Wild Kingdom

We're back in sunny Palm Desert (temperature 84 degrees), a stark contrast from snowy Philadelphia. This house is in a breathtaking setting which emphasizes the desert's natural beauty, as opposed to most of the other developments around here which favor overwatered lawns and other non-native plants. With that landscape style, and just because we are in the desert, there is wildlife all around. This is very much to Satchel's delight, and very much to my terror. Coyotes have absconded with dogs larger than he, and they do not appear to be very frightened of humans. For this reason, we don't take him outside our enclosed courtyard at night, and I am always on the lookout for anything larger than the already massive jackrabbits. But beyond coyote anxiety, I also have to keep him from chasing and/or even eating the large amounts of wildlife which abound. By my count, he has tried to eat and/or chase bees, lizards, frogs, rabbits, and one very lucky cricket. Fortunately, he is not very coordinated and these wild animals have survived attacks from animals far more savvy than a city-raised cockapoo. But just in being here, he is becoming more of a wild animal himself. Beyond these futile attempts at 'hunting', he also has discovered that digging in the dirt is far more satisfying than digging on my couch or digging into my jeans pocket.

On a totally unrelated note, those of us who were lucky enough to listen to NPR's All Things Considered yesterday got to hear a journalist named Libby Lewis report on the Lewis Libby verdict. I assume they brought her in special for that assignment.

Pictures from our awesome hike above!