Soon There Will Be Shade

 

But I will be gone.

Oh, What Have They Done?

 

Caught through car window, on the fly, the best I could do -- . Have passed this spot before but never with cattle around the old ruin.

Let's Go For a Drink, Shall We?

 

One cow decides, the others fall into line. 

Same Tree With Cows Beneath

Go for a ride? I promise I won't say a word!

[Note: For my book reviews and musings, go here.]

Who Is the Prettiest Cow of All?

Just another day in the ghost town --

open range -- 

high desert.

Big Boy

Ghost Town Morning Visitors

Big Boy With Mountain View

Desert Farewell Gift

In 2015, on our last night in Dos Cabezas, we went for an evening drive east toward Chiricahua. We had to make our way slowly and carefully down the driveway, because the yard was absolutely full of cows and calves, more than had ever before visited us at once. It was as if the cattle had come to bid us farewell, performing the rite on behalf of the spirits of the ghost town, and we were properly grateful.

This year, on the last morning before our day of departure, I looked down in the wash behind the cabin and saw, finally, a group of mule deer. I've been wanting to see mule deer for a long time, and here they were, practically at our doorstep, grazing on scanty ground vegetation and reaching up for tender new leaves of netleaf hackberry, guarded over by the mountain to our north.

Nothing could have pleased me more than to make the acquaintance at last of these black-tailed wild neighbors with their enormous ears. Once again, the ghost town has come through with a perfect, unexpected moment.

Oh, These Young Ones!

"How many times have I told him, 'Go around!' But does he listen?"

Mountainview Backyard Visitors

They saunter into the yard,

they hang around a while,

and the move on.

Bye-bye until your next visit, cows!

Pretty Mama

Photo Series: Cow and Calf in Yard

I know. The calf is nowhere in sight. Now look closely at the next image.

Still not a very good look, but he's there, resting in the weeds. You can see how windy it is by the way the cow's ear is blown upward.

When mom wanders off, baby is distraught,

but soon they are happily and peacefully reunited. 

This is one of the things I absolutely love about being in Dos Cabezas: our sweet bovine neighbors and their visits!