Finding shade

- Desert Oasis -

It's the deepest part of summer and the doldrums have set in. It feels like it will never rain again. It feels like it has never rained. But it eventually will, and fall will follow, after a few false starts. Then jackets will come out of the closet. Hang on, it's coming.

A couple of dogs were dumped on me a few weeks ago. Since there is not much of a choice to be made when this happens, they will be staying around here. They seem to not be furtive, not jumping at the cats and chickens.  They're okay. I'm just not much of one for dogs. I've noticed that abandoned dogs never run away, unfortunately.

I've seen a few coveys of quail, lately. The adults were whooping it up last month, so I guess this is the result. I am the idiot that stops my car in the middle of the road to let them cross. I also stop for roadrunners, dove, ground squirrels, horny toads and mice. And, of course, turkeys. Oh, and pigs and deer. I have to stop for them or they will stop me.

My oasis doesn't look like much, but there is some shade. The big mimosa tree in the back yard died last summer, so I had to relocate the lawn furniture. I sure do miss that tree, it was 25 years old. I knew it when it was just a stick.