Desert Canyon Stories & Pictures

  Photo: Ray Hennessy Have you ever been somewhere in nature where it is absolutely quiet? Where trees are not rustling, birds are not twittering, and there are no insects buzzing around. When I lived in Wyoming, I drove out to Jackson Lake early one very cold winter morning.   The day was gorgeous, there was snow on the rugged mountains across the lake, the road was free of snow and ice and my borrowed car hummed on and behaved itself well. I drove to the gate of Yellowstone National Park, which was closed for the winter.  I parked, got out of the car and walked down a slope toward the lake. I stood there for a while and listened to the  silence.  It was so quiet, just snow and the frozen lake with mountains in the distance.  Then I saw a movement, far out on the ice.  As the figure came closer, I saw it was a fox. A magnificent red fox.  I stood very still, but knew the fox had smelled and seen me as he trotted across the ice and came closer.  Then he stopped and looked at me, he did

  This truck is most likely coming through our area from Gilroy, California, which is considered the Garlic Capital of the World. Gilroy is home to the Christopher Ranch, the largest grower and processor of garlic in the United States. The first Mr. Christopher to settle in the area was a Danish immigrant who grew plums that he processed into prunes. I wasn't able to learn why later the Christopher family switched to farming garlic.  There's a Garlic Festival in Gilroy every year, featuring all kinds of food cooked with garlic. Mmmm, this sounds so good! I love garlic so I smile a happy smile when I see one of these trucks.   

  Reflecting on Thanksgiving, a day I spent being thankful for my beautiful, kind and caring friends; my, in spite of all the setbacks, still very good health; my home in the midst of nature and my very smart, caring and protective dog, Faith.  We all know it's important to feel gratitude and for me it changed the mood I've been in for the past few weeks.  I felt a bit depressed and down because I simply didn't feel well physically. Spending Thanksgiving thinking on things and realizing how much I have to be thankful for, changed all that.  And I began to feel better physically as well.  It's all so interconnected, isn't it?

  Mighty Mint Rodent Repellent I recently had a pretty bad mouse problem, close to an invasion, particularly if you consider that they say: "If you see one mouse in your home, there will be at least five more hiding in there somewhere."   I tried the usual stuff I had, mouse deterrent pouches, spray and mouse traps. Nothing worked, not one mouse caught, and they made their presence known as soon as I turned off the lights at night. I feared they would make babies and multiply as fast as only mice can.  I once found a nest in a bathroom drawer  full of little mice  babies I had to get rid of. That was a pretty awful thing to have to do and I don't ever want to have to do that again.  So I quickly went on Amazon and ordered the above spray. I didn't know anything about the various sprays they had, so it was just pure luck that this was fabulously effective.  After I was sure that the mice inside the house had left, I now spray the bottom of my two doors that lead to the

Walmart Ceiling with American Flag I was bored while waiting to get vaccinated at Walmart, so I took this picture. I think I took one of their floor too, but I can't find it. I think Walmart would be a great place to go back to and take some more pictures. I really want to blog and am thinking of and looking for inspiration.  Today, I just want to thank those of you who left comments and let you know that I'm in bed with a pretty bad stomach upset, so I will write a collective thank you here.  You are such good friends.  A friend brought a bottle of that pink stuff, this one's from Walmart and called Stomach Relief. I think it's working. I had some toast for lunch and it went down pretty well.  So I will see you on your blogs soon.  Stay well, but be sure to have a bottle of that pink stuff for emergencies. I think it will make me feel so much better soon.  I'm so grateful for my friends here in the canyon.   

  I'm enjoying our morning walks much more now that the weather has turned cool and crisp. There are no spectacular fall colors where I live, the leaves on my only deciduous tree, a cottonwood, turn yellow, and that's all.   Some days we walk along the fence line at the bottom of my property and uphill a bit, but not as far as before. I often stay on my road, which goes around the house and circles back to my gate. There are no flat roads on my property, so I do get a small workout.  Faith doesn't care, she has no idea what it means to go for a walk, she always runs.  I love our morning walks/runs.   Faith: I do too, but it bugs me when you forget we need to go and just stay in bed with your computer or need to go to town and see someone called a doctor or a grocery store.  Me: Well, sometimes people have other things to do. And I buy bananas and dog food and treats in the grocery store.  Faith: Seems to me like there should be time for both. Me: You are not wrong about tha

All men are children, and of one family ~ Henry David Thoreau   There is a village in Ukraine called Gammalsvenskby, which translates to Old Swedish Village.   I came upon this place several years ago and became interested in the village, home to Estonian Swedes, who settled in Ukraine in 1780.  I look at it online every now and then and it's always been a charming and lovely place.  The King of Sweden has visited there and is also fond of the village. I believe he contributed to the building of a much needed road there some years ago.  The other day, I opened SVT, Swedish TV online, which also publishes an online newspaper.  And there it was: Russia attacked the Swedish Village. The above headline states that 80 to 90 percent of the village has been destroyed.  Only 200 old and sick residents remain.  I feel a lot as I write this and think about those 200 people and those who fled.  We've all been thinking more about war, about Gaza. I felt deep hatred in the Hamas attack, it

  Love, Trust and Devotion

  The other day, Solange and another friend came by to visit.  Solange brought these flowers for me for no special reason, she just wanted to bring some joy to me and my home.  As we sat and talked, it became clear to them that I needed some help with housekeeping. So the friend offered to help. I didn't clear being on my blog with her, so no name for now.  She came today and got to work on my windows. I had new windows installed some years ago and I haven't been on top of  cleaning all of them for some time now. Dirt gathered in the spaces where the windows are supposed to glide smoothly.  As it turns out, I hired a professional cleaner, someone with the knowledge, skills, and a variety of little machines and steamers and vacuums to help her do a spectacular job.  My house is now sparkling and it's been a long time since I was able to make it so.  I'm a bit speechless right now, so I will end this with a feeling of amazement and gratitude for the way people show up in

  Isn't this an amazing cloud? Here in the mountains, we get some gorgeous cloud formations, usually during the winter months. So I will keep my eyes open and my camera ready. 

  Last month, Edison, our power company, installed new power poles in our area.  Joyce had a pole that needed to be changed in a place that couldn't be reached by a truck, so it  was arranged to have a helicopter come and move the pole to the installation site.  This, of course, was a lot of fun to watch and a great opportunity to get some pictures of this unusual event. I don't have a camera, so using my phone, these are the pictures I was able to capture.  It was pretty amazing to see the power pole emerging and be flown across the fields. The installation site was too far away so I couldn't get any pictures of the final result of this amazing flight. The pole landed exactly where it was supposed to and there were Edison employees there to place it into the ground.  So all went well, without incident, I think they call it.  And it was a very fun morning for me. I've never seen anything like it.   

After the rains from Hilary and other storms, the juniper trees are looking so much better. They are a deeper green now, their tiny blue cones are shining in the sun. I'm grateful...