I know, yall won't believe this, because I almost didn't believe it either - it rained Tuesday. And I mean serious rain! Pouring down! All day! It dumped a lot of snow on the highest mountains, which is quite pretty from a distance. California got most of the rain, but we got plenty.
Wednesday was really windy, with the clouds moving out to the east. Dixie was a little antsy, but she settled down and worked well on our ride. Thursday and Friday she was totally laid back. Saturday she was still laid back!
After the cold rain earlier this week, it warmed back up to 70s/40s. The horses have all gotten fuzzy, and they think it's entirely too hot with their extra coat. We aren't working them hard, but they still come back pretty sweaty. Poor things!
We saw a tarantula Friday - probably a male, out looking for love. There's hundreds of tarantula burrows along the trails, but they're usually active at night and I don't go digging in the sand looking for giant spiders. This is mating season, when the males head out to wander around looking for their one shot at love. (Yes, the females usually eat them after mating. Spiders lead brutal lives.) This fellow was just standing alongside the trail. My dog almost stepped on him - I don't think she ever knew he was there!
And yesterday this new guy (whose name I've forgotten, so I can't even give him an alias) was riding just off the trail and irritated a rattlesnake. He rode by a big juniper and the tree started buzzing. Rattlers sound, to me, just like cicadas, except that cicadas regularly rise and fall in pitch.
We've been taking the dogs most days. S has two dogs, one spazzy hyper youngster and one old-lady dog, and of course I have Cersei. They enjoy it quite a bit, but I worry about Cersei getting snakebit. Next weekend I'm going to get her the rattlesnake venom vaccine. I'm glad the dogs weren't with us Saturday! Cersei has a good recall, but I still worry.
Tarantulas and rattlesnakes, egad--I am officially no longer jealous of your warm dry climate!
ReplyDeleteI'll take my poison-free Swamplands any day...but I'm glad you're enjoying the desert.
When you need a break from pretty weather, come on over to visit us--they've predicted rain for the next 8 months here.
p.s. thanks for not posting pictures.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a spider/snake phobe, but some things are better left unillustrated!
Haha, it's one thing to go looking for pictures of an ugly you saw, and another entirely to see them when you're not expecting them! I promise to hyperlink pictures of uglies.
ReplyDeleteI rather like tarantulas and hot snakes from at least 5' away. I would start screaming and thrashing like somebody who just got saved by a televangelist if one of them TOUCHED me, though!
In our defense - I have not seen a single blackberry vine, and my horse won't get rainrot this winter! ;)
Spiders and rain... You are tougher than I, my friend. Looks like a fabulous adventure!
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