A BIRD IN THE HAND

November 22, 2010

The old bird in the hand is worth two in the bush may come closer to reality if you are a newcomer to Arizona and discover (with a fair amount of wonderment) that your new property not only has a lemon tree - now I suppose I really will have to make lemonade - but also has a grapefruit tree. The birds? Seems the grapefruit tree has residents. I won’t make you guess because it seems so unlikely the guessing game would go on for a very long time. Would you believe a covey of California quail roost in the grapefruit tree at night? Not just at night, but whenever they feel threatened or I suppose are in need of a nap. The fruits themselves appear to grow out toward the outer edges of the tree leaving the center fruitless, lots of room for birds.

Under that tree, when it isn’t under the little shed next to the house, lives a baby rabbit, or at least a baby sized rabbit. My husband, Trav, says we have three rabbit species here, one being a long-eared cotton-tailed version which seems to be the little one we see. [The other two rabbit species we have here are Jack rabbits, which are more properly called hares] He tells me we aren’t going to make a pet out of it, which is fine since I was caretaker of a large New Zealand Giant rabbit previously.

One of my daughters got the short straw at the end of the school year many years ago and was awarded the big male rabbit as the prize. Turns out the school didn’t want him back and in the end we didn’t want him either. Something about thirty pound midnight rambling bunny who ate electrical cords made him a less desirable house guest. His name was Howard Longears and he was housebroke and would let you know when he needed to go out. He had a cage, but much preferred sleeping on the foot of a bed during the day since they are nocturnal.

Eventually I found a happy home for Howard. There was a bunch of girl rabbits who didn’t have a boyfriend if you get my drift. The owner of that bunch of bunnies said the girls were very happy with Howard. Still I’m not sure of Trav’s intentions, the trimmings from the lettuce and cauliflower from our kitchen are strangely appearing outside between the shed and the grapefruit tree. Worse, they totally disappear in very short order.

Before Trav took to feeding the little bunny I did see the bunny sitting on its haunches under the tree nibbling on the nice green leaves. I wonder if they taste at all like grapefruit.

The California Quail are the little guys with the cute top knot, I don’t think one would make much of a meal, but maybe a couple? When we were at the Visitors Center at Saguaro National Park recently I fell in love with a collection of very detailed finger puppets - they had most of the wildlife native to the park, including the Quail and a couple of owls as well. The loggers from the Pacific Northwest might find it interesting that there is also a Mexican Spotted Owl which is on the Endangered List too.

The desert is entirely new to me, I’ve spent some time in what we called the ‘high desert’ in eastern Washington and Oregon, but neither are anything like the desert here. Part of the reason is the Sonoran Desert is considered a green desert - and it really is. Lots of green trees and bushes and depending on the amount of rain, flowers. I’m sure you’ve heard of the desert blooming just as I have. We don’t know if there has been or will be enough rain for that to occur this spring or not, time will tell.

Last night Trav was part of an official night hike at the Saguaro National Park and I tagged along. We walked about a mile under a nearly full moon with a Park Ranger who did a series of lectures as we walked along. The talks were about the various wildlife which lives in the park - we didn’t run across any this time, but it was a reasonable large group - about twenty adults, and everyone was chatting and asking questions. Any animals were long gone by the time they we came anywhere near them.

Several of the members of the group were from Canada and one gentleman was from Austrialia. Pretty much all snowbirds here for the winter, some had hiked in the park before, just not at night. It was a neat experience and I very much enjoyed it.

We do have an air force base here in the neighborhood, Davis Monthan (D-M) and I’m just delighted to see the jets and helicopters flying over. It was fun to see the look on a couple of faces when one of the big jets appeared over the Rincon Mountains in the park looking all the world like something from a Science Fiction movie on our night hike. With all their lights on they seemed to be just hanging over the mountain - surreal!

Saturday is the big Tour, 9,000 people on bikes riding the course around Tucson - I believe the total is 109 miles if you do the long one, but there are several shorter courses. This is really a big deal, I’m told it compares to the Boston Marathon for runners.

We continue to be out and about, learning new things every day. We aren’t fishing, but I do have to tell you the Cortland Just Add Water outfit for the current Monthly Drawing is here - delivered this past week. Stay tuned, someone will have a terrific prize.

This week is Thanksgiving here in the states - Trav and I hope you and your families take the time to really appreciate and celebrate the unique gifts we have in America. Take the time to say thank you to God for the blessings he has given us as a country - as well as for the personal blessings all of us enjoy.

May God continue to bless us all.

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