Desert Messenger

April 1, 2015 www.DesertMessenger.com 17 800-656-HOPE First locally-owned and operated music station in Quartzsite, Arizona. Proudly serving the communities of Quartzsite, Bouse, Brenda, Rainbow Acres, La Paz Valley and beyond, since 1988. Quartzsite Radio • Quartzsite's Favorite "CLASSIC HITS" • Local Information • Weather • 24 Hours Day / 7 Days Week! KBUX 94.3 FM 928-927-5111 http://kbuxradio.com We have great lunch menus, serving at 12 noon sharp! Suggested donation is only $3.50. There's cards, books, games, puzzles, pool table, Wi-Fi available. Community Services, Volunteers Needed! Come join the fun at Quartzsite SENIOR Center 40 Moon Mountain Ave. For more information call 928-927-6496 Senior Center open all year! Monday - Friday, 10am – 2pm There is always movement in the desert: assorted birds, lizards, and of course bunnies.....lots and lots of bunnies. I look forward to my meals at the porch table and have come to expect the animals to entertain me. I've owned my home for ten years, and the wildlife is a major attrac- tion, among many. Across from my home, there is a dry-camp area, fortunately for me seldom occupied; so I have an unob- structed view of the desert and dis- tant mountains. The area is mostly rocky soil with occasional clumps of green bushes. The space underneath the bushes is quite busy. There are small, brownish-gray creatures scurrying in and out of deep holes about three inches in diameter. Like most of the wildlife here, they travel alone. I want to call these appealing creatures ground squirrels, but I'm not quite sure. Perhaps you know. They are about a foot long with bod- ies close to the ground and a long tail. They can run very fast and are at their most charming when they stand on their back legs, similar to meerkats as seen on TV. They have Type A personalities! I have become personally connect- ed with one during the past week.... or maybe just one at a time, but I like to think it is the same one. I fi rst met it when I saw it standing up on its hind legs and looking through the glass door on my porch. It was there for quite a while, taking in ev- ery inch of my living room and no doubt "casing the joint" for when it is cool enough to leave my door open. (Sorry the screen door doesn't fi t.) I squatted down to look it in the eye, but it looked right through me, ignoring me completely. The next encounter was a day when it WAS cool enough to leave the glass door to my deck open. I noticed something scurrying across the fl oor and was at a loss as to what to do about it. How could I get it outside? It ran into the computer room and into the closet. I closed Traveling with Gypsy Jane the closet door, thinking I had it trapped. WRONG! A minute later it was back in the living room. I checked the closet door and discov- ered about a one-inch gap between the door and the fl oor. So what could I do but just leave the porch door open, hoping it would fi nd its way out? Apparently it did because I didn't see it for a day or so. I noticed it looking in the glass door again today, but it was closed. As before, it was very interested. I stopped what I was doing and watched fascinated for about 20 minutes. It checked out the porch and then went over the edge which is about three feet from the ground. I watched it climb the trunk of the tree by my porch and up into the branches. I had never seen this little animal climb before. It paused at an upper branch and started nibbling the tiny green leaves. Then fearlessly climbed to a higher branch. I didn't think they were climbing animals, and indeed, it was having trouble hanging on -- one time, seriously, so that its hind legs were hanging in the air while its front legs hung on for dear life. I could just see it fall- ing 10 feet to the ground, but had no doubt that it would scamper away unharmed. It made its way even higher and then started back down, nibbling tender, bright green shoots along the way. It went head fi rst down the trunk and headed straight to the water bowl. Even though the water bowl is only about four inches high, it had to kind of hang over the edge to drink. I've seen this many times with different animals. Then, apparently satisfi ed with food and drink, it scampered across the road to its own hole in the ground. Right now, it is probably bragging to its roommates about its second home! ~*~*~*~*~*~ I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self- contained, I stand and look at them by Jane Finley writer * artist * teacher (stretching, exercise, relaxation, meditation) Entertainer of the week Quartzsite, AZ long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition. They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins. They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God. Not one is dissatis- fi ed; not one is demented with the mania of owning things. Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago. Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth. ~Walt Whit- man (YES!....Jane) Free Classifi eds Desert Messenger offers FREE Classified Ads! Here's the small print: Items for sale under $1000. Private Party Only. 1 per month. Yard/Garage/Craft Sales, Wanted, Give-a-ways, Free, Lost & Found, etc. (non-commercial) For more information, contact Rain at 928-916-4235 or Email: Editor@DesertMessenger.com

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