Sunrise in the desert

It has almost been a week since I am home again in the desert. The last guest left the place in total disequilibrium but three days later my place almost looks like I like it to look. Thus I walk in the morning, watch the changing of the light as the sun climbs up from behind the mountains and changes the world. My friends seem truly glad to have me back for a while and seamlessly I am reintegrated into the small community. So one buys too many goodies at the all town yard sale: delicious sinfully rich pecan squares, light upside down pineapple cake and moist scrumptious banana bread... It was good that unexpected guests showed up so that I could share. The desert holds its own secrets, its special charm: from the tracks in the sand to the tiniest lizard darting away and gratefully I heard the coyotes yesterday afternoon. Now I know I am home again. Till now I saw: Gamble quail, a doe and her young one probably from this spring, jack rabbits and rabbits. I spoke with the cactus wren and saw 18 buzzards sail over Silver Hill. All the friendly dogs got petted and like a fool in honor of my friend Cese I danced alone in the local restaurant bar... Cese this one is for you.

Wolves and ranchers

There is a rancher I know, a good person, I even call him my friend, yet... He kills coyotes to protect his cattle, notwithstanding the fact that he says that feral dogs are worse than coyotes and wolves. Predators are beautiful and contribute to a viable ecological system. I don't understand the demonizing of wolves and coyotes. My friend once even shot a coyote from his truck while I was riding 'shotgun' with him. I must admit it made me more distant towards this person. I endorse the wolf protection actions of the Center for Biological Diversity. I also endorse US Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and US Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, with US Rep. Raul Grijalva of New Mexico as a lead sponsor. Right now they are circulating a letter to their colleagues in the US Congress, expressing support for America's wolves still under federal protections, and that those federal protections remain in place. I quote from the Center for Biological Diversity:

As if the persecution and killing of over 1,000 wolves, over the past six months alone, in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Minnesota and Wisconsin, is not enough, the US Fish & Wildlife Service now wants to remove federal protections for wolves in the remaining states where they are still under federal  protection. This unethical, anti-ecology political maneuver includes states that have just a few dozen wolves or none at all! How ridiculous is such a proposal? Why even have an Endangered Species Act if corrupt federal officials or any corrupt state government can declare a persecuted and endangered animal unworthy of protection due to lies, mythology and dirty politics? 

When I first came to Arizona, I used to hear the coyotes every night. Their night song was a reassurance, a connection to all what lives, made the stars shine brighter and the full moon more purposeful. Last year was the first time I didn't even see nor hear a coyote and I miss them bitterly. It just doesn't feel right. Also, I once encountered a red timber wolf near the Colorado river, about four in the afternoon. We looked at each other. I saw his magical brown eyes, he must not have sensed any danger coming from me, so he slowed, glanced back at me and went his way disappearing in the desert. That was however in the early '90's... Yet I can still feel the enchantment thinking about my coyotes and wolf encounters.

Yellow snow on the San Francisco Peaks

The Snow Bowl Ski Resort on the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona didn’t have enough snow a few winters in a row. They decided, and it was approved by the municipal council, to turn the sewage effluent into snow. They sell 1,5 million  gallons of waste water per day. The environmental impact assessment pointed out several problems: scaring of the landscape, noise from the snow making machine, the changes in the soils’ chemistry and thus the destruction of wildlife habitat. The area concerned is one where herbalists, Native American healers from several nations as far away as the Zuni from New Mexico. The area is used for finding medicinal herbs, is part of a pilgrimage and is the home of the Hopi Katsinam. Sacred land should not be soiled, defiled. Declarations by elders and healers in court and massive protest by environmentalist and Sierra Club hasn’t helped. Gathering herbs is sacred,it is also a service to the members of one’s community. Sadly all bad things came to pass and the snow made from the waste water to their 'astonishment' turned yellow. Virginia Tech indicated that the snow from the sewage could be a breading ground for antibiotic-resistant genes. So what ever you do, don’t get into making a snowman or a snow angel in the wider area around the ski resort...

Animal Dreams - Barbara Kingsolver

What to do on a blustery day with showers except photographing the light and shadows of life.

Just find a warm place inside and read.

Being a fan of Barbara Kingsolver’s writing I was pleasantly surprised to find her book in a small town for $2. I have read five of her books, this being the sixth one. She writes rich stories, with a tapestry of characters which ring true. In Animal Dreams Codi, the main character is at a juncture in her life, and goes back to Grace, Arizona where she grew up with her sister Hallie, who is in Nicaragua, helping the people with  their crops, and a distant father. Codi is in the habit of running to another place when life doesn’t turn out the way she wanted. One could say it is all about the luxury of forgiveness and living a sweet life so one has sweet dreams... Her memories seems unreal until the day she fully participates in life with loss, love and belonging. Some quotes which touched my heart:

* I couldn’t ask Emelina for directions to my own childhood home; I didn’t want her to know how badly dislocated I was. I’d always had trouble recalling certain specifics of childhood, but didn’t realize until now that I couldn’t even recognize them at point-blank range.

* Children robbed of love will dwell on magic.

* ”Insomnia’s different,” I said.  “You know the light that comes on when you open the refrigerator door? Just imagine it stays on all the time, even after you close the door. That’s what it’s like in my head. The light stays on.”

* The winter rains would soon dry up. Then there would not be another drop till July. During those brittle months the taste and smell of rain would be lost to us, beyond the recollection of children and the deepest root tips of trees. That is the way of the seasons in a desert place.

My Grace is Chloride, AZ.

Cowboy dreams of wild horses

 I had seen wild mustangs before and yes they used to hang out along the back road to Mineral Park, AZ. They used to be a bit higher up but clearly visible. And then, they were gone. Three, four, maybe five years I didn't find them. Yet now low and behold, they are grazing even near the road's edge. Driving gently and stopping in order not to scare them away we watched them grazing while keeping an eye on the car.

There are still two cowboys running cattle in this area and it is obviously free range land.

One is from Quail Springs Ranch.

It is still cowboy country  and culture with places like the Dambar where good cowboy food can be had in a rustic and pleasant ambiente.

A date on a sunny day

It was a nice bright day notwithstanding the threatening cloud over town, coming straight from the direction of the nuclear plant which most people here in the country think should be closed.I decided to take a walk and went to a small park I had often passed in the car, but never had walked it. It was lovely, with an adventure playground for children, an experience garden where without having to stoop one can feel and smell the kitchen and healing herbs. There is even a start of a wood-wall where all kind of critters can survive the winter. A little note explains, asking not to carry of the old wood. Once done, it will be a nice feature.

The big tree here is totally entwined in ivy. This is a parasitic relationship which can  kill the big tree, It looks lovely however, yet I'll remind not to be clinging towards other people.

The tree stump covered in fungus and mushrooms. It made me realize the beauty of decay.

So my expedition was fruitful, I took the time to be and see, to notice, to enjoy. So, go out, enjoy the glorious light and listen to the birds.

Friends and their causes

Della is an animal lover and she does what she preaches. She is currently taking care of elephants in Thailand.

Elephant manifesto and other matters...

Wildlife Friends of Thailand is a safe haven for abused wild animals. In Thailand (but not only, to be fair), gibbons, macaques and others serve as photo props for tourists who are unaware that, by asking for or accepting that service, they are seriously stressing and endangering the animals. I will tell you about the primates in a future update but for now, please take a moment to read the following manifesto:

ELEPHANT MANIFESTO: SAY NO TO STREET-BEGGING ELEPHANTS!!!

By giving money to mahouts (elephant handlers) tourists are contributing to elephant abuse:

·         to perform, the elephant has to be 'broken' using the cruel Pahjaan process – the elephant is starved, burnt, stabbed and systematically tortured to make it obey humans.

·         elephant obedience is based on FEAR and PAIN. If commands are disobeyed, the elephant is beaten. If tricks to entertain tourists are not learnt, the elephant is beaten.

·         The elephant is often starved to keep it looking small and 'cute' for tourists, so it is hungry for tourists' food.

·         Making elephants perform on dirty, unhealthy streets is illegal to do and causes road traffic accidents. Tourists can now also be fined for supporting street-begging elephants.

DON'T SUPPORT ANIMAL ABUSE

DON'T PAY TO FEED A STREET ELEPHANT

The mahouts are NOT poor people (this is a myth)- they earn the Thai equivalent of a small fortune every night from exploiting elephants and tourists who are unaware of the cruelty involved. By feeding it, you are not helping the owner's elephant, just its owners bank balance.

A handful of elephants were lucky to be 'saved' by WFFT and will finish their life safe and secure from the cruelty of the mahouts. For obvious reasons, it is very difficult to get the mahouts to hand over their elephants. As a result, the one and only way to stop this abuse is to not support it. If there is no more demand, hopefully the abuse will stop.

The road back

On the calender it took me three days to go from bed to bed. Friday Lady D. drove me in the morning to Las Vegas, the nearest airport that brings to were I get a connection to where I need to go. Seen the works on the overpass of the Hover dam there are delays in the afternoon. I was to spend the night at a nephew's place since no casinos take dogs, not even my well seasoned traveler. His cell phone was down; he could reach my European number... In short I got stuck and only knew of one motel that would take me and my dog, just accros of a fine casino. When Lady D. saw the place and the strange fauna that roamed around the premisses she gave me a funny look when I decided to take the room. Spartan is the kindes word for the interior, for general ambiance lets say it was unhomely, kind of uncanny, shodilly build, dreary and desolate...(Coetzee in 'Inner Workings'). A few door down, regularly people passed and something was exchanged. My door had been kicked in and perfuncturory repaired. The sliding window didn't quite shut completely. High heals walked by at several hours of the night... At four am I had checked out and was on route to the airport. No problems. Atlata four hours waiting and Code Orange, extremely strict and harsh on companion dogs and their owners, so I go out to let the Griffon walk a bit and ofcourse then I had to go again through enhanced security. When boarded and readdy to go, we are told they found a gasleak, to take our stuff, leave the plain and wait. After three different gates, we finally get back to the seccond one and get a new plane... Airport from choppiness and storms over Canada and new Foundland, we landed safely only three hours late. My sleep quantum beginning the night before leaving my secret hide out was two hours and about 40 minutes... Monday I went to work, and still didnt sleep.

Snowbirds

After the clouds and the wild light came the snow. The small town covered in no time. No more porch red and forest green, no more tan and white. Just cactus, agave in the snow and then followed a night of deep freeze frost. That is why there is no saguaro growing in this area. You find prickly pear, beaver tail, cholla, teddy bear cactus...
Animals have a hard time, so I feed them a bit. Yet I wonder how they know within minutes that the buffet is open.

A new dawn

Tomorrow I am returning to my desert, to a country where a new dawn is rising and where hope fuels creativity. See you when I am back online.
My ticket says 'pet in cabin'.

Tootsie

The old lady in the corner made it till sixteen. Now she is buried next to my black labrador.
She was an intrepid traveler: enjoyed the desert, trips and snow.

Tootsie liked my musical friends: Robin Rowley's guitar case suited her just fine, Norris was a perfect lap when playing the dulcimer. And after the party there was a pillow fight between mother and daughter ;-).

Anarchist tendencies

Green feminist non-violent pacifist with anarchist tendencies that is how I described myself on a ‘social network’ I flippantly filled out. Now a travel acquaintance wants to know what I mean. I think all decisions should be made at the lowest possible level and at the highest necessary level. Personal decisions about my life are mine, decisions about global warming and how to deal with it are local and global. You get the drift. All authority should be questioned and controlled: does a government respect civil liberties, do they fulfill the treaties signed or is it untrustworthy. If obeyed, the authority carried should be deserved. Respect has to be earned, is not a given coming with a job or function. In order to live together in a group or a society one should agree on the terms. If the terms have outlived the situation, a new negotiation about terms and conditions should be started. I am committed to non-violence, so we should talk, build confidence and trust, between individuals, groups and states. Diversity of knowledge, creativity, insight is seen as enriching and stimulating thought and exchange. Diversity=choice. Choice=freedom. With freedom we can responsibly choose to change. Change: yes we can!

Help for the blind

The small Brussels Griffon in the back is 16 this month and if she were a human person she would be classified 'legally blind'. I am developing a whole new admiration for guide dogs: they have to anticipate every obstacle or possible pitfall, puddles that are too deep, steps, potholes, people, bicycles, you name it ... And now I have to learn how to do that for my Toots.