Rain?

Yep, in common with most of the Southwestern part of the U.S. we have been getting some rain.  We are supposed to average 4" (10 cm) a year and we've probably had around .5" (1 cm) in the last four days.  It doesn't sound like a lot but it turns the desert into a giant mud-hole.  So we've been walking on the local streets.  We don't have sidewalks but fortunately we don't have much in the way of traffic either.  Walking two miles we will probably see two or three cars.  That works for us; the only downside is that it is a bit tougher on the feet to walk on the asphalt.  Our daily highs have been in the 60F (15C) area so we can’t complain about that. 

 I took the above while driving into town.  That is just where the mountain is supposed to be!  We just don't get views like this very often.  As you can see, I was a bad driver and pulled over into the turn lane to take this photo.  Of course, there wasn't a lot of competition for the lane so I didn't feel too bad.

Here is a cloud bank that is covering the valley.  This particular mountain isn't one of the taller ones but it was big enough to peer out over the clouds.  And, yes, that is blue sky over the mountain.

I’ve been working on building a bat house to encourage bats to stay around here and munch down some insects.  We don’t have a lot of insects but generally I think fewer is better!  I’m making the house from some rough cedar fencing.  The little guys need some way to hang while they sleep and I’m hoping the rough surface will be just the ticket.  I haven’t decided how high to suspend the house; the instructions say to put it  really high but they may have to compromise some on that since I don’t like ladders all that much.  We’ll see.  I’m trying to keep the thing as ‘natural’ as possible so there won’t be any weird smells, etc. to scare the bats off.  Next summer should tell the tail.

I spoke of building a little bed in the back of the pickup so we could spend an occasional night off in Death Valley or somewhere.  I’m still working on a design so haven’t gotten anywhere with the idea.  Right now I’m thinking of a bed that will fold in half lengthwise so we won’t lose too much cargo space.  When we want bed we just unfold it, blow up an air mattress and toss out the sleeping bags.  There should be plenty of room under the bed for camping supplies, a stove, etc.  I’m not sure about a porta-potty; we’ll cross that problem when we come to it.  Of course the design isn’t wife-approved yet so if I end up building something completely different; that’s what happened.

It is now two weeks since we had to take the dog to be put down.  Things are getting back to a new normal.  We went in to Las Vegas the other day and were a bit late getting home.  No worries now!  The cat just sleeps most of the time anyway and if he gets beyond eating cat food and hitting the litter box; well, that’s another problem.  He does get frightened in the night a few times almost every night.  He will start howling as loud as he can then quits after four or five howls only to repeat the performance a couple hours later.  We are actually getting used to it.  It’s like living next to the train tracks; eventually you sleep right through the passing train sounds.

Well, gotta go.  Have a good one.