Today in my life

I will continue sharing my travel journal tomorrow. Today I wanted to say a few things about my life here in the desert.

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I am temporarily using a small travel trailer as my home base. I was told that it has the floor space of a prison cell. Perhaps this is true, but I don't feel locked in and I do have the option of opening the door and leaving. But with the heat I have learned to get the outside chores done by 9a.m. and then stay in with the air conditioner running. Daytime temps have been around 115 degrees for weeks now. I have found that even at midnight the temperatures are mostly in the high 90s. My life has developed a basic routine. I do the minimum housework to keep the crawlies away and spend the rest of my waking hours reading and answering e-mail or doing a craft project. I sometimes watch a couple of hours of television in the evenings but mostly I am immersed in a book. I do the needed errands once a week; groceries, mail, library, laundry. Most of the time this is my only human face-to-face contact during the week unless some of my family come to visit (and work).

Everyone that I have met here over the winter left for cooler areas months ago. On the first of March, herds of motorhomes headed north practically nose to tail. Now the town that was so full and busy during the winter has gone back to sleep until October when the temperatures will begin to cool again. For now, my only companions are a couple of elderly, overweight cats.

This is Ruthie who thinks she is a dog. Our other companion is a big black shorthair male who is camera shy. They do worry about my health and lack of exercise. With that in mind, they bring small, live lizards and baby snakes into the trailer so that I can chase, yell and jump as I try to keep the creepies from slithering down a floor vent or under the bookcase. They must think they are helping me as this action is repeated at least once a week. (I should really learn to shut the door tighter.)

I had a large selection of specimen succulents growing in pots on my shaded patio. Alas... the desert iguanas have mistaken them for an all-you-can-eat salad bar. I was warned to protect my plants from the desert bunnies but no one said anything about voracious lizards. These iguanas are entertaining and can put on quite a display. Perhaps my plants are the admission price to the show. Whenever two iguanas meet, they do push-ups with their front legs. Then they stand among the sand and rocks, bouncing up and down, hissing at each other until one gives up or is scared away.

This glutton I spotted dining on my plants is about 16 inches long from nose to tail. I was hoping that he liked ants for snacks. I could use some help clearing them out. I can handle the trails of ants, but it is the ant scouts that bite me that I am finding hard to tolerate.

Lizards and ants and heat, Oh My! This isn't Kansas and I'm not Dorothy but there must be something here that attracts me. Ask me again this winter when my relatives are butt deep in snow or their yards are floating away.....

Yes, something about this land does attract me and it will be a fine place to return to after my trips. My sons and grandsons are constructing a small house here for me. As one grandson stated; "we don't have family reunions, we have work parties." It has been a lot of work, a lot of sweat, aches and pains.....but they keep coming back. Maybe it is my cooking?