Running Home

The Santa Rita Mountains 1-21-2010

What is this that awakens me?

What is this pull I feel?

I rise on a sunny morning,

I get into my car and drive,

I pass beneath a Swainson’s hawk circling above,

I leave the city streets behind.

Around me, the desert opens wide—

I feel my mind relaxing

As each mile falls behind,

And then I see the wonder

Of this wild place

Each mile draws me closer

To these cactus-covered slopes

Where birds fly free in a pale blue sky,

Where birds nest in pale green scrub,

Where mountain peaks rise up and stand

Shoulder to shoulder towering

Over spiny saguaros,

Deep canyons,

And me.

—I am being called

—I am being pulled

—I am running

Home.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 17, 2013)

It’s been a long time since I have lived in Sycamore Canyon now. I moved away in August of 2010. Two years later I returned to Tucson and moved into a rental house in town. Since I still have friends in the area I have been out to visit Sycamore Canyon a few times. I have tried to deny the pull that it still as on me, but with spring migration in full swing, I could not help but think of all the marvelous birds that I use to see right in my own backyard when I lived in Sycamore Canyon. Or, I could just cross the street and be in the wash in 30 seconds or less, and see even more. So it was that one day back in mid April I left my suburban home and drove out to visit one of my friend in Sycamore Canyon. I basically spent the whole day there watching birds from her yard, or in the park. It was after this that I came back to Tucson and wrote the above poem which I originally posted on my poetry blog.

Sycamore Canyon is such a special place and the wildlife there is amazing. Being on the slopes of the Santa Rita Mountains is like no other habitat in Tucson. This is truly a place that need to be protected and preserved. While my main blog is now Kathie’s Birds, I realize that I will be back to visit Sycamore Canyon and I want to keep all the posts related to this place on the same blog, so I have decided that if I write about Sycamore Canyon I will publish the post in both locations to make it easier to find. If you like, come visit me at Kathie’s Birds or Kathie's Poet Tree, and maybe one of these days I will get back to finishing my guide to the birds of Sycamore Canyon on Sycamore Canyon Birds!

Skywatch Friday: Old View, New View

2007 View from my yard with Nikon Coolpix

April 2008 view with Nikon D80

August 24, 2009 One Last Look

September 1, 2009 New View from yard.

Ever since we moved here 2 1/2 years ago we knew this day would come. Well, now it is here and I have to say it makes me sad. I feel all closed in now with those home so close and blocking my view of the Catalinas and Rincon Mountains. I feel like I live in a canyon, instead of the wide open spaces. While I still have my view to the west of the sunset and a view to the south of Mount Fagan, I will miss the feeling of openness I have enjoyed for so long.

Good-bye wide open sky.

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Skywatch Friday

Gossamer Tapestry Comes to Town

Doug Taron and Kathiesbirds 7-31-09

Doug Taron from Gossamer Tapestry is back in town for the annual insect conference down in Rio Rico. Once again he was able to make time to come and visit me here in Sycamore Canyon. This year we didn't do any black lighting but simply stayed home, relaxed, and chatted. While Gus prepared our famous homemade pizza, I cooked up a couple of pies for dessert. The pizza came out perfect, as did the pies. While Gus and I were grocery shopping earlier in the day I got inspired to make a lemon meringue pie. Then, I thought of banana cream. I couldn't decide which one I wanted more and neither could Gus, so, I made them both. It turns out Doug likes lemon meringue the best. It tasted even better sitting outside on the raised patio looking at the stars and the lights of Tucson while sipping hot tea. I turned on all my outside lights to see if any interesting insects would come in for Doug, but the bugs were a no-show. All we got were a couple of small moths, a few mesquite bugs and those darned brown crickets.

Leftover pie 8-1-09

So, guess what we had for lunch on Saturday? Pie anyone?

Having my blog has let me meet friends I would never have run into. We had such a good time. Since Doug is from the Boston area originally he is a Red Sox Fan, which gives him and Gus something to talk about. Me? I am interested in everything. The conversation never lagged. We ran out of time before we ran out of topics. I would have missed out on these photos if Doug hadn't suggested it. I was so lost in our visit I forgot to take pictures! So, the photo above is of just before he left. I photographed the pies the next morning. I sure hope we can do this again next year.

On his drive back to Rio Rico Doug stopped at some Magic Gas Stations. Be sure to read his post to see what I mean.

Skywatch Friday: Sycamore Sunset

Sunset in Sycamore Canyon June 14, 2009

I took this picture right before I left for Connecticut. Little did I know it would be one of the last sunsets I would see for the next 2 weeks. Of the 14 days I spent on the east coast, it rained for 13 of them. Most days it rained all day long. The best and sunniest day was June 30, which also happens to be my Nana's birthday, though she passed away many years ago. I spent nearly 3 hours that morning watching birds at a new place in Colchester that my mother told me about. I took hundreds of photos and I have many stories to tell, but for today I am unpacking and refilling bird feeders and cleaning bird baths, all sorely neglected while I was gone. I thought the birds would all be gone when I returned but to my utter surprise I have already seen Gambel's quail, a Gila woodpecker, lesser goldfinches, house finches, a cardinal, mourning doves and the usual house sparrows since I got up this morning. A couple of black-throated sparrows have stopped by the dwindling seed blocks and over the wash the purple martins fly and twitter as they exercise their young for the long migration to come.

If I thought I was coming back to sunshine, I was sorely mistaken. As we stepped though the doors of the airport late last night I was greeted by the humid air of the monsoon fragrant with the scent of creosote bush. In the distance a flash of chain lightening crackled over the City of Tucson. this morning the air is still damp and heavy under gray skies thick with 69% humidity. Will we have a thundershower today? I don't know, but I am hoping for a fantastic sunset here in Sycamore Canyon tonight. It would be the perfect "Welcome Home."

Skywatch Friday

A Personal Update

(We interrupt the Adventures of Mom’s Visit to update what’s been happening in Sycamore Canyon)

It’s 5 a.m. and I can’t sleep. I awoke from a dream of being on a secret mission in Africa that was so real I was surprised to wake up in my own bed! Yet in my dream all I could think about was getting back to my blog and, would I be able to write about this. That shows you how much blogging has taken over my life!

I haven’t been able to get on the computer for days, partly due to the activities of the holiday and partly due to a malfunction with the keyboard. I could turn the computer on but I couldn’t type! Gus fussed with it yesterday morning and I’m finally back in business.

I stepped outside for a few minutes this morning with my steaming cup of tea. A crescent moon hangs brightly over Mt. Fagan in a star studded sky. The air is cool but not cold. I am comfortable in my bathrobe. A shooting star crosses the eastern horizon before burning out. Overhead the big dipper is upended and spilling stardust across the velvet sky.

A few Christmas lights are still on, outlining the roofs of neighboring homes. I am a sucker for Christmas lights, though I have none displayed outside my own house. Still, I love to see them. Inside the house my new artificial tree is glowing, along with my lighted Christmas Village. Though I profess to love the west the best, my Christmas village belies my New England Heritage. Complete with a steepled white church, a gazebo and stone bridge, I bought the pieces a few years ago where they adorned the mantel over my fireplace in Utah. It always reminds me of my Nana’s house on the green in Colchester.

When we moved here we downsized and, as a result, I have no ledges or mantels to arrange my little New England village on. I didn’t even pull it out this year until last Thursday night, when I decided to see if it would look right atop my kitchen cupboards. Amazingly, it did, and when I was done, I was quite please with the result, though I paid for it with bruises when I misjudged the step down onto the step ladder from off the counter-top. My bifocals had slid down my nose and, as a result, the step appeared closer than it actually was. I now have a nice scrap atop my right foot and a bruise the length and half the width of a dollar bill on the inside of my right knee. I could take a photo to show you, but some things are best left to the imagination.

This will be my first Christmas without any of my children around. It has made me a bit melancholy and nostalgic. I am amazed at the memories that rush to my brain when I stop long enough to let them come. As a result, I’ve written a Christmas story to be posted here on Christmas Eve. I hope you will come back and enjoy reading it. For now, it’s time to get on with the Adventures of Mom and our visit to Butterfly Magic!

A Place Called Home

It was spring when we arrived in Tucson. We spent the first 2 months in a one bedroom apartment looking for a home. While my husband started his new job, I set off to explore this strange new place I had come to. My first trek was to Saguaro National Park East. I drove the Sunset loop, stopping here and there to observe birds and take in the scenery. On my first visit to the park I saw cactus wrens, Gambel's quail, a gilded flicker, and Gila woodpeckers. A white-winged dove perched atop a saguaro with its waxy blossoms. In the mesquite trees tiny verdin chattered and twittered in their hurry to goble up as many insects as possible. Turkey vultures soared in the rising thermals, searching for something dead to dine on. One of the biggest ravens I have ever seen crossed overhead, a black shadow over the sunny landscape. Curved-billed thrashers hid in the brush. Ocassionally one would perch on a branch and sing. One of the prettiest birds I saw was a black-throated sparrow with its beautifuly striped head and black bib. On a subsequent visit I discovered a great-horned owl and her chicks nesting in a cave high up in a sand bank!

Since it was spring, the hedgehog cactus were in bloom. Like cucumbers with spines, the hedgehog's magenta flowers sprouted from their top ends like ruffled Easter bonnets. Soon after they blossomed the ocatillo with their flaming orange candles blossomed, along with prickly pears and barrel cacti.

Besides Saguaro east we visited the Tucson Botanical Gardens. A pyrrhuloxia flashed across our path as we walked to the entrance. Inside the gardens wildlife and birds populated this protected area inside the city. Desert cottontails hopped among the agave. Mourning doves walked peacefully among the flowers and along the paths. A Gila woodpecker peeked out at us from its nest in a Saguaro hole. Between Saguaro National Park and the Botanical Gardens I learned much about the Sonoran desert and the plants and animals that now inhabited my world.

Out home sits in the Sonoran desert at the foot of the Santa Rita Mountains. Sycamore Canyon is a wildlife preserve which is being developed to preserve the desert and wildlife around us. There are 8 miles of hiking trails here. The trails are mapped and marked. Small plaques point out the names of plants or habitats of animals. The philosophy is one where people and nature can coexist. Any habitat destroyed in the building process is supposed to be restored and native plants are suppose to be saved whenever possible. I am not sure that this is happening. Still, much open space and green space is being preserved, which makes life here much more enjoyable.

From my windows I can see giant saguaros towering over the desert. Behind me the Santa Ritas rise strong and solid. On the side of one mountain is a white stone projection that I have been told is a former limestone mine. Whenever I leave the house to drive to town I can see this mountain and this mine. I look at them and think, "That is where I live. That is my home." To get to town involves a 15 mile jaunt downhill all the way. To get home is 15 miles all uphill. There are no alternative routes. What goes down must go up! Still, it is this isolation that for the moment gives us peace. The nights are quiet here, with the occasional howl of coyotes. From my yard I can see the milky way, something I missed dearly living near Salt Lake City.

I don't know the name of the mountain behind me yet, but I am determined to find out. It is important to me to know the place I live in. Places are like people; they have personalities and emotions. They have their own characteristics and feelings. Places have moods along with their vegetation, their topography, and climate. I want to know the plants, the paths, the inhabitants of this place. I want to know the contours of the land and where the washes run. Where do the lizards live, where do the rabbits hide? I want to know if I will love it and if it will like me. When you know a place, when you love it, then it becomes a part of you and a part of who you are. It is like knowing your mother or your lover. It is like knowing your self. It is connected to your heart.

Introduction

I came to this desert in April 2007. Having come to the Sonoran desert from New England by way of Utah, it was quite a change. I entered a world of cacti unknown to me before. Everything has prickers and thorns! Even the bushes and trees have spines. I had to remind myself not to grab onto a branch for support.

After a world of maples and oaks, of sage brush and marshes this desert world is a whole new discovery, an alien place of dangerous beauty. As a bird lover, this world is alive with exotic species. We moved into our home in the Sonoran desert at the end of April and I started to experience what my new life would be like.

One of the first things to take into consideration is our little dog, Blossom. She is a Japanese chin mix and only weighs about 12 pounds. She is black and white like a Holstein cow with a tail that curls over her back whenever she is happy. Her nose is short like a pug and she has the same bug eyes like a pug. Here in the desert are dangers unknown to us before. We have to protect her from coyotes and rattlesnakes, but being in a fenced yard isn't enough, for eagles can strike from above during the days, and great horned owls would dine on her at night. We always walk her on a leash to keep her from snakes and cactus spines. Plus, when she gets the scent of a lizard, she turns into Blossom the Dragon Slayer! Her tail goes up, her tongue comes out, and off she goes! The lizards are in no danger, however, as they run much faster than she does and disappear into the rocks.

In the house we have two cats; Breezy, a 4 year old fluffy white male with blue eyes, gray ears and a gray tail, and Sweet Bonnie Blue Eyes. She is short haired, a year younger, and the juvenile delinquent of the two. Her favorite pastime is shredding paper. Both of them like to watch birds out the windows.

I am an avid bird lover and have set up feeders in my yard. My yard here is quite small-more like a courtyard than an actual yard. Still, I've managed to plant one velvet mesquite tree and put up my bird bath as well as numerous feeders. Since this is a new development, I thought it would be awhile before the birds showed up, but it didn't take long at all! So far I have had cactus wrens, curved-billed thrashers, Gila woodpeckers, white-winged doves, and canyon towhees along with the usual mourning doves, house finches and house sparrows. Come join me as I discover life in Sycamore Canyon!