Cats, Critters, Gardens and Summer Storms

Most of my cats are perched around me with very annoyed expressions. I usually let some of them out about an hour after the sun rises. When Jane’s rescued dogs have been barking, I can be pretty sure there are coyotes lurking about as they often do among the old oaks that grow between enormous boulders about 500 feet away. It provides a haven for mice, lizards and who knows what that lure my cats into danger. I let Smokey Joe out earlier to scout the perimeter. He is my cat-herding dog.

Jane's rescued dogs were not barking this morning. They often start with the first hint of light in the eastern sky. When I took my first observations out the window at 8 a.m. I could see that the sky is obscured with clouds that may give us a thunderstorm later. I also noticed a small flock of wild pigeons feeding in a clear area near my compound. I think the wind may have blown seeds there from the sunflower and wild birdseed garden we planted around the dog’s pen. The garden is past maturity, but it was pleasant to look at for a while. The wind has blown down much of it and I’m going to pull out the brown stalks to take to a place I where I put out scraps of food for wild critters. I need the walk, and they need the food.  I can’t remember seeing pigeons here since summer when a pair of them would stop by every morning either to feed or pick up grit for their craws. I counted seven birds this morning.

I keep several containers of water in my yard for any parched animals. One day I found a stray horse drinking there, and sometimes long horned cattle drink there during the night. Some water dishes are small for mice that might drown trying to drink out of larger bucket. I try to stay alert for snakes that might follow the mice, or just come to enjoy the water themselves.

I just checked and the pigeons are gone.so I free my eager cats. My youngest one, Tuxedo Charlie, rolls in the sand, and makes a beeline to the rocks. I’m afraid he will be coyote lunch some day. Next to slip out the door is Buddy, (a beautiful light yellow tabby), followed by Riley (ditto), and Inky (a longhaired black boy). Forrest (white with blue eyes) wants to go out badly, but he is an idiot who goes way up the hill where the coyotes could pick him off with ease. He has absolutely no bush smarts. Tiger Tom (grey striped) and Mack (short haired black), both once muscle-bound fighting tomcats, also dash out. They stay close to home, although well apart from each other. Mack is fixed, but he used to be a junkyard terror. (His former home was a truck museum that looks like a junkyard). Tiger Tom joined us last year after lurking about in the trees above us, on top my trailer or shivering pitifully on the ledge outside my front window for the coldest part of the winter.  He finally got his courage up to let me pet him and I brought him inside. He was never a true feral cat and he tamed easily. He ism’t ‘fixed’ yet, and is still a muscle bound tomcat, but he seems to know that even though Mack has been neutered, he would not be easy to whip. Tiger Tom has shown himself to be a peaceable kitty at heart. He and all the other cats except Mack, have declared a truce, even to the point of sharing my lap.

A surprise for me this week is the amount of produce I am getting from my tiny, hastily sown garden. A few days ago I harvested green beans, squash, lettuce, a green pepper, and several pitiful ears of corn (that went to the critters). I planted way too much in such a small plot. The tomato plants are smothering everything else. Last evening I found two more large, ripe and perfect tomatoes. The skins are a little too tough and have to be peeled off before eating, but the meat inside is solid, sweet and wonderful to taste. The vines are loaded with green tomatoes and blossoms, so I will have a lot to give away. Next year I will plant a larger plot, although my garden area is constrained by the need for the shelter from the wind that my trailer provides.

Today, at this high Indian horse camp, it is windless and muggy. A storm is coming in from Mexico via Arizona. If it brings rain, it will be the first this summer. We are only about 25 miles away from, and above the Anza-Borrego part of Sonora Desert. Summer rain here usually evaporates before it hits the ground, but when it does come, it is often accompanied by high winds. What might be only a nice rainstorm can turn suddenly into a gully-washer or even a flash flood. It might also bring lightening that could start wildfires. It’s not safe to be complacent about a possible storm in these parts.

As Garrison Keilor might say, "So that's what's happening at the horse camp, where people are few,  coyotes are smart, and enjoyment of natural living is above average."