What I Saw

The last time I wrote a birthday post was two years ago, when hubby surprised me with a helicopter ride over our desert abode for my fortieth.

This year my birthday was more mellow, but equally wonderful because I took the day off – something I rarely do for birthday celebrations. Before the desert heat draped itself over the valley, I headed out on Rojo Diablo, our little Ranger-mobile. My goal: To get lost in a book. In the desert. Amongst nature.

My book nest, complete with a breeze shooting down the wash. Click to enlarge.

I discovered that the steering wheel makes for the perfect hardcover book holder.

It’s probably fitting that I was reading the book Wilderness by Lance Weller – since I was out in the … well, not wilderness … but the wilds. I saw three summer tanagers, presumably making their way to South America. I saw a great-horned owl, a lizard, two never-seen-before bugs and gorgeous prickly pear and cholla blooms.

But I wasn’t distracted. I read. I became immersed in a different kind of savage wild. And I loved it.

What made my birthday even more special was the number of May 13 book releases – each of which has sparked my interest and is either on my TBR list or on my physical shelf already.

• Bittersweet – Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
• Cutting Teeth – Julia Fierro
• Elephant in the Sky – Heather A. Clark
• The Hollow Ground – Natalie S. Harnett
• Searching for Sky – Jillian Cantor
• The Transcriptionist – Amy Rowland
• Remember Me Like This – Bret Anthony Johnston

All in all, I’d say this was a perfect birthday filled with all-things bookish (plus, hubby brought home dinner from a favorite restaurant, which I haven’t had in probably five years)!

Have you ever wished for something so desperately and with such longing that when it finally came true, you experienced a sense of happy overwhelm? That happened to me during a hike this week just miles away from my desert home. At first I saw:

Canyon waters and blue skies. Click to enlarge.

Sacred Datura. Despite its poisonous nature, this plant yields a gorgeous creamy flower. Click to enlarge.

Adorable spotted toad. Can you see me? Click to enlarge.

Evidence of blue herons. Can you see the slender toe marks preserved in the mud? Click to enlarge.

Summer tanager high up in a cottonwood. Click to enlarge.

As my mother pointed out when I shared the photos, “Nature is beautiful if you take the time to stop and look,” or — in my case — if you wish hard enough. About a mile away from the trailhead lot, heading home on the dirt roads, the wildlife dream I’ve longed to witness for years appeared along a steep cliff: desert bighorn sheep! (Please click the photos below to see greater detail).

Once plentiful in southern Arizona, desert bighorn sheep are now a rare sight due to years of disease, and loss of habitat and water sources. We counted eight total, including two kids of varying smallness. Do you see the babies in the photos below? (You may recall I saw a herd during my fortieth birthday helicopter ride a few years back, but this was as up-close and personal as I’ll probably ever get.)

For readers, writers, everyone: Here’s to wishing upon that dream and it coming true. What’s your dream? (Next on my list: a mountain lion sighting. Far enough away, of course).