An introduction to my "Ramblings from the Desert".
Since my friends come from such diverse parts of this country, Mexico and beyond. Ranging from the East Coast and the West Coast, from the Pacific Northwest to the US Southwest, from Hawaii, to New Mexico, and down to the southern most parts of Mexico and South America, to Europe, Africa, the Mid-East, and into Asia.
I know most of you have not been to the Southwest, unless you live here. I on the other hand am familiar with many of these places where you live and have seen the beauty in all of them. The southwest is very different from most of the places where you live. And although you may never actually visit the southwest I thought it would be rather fun to share my part of the world with you. So from time to time, I intend on sharing a little of what it is like to live here in the desert and maybe even to be me.
Actually I live in the high desert (The Carson Mesa) to be exact. The high desert is quite different from the deserts depicted in the movies. The high desert means just that, we are situated about 7,000 feet above sea level. Our desert is not the miles of scorching sand that we usually envision when we think of a desert. Yes we have sand but we also have a lot of sage plants growing in the sand. there are patches of various grasses as well. Throughout the Spring and Summer there will be various flowers as well and a scattering of Pinion Pine and Juniper trees are mixed into the view as well.
In most deserts you can't walk bare footed as you would burn the bottoms of your feet. Here on the mesa you can't walk bare footed either because besides burning your feet in the Summer, there are just too many damn cactus and God do they hurt if you happen to step on them.
In the Spring and Summer you can wear shorts and sandals (if your brave), but come the Autumn you need long pants and boots as all the flowers and grasses become dry. This means like the animals who forge the desert, they turn to mini weapons that can penetrate your hiking shoes and scratch your legs.
In the Winter we use snowshoes to navigate through the snow covered desert. So as you can see, our desert goes through many changes as the seasons change.
Our desert has an assortment of animals which although always present, are very rarely seen. The reason I know that they are out there is because sometimes you can hear them but more often, it is because of the foot or hoof prints and scat that they leave behind. Some of our visitors are elk, deer, cattle, sheep, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, antelope, ring tailed cats, jack rabbits, cotton tail rabbits, and reptiles just to name a few.
In the sky we have witnessed a number of birds that change with the seasons. Besides the small song birds there are ravens, eagles, hawks, falcons and of course an occasional magpie and vultures. On very rare occasions some very unlikely birds may show up. Once on a lake to the north by the great sand dunes we had seen a group of about a dozen brown pelicans. At our home a couple years ago we were visited by six sand pipers and just last week there was a dog fight above our pond with a raven and an osprey. Since we have been here there has only been three sightings of roadrunners on the property.
Now you have a glimpse of my desert that surroundings my property. I hope that I was able to give you a visual image of this wonderful place.
Since my friends come from such diverse parts of this country, Mexico and beyond. Ranging from the East Coast and the West Coast, from the Pacific Northwest to the US Southwest, from Hawaii, to New Mexico, and down to the southern most parts of Mexico and South America, to Europe, Africa, the Mid-East, and into Asia.
I know most of you have not been to the Southwest, unless you live here. I on the other hand am familiar with many of these places where you live and have seen the beauty in all of them. The southwest is very different from most of the places where you live. And although you may never actually visit the southwest I thought it would be rather fun to share my part of the world with you. So from time to time, I intend on sharing a little of what it is like to live here in the desert and maybe even to be me.
Actually I live in the high desert (The Carson Mesa) to be exact. The high desert is quite different from the deserts depicted in the movies. The high desert means just that, we are situated about 7,000 feet above sea level. Our desert is not the miles of scorching sand that we usually envision when we think of a desert. Yes we have sand but we also have a lot of sage plants growing in the sand. there are patches of various grasses as well. Throughout the Spring and Summer there will be various flowers as well and a scattering of Pinion Pine and Juniper trees are mixed into the view as well.
In most deserts you can't walk bare footed as you would burn the bottoms of your feet. Here on the mesa you can't walk bare footed either because besides burning your feet in the Summer, there are just too many damn cactus and God do they hurt if you happen to step on them.
In the Spring and Summer you can wear shorts and sandals (if your brave), but come the Autumn you need long pants and boots as all the flowers and grasses become dry. This means like the animals who forge the desert, they turn to mini weapons that can penetrate your hiking shoes and scratch your legs.
In the Winter we use snowshoes to navigate through the snow covered desert. So as you can see, our desert goes through many changes as the seasons change.
Our desert has an assortment of animals which although always present, are very rarely seen. The reason I know that they are out there is because sometimes you can hear them but more often, it is because of the foot or hoof prints and scat that they leave behind. Some of our visitors are elk, deer, cattle, sheep, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, antelope, ring tailed cats, jack rabbits, cotton tail rabbits, and reptiles just to name a few.
In the sky we have witnessed a number of birds that change with the seasons. Besides the small song birds there are ravens, eagles, hawks, falcons and of course an occasional magpie and vultures. On very rare occasions some very unlikely birds may show up. Once on a lake to the north by the great sand dunes we had seen a group of about a dozen brown pelicans. At our home a couple years ago we were visited by six sand pipers and just last week there was a dog fight above our pond with a raven and an osprey. Since we have been here there has only been three sightings of roadrunners on the property.
Now you have a glimpse of my desert that surroundings my property. I hope that I was able to give you a visual image of this wonderful place.
Yuccas on the Carson Mesa
Terry R. Wolff
Terry R. Wolff
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