I wish I had a picture for every time I held a little desert creature in the palm of my hand. Whether it is a tarantula crawling across the patio, or a bobcat strolling by the window, each desert creature is something special, and as I observe them, I cannot help but write about them.
Once...while I was sleeping with the back patio door open, a father quail and his young chick stepped inside my home. When I sat up, the father ran outside, but the chick ran under my bed. The father stayed near the door for over an hour, while I carefully helped the chick back outside. The little quail chick was all the father quail had left to his family. He waited all that time for his baby.
I was so happy and surprised. This inspired the piece of fabric art in the above photo. It is called "For You."
Once...while I was sleeping with the back patio door open, a father quail and his young chick stepped inside my home. When I sat up, the father ran outside, but the chick ran under my bed. The father stayed near the door for over an hour, while I carefully helped the chick back outside. The little quail chick was all the father quail had left to his family. He waited all that time for his baby.
I was so happy and surprised. This inspired the piece of fabric art in the above photo. It is called "For You."
One of my favorite memories, was holding a tiny baby desert tortoise. The tortoise was in the middle of a dirt road, and was no larger than a quarter. Several tortoises visited our home every summer back then. We never touched them unless we had to rescue them. Desert tortoises can loose much-needed water if they are held. They need that water for when it's time to hibernate. We named one of the tortoises, Rufus. I did the following sketch of Rufus. He was an old tortoise, and had a chipped shell. That was one way that we recognized him. I wrote a poem that mentions desert tortoises. You can read it on the page called "Desert Poetry."
These have been just a couple of the nice experiences that I have had living in the Sonoran Desert. Many of my sketches, poems, and stories were written with my two home-schooled sons. We would sit with a box of colored pencils, and draw the desert plants and animals that surrounded our home. My sons learned at an early age to treat all animals with kindness. One time my son found a hummingbird lying on the ground. It was still alive, and very weak. He held it, while I fed it some sugar water. After a few minutes... the hummingbird was up and flying. Many birds, as well as other desert animals, like to visit our home. This gives me plenty of opportunity to draw them, and write about them. All this writing and sketching led to my new book:
Cactus Garden (A Child's Garden of Verses & Sonoran Desert Facts)
Cactus Garden (A Child's Garden of Verses & Sonoran Desert Facts)
Just for fun, I wrote a book about bobcats--another favorite desert animal. It's called
The Three Little Bobcats. I used fabric and materials to make the book more interesting. The book is a funny wild west re-telling of the nursery rhyme--The Three Little Kittens. Every time my family and friends read the book, they laugh.
To learn more about bobcats, just click here, or on "Desert Mammals" above.
The Three Little Bobcats. I used fabric and materials to make the book more interesting. The book is a funny wild west re-telling of the nursery rhyme--The Three Little Kittens. Every time my family and friends read the book, they laugh.
To learn more about bobcats, just click here, or on "Desert Mammals" above.