I took Samson for a hike yesterday. We walked up a path under these fabulous rocks.
Don't they look like they belong in an old Western movie?
Then I heard on the news last night that a mountain lion has been killing pets in the Bakersfield suburbs. But by then I was back home, safe in front of the TV.
It's terrible to think of what animals are going through, living under these horribly dry conditions. Of course they are coming down from higher elevations, looking for food and water.
We're at the top of a steep hill here, looking down on our house. D. G. asked about fire clearance in the winter, as you can see there's just dirt around the house. Usually, we clear 100 feet in May, then it rains and snows in the winter, grass and weeds grow, and we clear it again the following spring. No grass has grown since 2011, the last year we had some real rain. The road you see toward the left is the one we walk to the mailboxes.
Most of the Rabbit Brush up here is dead or dying, so is the mesquite, and the low growing brush. The junipers seem to be doing OK for the most part.
I called my husband from that hill, overlooking our house, and told him the hill looked too steep for me to get down alone. He agreed it would be best if we just turned back the way we came. We did, and when we got home Samson's tongue was hanging out for a long time, a good sign we got some exercise.
And this is what it should look like in January. Some of the time at least. Thank you for your prayers for rain.
Samson Says:
OK, so who were you hiking with?
Who did you tell to stop, sit, stay so you could take all those pictures?
Who was very OBEDIENT and did all you asked?
Me: OK, Samson, that would be you. What's all this leading up to?
Samson: I'm just wondering why am I not in any of the pictures?
What's a post about me without me?
To himself: Humans!!!
