Black Dog Diaries

July 11 AM

Totally uneventful walk. Guess that ’s going to happen from time to time. No big trucks, no dogs, no coyotes. Just one bird Mom says was a Crissal Thrasher, but she couldn’t be sure because it’s beak wasn’t curvy and long. It was on the ground, and was very calm. It moved with an occasional crow-like hop. Brilliant rust undertail. The rest of the bird suggested a plump Robin…all one solid brown grey dust color. She started to call it a Towhee, but changed back because the rust color was so bright.

Again, I have to explain that Mom really has a thing about giving things names.

Ace

Bark out to Cooper, and my new “barkin’ at” buddies in the car, and Hopper. Still smokin’ on the Santa Ritas.

July 10 PM

Met some more dogs this evening. They ride in a car. I didn’t catch all the names, ’cause they were barking. One guy was named Hopper. He has a great Bulldog face. Mom said he was cute.

Ace

July 10 AM

The morning was cool. the Santa Rita mountains are still  on fire. There is a bunch of smoke. There wasn’t much of anything to see on the walk this morning. Mom saw a bunch of Black Throated Sparrows. They looked so handsome with their very black chests, like they were coming home late, from an evening out, still in their tuxedos. I’ve seen more critters from the patio window since we’ve been back to the house. The quail family has two chicks left of the ten they started with. They scratch for gravel in the shade on the east side of the house.

The Mockingbird hollers on the roof. He’s a show off.

The coyote had the nerve to trot right by my patio door while I’m trying to doze. I had to get up and raise a ruckus. ( admin. note: this post was before the wall was built )

Two Roadrunners scooted through the yard.

The chipmunks have been busy under the Paloverde tree. They look like they are stuffing their cheeks with seeds.

There was a squirrel with a long tail. Mom saw it. I didn’t. I would have chased it. There are no tall pine trees here for them to hide in like there were in Texas. I am still wanting one of those long tailed squirrels to play with me. I just don’t know what to say to convince them.

Now that it’s getting hot, maybe everybody will go find a shady spot to siesta and quit keeping me awake, here in front of the patio door, trying to doze…on the tile…where it’s cool…z…z…z…z…z.

P S There was rumor of b-a-t-h today. I don’t know what that spells specifically, but it typically involves the water hose. Maybe I can dodge that one this weekend…

Ace

http://www.wildnatureimages.com/Coyotes.htm

http://www.wildnatureimages.com/bird_photos.htm

July 9 Am

What a pretty morning for a walk. It was cool, relatively speaking. We saw a coyote. I could see him in the sun as he crossed the road, but when he trotted into the shadow, I couldn’t see him at all. He just disappeared. As I get older ( not old, …older ) my eyesight is not so dependable. I can always bark at what I can’t see, just in case!

We saw a pretty blond dog go by with it’s Mom. I think the dog’s name is “g’morning”, because my person and the other dog’s person both said that. “g’morning.”

On the way back, at the bottom of the hill, my Mom saw some birds she wanted to watch. So we stopped. They were very  little. One had a black hat and tail, and when they flew around, they looked like they had blue grey backs. Cute little bird voices, too. Again, Mom likes to give things names, and she has a whole book of bird names. She says they are probably Black Tailed Gnatcatchers. Sounds right. There were lots of gnats yesterday, so logically, that would attract gnat-catchers!

We saw another coyote cross the road right in front of our house. I wonder if they have people? Makes me think of the old joke, “Why did the coyote cross the road?” To get to the other side! Ha!

Enough of the canine comedy. It’s time to lie on the tile again, and wait til dinnertime.

Cooper came walking by later that morning. He stopped to visit. Mom let me off the leash in the yard. I ran and ran in circles around our truck. I haven’t been loose since we moved here. It was fun. I tired myself out, and it made for a good daytime nap.

July 9 PM

We had a quick walk to the bottom of the hill that turned out to be quite the outing. We veered off to the north into the wash for the first time. Mom is generally afraid to find snakes, but since the rain, the wash is a wide sand area that makes it easy to see them. We didn’t go very far. Like I said, Mom is afraid to find snakes. She was glad we didn’t see any. We did see a lot of junk. Mom says we can come pick it up in the winter when the snakes are sleeping.

We headed back to go watch a movie on tv, and we met Cooper and his mommy at the top of the hill. So we walked west with Coop out to The Big Road. He goes that way to walk. I had never been that way before. It’s busy. You could see the crescent moon again. The restaurant nearby sure smelled good. They make steaks. That is where the bones I get sometimes come from. My Mom and Cooper’s mom talked about all sorts of stuff. My Mom can talk more than anybody. We stood in front of Cooper’s house til it got very dark. When we went home, our guy was putting on his shoes to come looking for us. We were almost in trouble. Or, Mom was. She can talk more than anybody!

Ace