On The Hill

We live on a hill.   A rocky, red sandy, desert type hill.  It is at the bottom of a small but high mountain range.  On our hill grows a few sagebrush, rabbit brush, what I think I definitely identified as horse brush (very stickery), and a few grease woods, some wild grasses, prickly pear catcus, several different weedy looking unidentified plants and some other minor desert fauna that looks like curly thyme, and mosses.  I am sure there are others I missed but you get the idea.  We can see isolated red "hills" from our perch, and we look down on what we call the village whose night lights are lovely too.  We can look out over what we call the badlands to the south, the mountains to the north, red pinon and cedar covered hills to the east, and the village and some of its activities, like fireworks and traffic,  to the west.  We watch beautiful and colorful sunsets each evening, sunrises that surprise us at times, and the wildlife.  

In the last week, our "special" visitors have been, (I think) some migrating hawks.  The hawks and buzzards like to play on the wind currents, and we have them almost at eye level where our house sets.  Three, small sized, light colored with sort of half circled black lines on their tail decided to put on an arial show for us.  At times, it was as if they were suspended just off the side of the hill, really not moving.  Other times they would dive out of sight below the edge of our hill and view.  Suddenly, they might pop straight up and back into our sight.  They stayed for most of one day.  It seems like our summer residents, the buzzards, have left on their journey to where ever they go during the winter as I have not seen them flying by our windows of late.  Also, the big black noisy crows seem to be gone now, along with the humming birds, black birds, wrens, and finches.  We have had, at times what I call the "bobbin birds" which are possibly rock wrens, that run up and down a low rock wall we built from excess rocks from the foundation of the house, bobbing and hunting, but they seem to be gone too. The swallows left early this year, possibly due to no rain for nest building.   We think that soon, however, the robins and mountain bluebirds will converge on our red cedars and strip them of their showy blue berries and entertain us with their quarreling.  We have had one really huge robin that comes back each fall and wants all the berries to herself.  

As Bubba and I walked out to the back of our property this morning, we paused to watch a small herd of six or seven deer.  One, a doe, seemed to be parenting twins.  They did not seem to be concerned that we walked so close to  them , and simply kept munching their way along what ever path they were taking, checking on us often to make sure we did not venture too close to the half grown babies.  We stood still and enjoyed watching for some time.  

Last night, the most lovely of all creatures, the car girls and their mother plus two dogs walked up our dug way for a short visit.  They had a small treat of watermelon and cantaloupe, gave us much needed hugs and kisses then left us happier for the visit.  We are blessed!