Steve and Judy's Travels!

Moved a little. Different place. Still north of Phoenix. New River
Arizona. More of the same…. Only different. Still in the desert. Warm weather. Cooler weather. Sunshine. Clouds. Even more birds here. More of the same: little doves, big doves, quail,
house finches, hummingbirds, cardinals, cactus wrens, curve billed
thrashers, ravens, white crowned sparrows. And different birds too.
Verdin. We’ve only seen it once before. It is a little desert bird. Tiny
like a hummingbird, but it is not a hummingbird. We saw it on a hummingbird
feeder here though. Lesser goldfinches. Black throated sparrows. We’ve
only seen them once before too, but here they are all over. Gila
woodpeckers. A ladder back woodpecker. And a new one on the life list.
Bendire’s thrasher. Like the curve bill, but shorter and less curved. And
the eye is more yellow. 332 on the life list. A coyote symphony. A flashing crashing desert thunderstorm in the predawn
darkness. Pounding rain. Hail. After, a hundred birds feeding on the ground and suddenly there are none. A
dark silhouette drifts by overhead. Gradually, the birds return. A walk through the desert brush. Saguaro, cholla, prickly pear, ocotillo,
palo verde, and creosote. The quail chuckle their little alarm call and
scurry across the trail to safety. The ones on the left side of the trail
go right. The ones on the right go left. Light rain. Heavy rain. Light rain again. Bronco’s Football. Go Broncos! Seven and three.

The desert garden in the dry wash.

_____________________________________________
From: Steve Taylor [mailto:spt@thetaylorcompany.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 3:08 PM
To: Bill Taylor (E-mail); David Taylor (E-mail); Tom Taylor (E-mail)
Subject: las cruces And a blast from the past. The tear drop. This one is in pretty good shape. People still use them.

The perfect desert set up. A permanent patio. A sun-shade for the motorhome. A parking spot for the
car. A shed. No unnecessary buildings. Just pull in. Pull out.

Got another visit with David and Nina. Drove into town and hung out at the
apartment building, Pebble Run, with them. Nice place. The old unoccupied
units are gross, but they refurbish each unit as it vacates. The cleaned up
units are very friendly and comfortable. They seem so familiar. I
delivered newspapers every morning to places just like this. One-story
buildings on each side. Two story in the back. Courtyard enclosed on three
sides. Palm trees. Side walks. Bushes. Patio. Not scary at all. Judy
and I would have been delighted to find an apartment this nice we could
afford back when we were living in apartments. Judy still poops out early in the day, but she continues to improve. It
should be weeks before she has all her energy back.