Thanksgiving Visit from a Hawk

They are always soaring above our house, waiting to swoop in on an unsuspecting rodent.  But rarely do we get the opportunity to view them closely.  Yesterday as we were clearing the Thanksgiving dishes, this hawk perched on an old cactus spine in our back yard.  I raced to the window to test a new camera, capturing this beautiful silhouette against the dusky blue-gold evening sky.  It then joined its mate at the top of a tree in a neighbor's yard.

The cactus has nothing to do with the hawk's visit, I just liked the way it was pointing at the moon.

A Javelina and a Coyote for Breakfast

The javelina is a fun, yet somewhat frightening visitor to our yard.  They usually eat our plants, or bread we have thrown to the birds, but they are omnivores and may also eat small animals.  It's always exciting to catch a glimpse of them from our window, but nerve-racking to encounter them in person, as they can be fierce when defending themselves or their herd.

It's not unusual to see javelinas in our neighborhood, especially in the fall.  Our subdivision lots are an acre or more per home, with natural desert landscaping.  Many neighbors leave whole chunks of their yard untouched by landscapers, allowing the Sonoran Desert to develop as it may. 

The javelinas tend to make their rounds about the neighborhood when people begin adding gourds and pumpkins to their outdoor decor.  We have seen javelinas feast on our beautifully carved pumpkins on more than one occasion, even after placing them on a table we thought to be out of a javelina's reach.  They are determined critters.

What is not quite so common is to host a javelina and a coyote in the same visit.  This is what we saw out our kitchen window during breakfast yesterday.  I am excited I was able to capture it in a photo and share it.

In the upper left corner you can see the coyote lurking.  I'm not sure whether he was interested in the javelina, or the food the javelina was eating, but he was interested enough to hang around for several minutes.  The coyote does prey on javelina, but I suspect this one was a little too big for Mr. Coyote to take on by himself.  When the javelina finally sensed the coyote was there, she did an about face, bristled, and walked a few steps toward him, which had the desired effect of scaring him away.  The javelina stayed around for another fifteen minutes or so grazing in our back yard.

This all happened on my birthday, a wonderful birthday show from nature, if you like that sort of thing (which of course, I do). 

A Day at the Cave Creek Museum

One of our favorite places to take out-of-towners is the Cave Creek Museum, so I was happy when I found out about a special presentation happening recently when my parents were visiting from Michigan.  You can squeeze in a lot of Arizona learning there in a short amount of time.  The Cave Creek Museum packs every square inch of its small building and campus with a wide span of rich Arizona history, from pottery made by the earliest inhabitants to more modern settlers who came to mine gold or graze cattle.  They also have a neat little gift shop that helps support the museum. 

Recently, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community came to demonstrate traditional pottery making, beading, and basket weaving, which is not something we see every day, so we were thrilled to watch.

The demonstrators were happy to share their knowledge and skills with us and graciously answered our questions.  The clay used in the pottery made above is indigenous to the Salt River area.  After they are molded by hand, they are fired.

The woman above is creating beaded adornments using very tiny "seed beads."  It is painstaking work and fascinating (almost painful!) to watch.  I am envious of her patience and skill.  Once completed, the neck adornments can sell for several hundred dollars.  

The materials used in basket weaving are also native to Arizona.  The main fiber, tan in color, is taken from cattail plants that grow in the Salt River area.   The artist splits the stalk several times until it is divided into flexible fibers.  The darker brown color in the pattern is also from a native desert plant, the spiky dried blossom pictured below. 

There is a movement in the Community to return to native foods such as mesquite beans and corn.  Below is a chef demonstrating his skill in flipping roasted corn kernels.  He was fun to watch.  Maybe I should try this at home.  I might enjoy cooking more.

The next photo shows dried Mesquite bean pods.  They harvest them at the end of summer, let them dry, and grind the beans into flour.  I found this especially interesting as it answered my question posed in a former post, what to do with these beautiful mesquite bean pods.  

The banner below provides the address and hours of the Huhugam Ki Museum in Scottsdale if you are interested in seeing the traditional works on display.

Finally, we had the pleasure of seeing Jr. Miss Salt River 2012, who greeted us warmly and allowed us to photograph her in in her beautiful seed bead crown, a wonderful example of the traditional skills shared with us this day by the Community members.

Scorpion Trap

They're usually nocturnal, but I was able to snap a pic of this little guy in broad daylight when he became trapped in an old flower pot. Apparently, once they fall in they are not able to climb up the slick walls of the pottery. Good or bad? Depends on your opinion of these little creatures. I was just excited for the photo opportunity.

September Morning

Aaahhh, clouds! What a glorious sky to see as I begin my day. Over 300 sunny days a year can really make a person yearn for some refreshing clouds. Thank you, September!

Gifts of the Monsoon Season in Arizona

Monsoon season in southern Arizona brings the most appreciated gift of rain, providing temporary respite from the searing summer heat.  But the rain also brings with it many secondary gifts, like breathtaking monsoon sunsets...

and rain-coaxed blooms...

and others, a little more rare and surprising, as you will see at the end of this post.  

After two nights and one afternoon of rain last week, the local Texas Sage decided to make a showy debut with its vibrant purple blossoms.  I captured the blooms' progression over three days with my iPhone.  One bush was just beginning to show blooms on August 31:

Here is the same bush the next day:

And here is the bush on September 2, 2012:

Aren't those blooms amazing?  They bring a smile to my face each time I pull into my driveway.  But the delightful, unexpected monsoon gift was the rare discovery of this Sonoran Desert Toad this afternoon:

Because they usually only emerge during the monsoon season after rain to mate and lay eggs in puddles, people could go a lifetime without seeing one of these, especially those people living in more developed areas. This is the first Sonoran Desert Toad I've ever seen, and I've lived here 17 years.  My daughter rescued it from a swimming pool, we created a little puddle with peat moss for it and hope it will go about its business happily in our back yard.  My children wanted to keep it as a pet, but a little research revealed it is poisonous, so outside it will stay.

As we enjoy a relaxing Labor Day weekend, we will treasure these amazing monsoon gifts of the desert, and will continue to treasure them, right until they dry up, fall down or hop away. 

Tumbling Tumbleweed

Growing up in Michigan, I remember seeing tumbleweeds on a western show my dad and brother were watching one Sunday afternoon.  Tumbleweeds seemed exotic and foreign to me.  We simply didn't have them in Michigan.  Bushes pretty much stay wet, fresh and rooted there. 

I experienced my first real tumbleweed when I moved to Arizona in 1995.  It was the same time of year, monsoon season, when strong winds whip through the Valley of the Sun.  I was driving to a store in Chandler and suddenly a huge, dusty brown tumbleweed rolled across the road in front of me. 

Since then, I have seen a tumbleweed once or twice a year.  They appear seemingly out of nowhere and always bring a smile to my face, a twiny critter being chased by the wind.  I picture them with googly eyes. 

The kids and I were pleasantly surprised to come across this one in the school parking lot this morning.  Of course I had to snap a picture.

And now, for your listening enjoyment, the song that always comes to mind: