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Sunday, July 9, 2017

Signs you’ve been living in the desert too long



When you start to worry about the critters who call this place home. 



 Roadrunner at the birdbath

Roadrunner waiting for a lizard who lives behind the shed

 
I’m very guilty here because I’m keeping a constant check on the roadrunner nest in the vacant lot next door.  The parents come to hunt and get water at our house.  When I went to check the nest tonight, there was no one there.  I’m very worried about the chicks.  I don’t know if they’ve hatched and both parents are out hunting for food, or what’s going on.  I have no idea why I’m worried about these critters as they hunt all the other critters in the yard and have been existing this way long before we came to live here and will still be doing this long after we’re gone.  We actually cut a small slice off a steak we barbecued last night for the roadrunner.  He wasn’t having any luck so we thought we’d help out.  Of course he wouldn’t touch it, so maybe they prefer to hunt their food alive, or at least aren’t hungry enough to eat that.  I’ll have to Google it and see.



 Roadrunner nest
 
When I was over at the nest twice tonight I didn’t hear a peep from any baby birds.  I don’t know if they’ve hatched, or if the parents feel it’s safe to leave the eggs alone for a short time.  I was scolding them under my breath.  It was beginning to rain and I figured the babies would be alarmed, but I imagine birth into the desert would be trial by fire.  Better to get used to it now, I suppose.  Life isn’t very kind here, especially for the animals that have to endure the elements.  I would truly miss all the critters we get to see here.

I also don’t mind sitting in my car at 100 degrees for about ten minutes before I turn the A/C on. 

I know that’s crazy!  I must be acclimated to the heat because sometimes it feels so good to me.  That is unless I’m dressed in my penguin suit for work when I can sweat buckets because of the collar and sleeves required for the job.  That’s probably the number one thing about working as a demo person that I don’t like.  That and having to “lose” the jewelry for work.  And of course, there’s no flip flops for work, so I have a constant athlete’s foot problem going on.

I look forward to the hundred degree days instead of the 30 degree ones. 

I hate to admit it, but this is so true for me.  I could almost cry when we hit October because I know by Halloween it’ll be cold for several months.  I really can’t stand the cold as much as 115 degrees bothers me.

I’m used to seeing rocks and dirt everywhere I go.

One of the many rocky mountains we have here.
 

Yes, you can get used to this.  Grass or anything else green is rare here, except for trees and there aren’t a lot of those.  I can find so much beauty in the carved rocks and mountains around me.  They’re stripped bare of any vegetation, so you can see the whole surface sculpted by nature.  There’s something magical about that.

The hot desert wind doesn’t bother me

In fact, I can find any kind of breeze refreshing even if it’s a hundred degrees outside.  It’s just so nice to have a stir of a wind once in a while to cool down the 115 we endure here in the summer.  It reminds me of the Santa Ana winds we had in CA, but they always were around in September and October and, of course, we never hit 115 there either.

Very high electric bills

Oh my!  Now this is hard to get used to, but it’s a part of living in the desert.  I can just figure one paycheck a month goes to pay the A/C bill.  And we don’t keep our house cool.  Most people come in here and remark on how hot it is.  Thank goodness for fans or we’d never make it.  Sleeping is the biggest issue.  You can always go naked around the house, if you have to, although tank tops and shorts usually work out fine even if you’re still sweating.  My office is the situation because it’s upstairs so it’s normal to be at least 95 up there in the summer months.  That’s hard to do if I sweated at work all day.   Sometimes I do turn the A/C on up there a couple of hours to take the extreme heat off.

So there you have it.  A brief synopsis of desert living.  Will I live here forever – no.  But I have no plans to move in the near future.  Slowly, we’re getting there though.



 A young chipmunk learns early how to find water
 
Be thankful for what you have because, as bad as it may be, it’s still doable and probably not all that awful when you think about it. 

4 comments:

  1. Wow! I'll never complain about the heat in Florida again. Phew! I don't know how you do it. We keep our AC at 74º F all day during the summer months, so that we could feel immediate relief from the heat outside when we get home. At night we have the ceiling fan over our bed––on top of the AC. Unless I'm at the beach or poolside, I can't stand the heat. Be careful with staying in your car in the heat too long. High temperatures raise your blood pressure.

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    1. Vashti,

      Thank goodness I've never had high blood pressure but it does get extrememly hot here. We aren't humid like a lot of the country but triple digits is hot no matter how you look at it. We've had no relief from this weather and now we're into the two hottest months of the year. Yikes! I hate to think what kind of temperature's we're in for.

      We wouldn't dare crank our A/C down to 74. I can't imagine what that bill would look like. I would hate to think we're slaving away working just to pay the electric bill, as good as 74 might feel. We do have a ceiling fan over the bed and also a fan on a stand. We run both of them at night so we can sleep.

      Tonight we have a hot wind wind blowing and it's actually 88 degrees right now at 9:30 PM. It almost feels comfortable outside. That probably sounds pathetic, doesn't it? But we'll take any kind of relief we can get in the summer.

      I hope you're able to stay pool or beachside a lot of the time. Take care my friend.

      Sunni

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  2. LOL The title was pretty good. I bet I could do the same thing where my home is. Almost 35 years of "sick of it". Ha!
    http://enchantedfantasies.blogspot.com/

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    Replies
    1. Thea,

      I'm sure you could and maybe you should. LOL

      Sunni

      Delete

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Sunni