulatus is primarily a high desert snake (Of course…). They like living in creosote bushes (Check! Got those…), and among sparse vegetation, like cacti and Joshua trees (Check). The “Mojave Green,” has a fearsome and well-deserved reputation. Considered more aggressive than other species of rattlesnakes (Sweeeet!). C. scutulatus is widely regarded as producing one of the most toxic snake venoms in the New World (That’s nice! My new favorite thing about the desert…). There are rattlesnake vaccines you can get for your dogs. However not for these guys.

The Mojave Green does have some enemies though. Kingsnakes will kill rattlesnakes. I’m getting me some of those! Anyone know where to rent some Kingsnakes?

In spite of all the scarieness & trauma we’ve all been through, the desert continues to take my breath away at times. Happy Halloween everybody!

 

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