Month: March 2019

A Little Test

Our dog Ellie relaxes on a strip of artificial turf as a test to see if she will enjoy a larger patch since we no longer haved natural grass

Our aging and somewhat senile pup misses both the grass and familiarity of the rental house so we’re toying with laying some artificial turf over a small patch of the granite pebbles to give her a comfortable place to go the bathroom and to be outside. We weren’t sure if she would like it but Home Depot kindly gave us a sample to try and she seemed to like it. We’re not going to install anything permanently, and it won’t come with rabbits like the real grass at the rental house, just want to give her a comfortable place to call her own to help her adapt to her new home.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

A male northern cardinal sings from a tree on a March afternoon in Scottsdale, Arizona

I keep a spreadsheet of what animals I see each month not only in the parks I visit but in places I’ve lived. During our 16 years in the urban neighborhood of our Portland house I recorded 10 bird species for the month of March. In a few days at our new house in Scottsdale I’ve seen 13! Including this lovely male cardinal who sang to me on the day the mover’s arrived with our belongings. He serenaded Ellie and I this morning as we relaxed on the back porch. Verdin were building a nest in the buckhorn cholla in the common area below the house. Lesser goldfinches flitted about, curve-billed thrashers called out. A pair of Gambel’s quail fed near the house as Sam and Trixie watched eagerly from the windows. Phainopepla, mourning doves, house finches, house sparrows, gila woodpeckers, a pair of Harris’s hawks soaring overhead. I stood dumbfounded watching a robin, a bird I’ve known from everywhere I’ve lived but had no idea lived in Arizona. Yesterday on my first commute home from a work a roadrunner darted across the road (with no coyote in hot pursuit).

With all these birds so close at hand I may not go hiking anymore! (Just kidding)

Moving Day

Our dog Ellie relaxes on the back porch next to a bottle of Dr. Pepper on the day the movers brought our stuff to our new house

After meeting the movers at the rental house in the morning, I drove to the new house when they were finished and sat with Ellie on the back porch to keep her from “helping” them. My wife had picked up this old school Dr. Pepper, nectar of the gods. It was a beautiful morning, best St. Patrick’s Day ever. I’m worn out from not getting lots of sleep the past couple of days, between looking after Ellie and Boo mewing during the night, but I’m glad we’re home.

Occupied

Our cat Sam sleeps on one of the dog beds on a sunny afternoon at our new house in Scottsdale, Arizona

I brought one of Ellie’s dog beds over from the rental house to help her get adjusted to the new house. She had to wait a bit to use it. I’ve been rather surprised by how well Sam has adapted to the move, at the moment he and Trixie are snuggled side-by-side on my legs. Ellie just moved to her bed and has joined them in sweet slumber.

We Went For a Swim, the Pup and I

Our dog Ellie relaxes on the carpet in the main room of our new house on her first day in Scottsdale, Arizona

Yesterday afternoon we brought the pets up to the new house so we could spend the night here and the next morning the movers could pack up the rental house without the little ones underfoot. Ellie’s been getting a bit senile in her old age but was able to compensate at the rental house with a familiar routine and familiar place. But in the dark at the new house she got confused in the backyard and with a misplaced step fell into the pool. I jumped in after her and carried her back to the side and she was none the worse for wear. Gave my heart a good scare though.

While she had been fine during the day at the new house, late in the day the stress of the change was clearly confusing her. After we dried off and I changed into new clothes, she kept wanting to walk around the house, then out the front door, then back inside and out to the backyard, over and over again. I was exhausted from the long day but I walked beside her until she was satisfied.

These paths, this place, will feel like home soon enough, but not on this night. Eventually she was willing to stay with me in the main room, I sat beside her and rubbed her belly and stroked her head and finally she fell asleep. I curled up beside her on the floor as Sam slept on my chest until I woke up later and went back to the bedroom. Ellie soon followed and kept brushing up against me so I got up, we walked a while again before she settled down and we fell asleep on the floor for good.

She’s done much better after a full day in the house but still doesn’t feel quite at home, she’s resting beside me now with Sam asleep on my legs. And no impromptu swims!

A New Backyard Bird

A male phainopepla perches on a tree on a sunny winter morning along the Marcus Landslide Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

The first bird I saw from the backyard of the new house was a male phainopepla, sitting in a tree in a narrow wash beside our yard. That’s a new one for me, I’ve seen quite a few birds in the backyard of our rental house but until now the phainopepla I had only seen on the trails. I saw this male on the Marcus Landslide Trail where they were numerous this winter, I haven’t been back recently but will soon as the trailhead is only a 10 minute drive from the new house.

To the Old and To the New

Our dog Ellie smiles while standing beside the pool in the backyard of our rental house in Scottsdale, Arizona

We’re taking the pets up to the new house this afternoon and will spend our first night there, with the movers packing up the rental house tomorrow and delivering on the next day. This is Ellie enjoying a sunny day in the backyard of the rental house, we’ve had a great year here and have loved the house and the neighborhood but are very much looking forward to being settled into our new home.