The next few months of 2007, Sam was laying block almost from dawn till dusk. On weekends I came out to help. Mornings were sunny and hot, but after lunch Sam started watching the skies. July and August are “monsoon season” in Southern Arizona. Don’t laugh – it really rains!
Big white puffy clouds built up over the mountains, turning into steel gray skies by mid-afternoon. The wind started to blow, bringing rain clouds up from the Gulf of California. In the distance, about a mile east of the PPR is Mescal Studios, also called “Old Tucson East”. Built as an old western town, there have been numerous movies, TV shows and commercials filmed there, including Young Guns (1980’s) and Tombstone (1993). A friend of ours saw Dirty Dingus Magee (1970) and said there’s a scene that looks like it was filmed right on the PPR! A few years ago, we drove over to the town, but have never taken the tour, which is only available on certain days of the week. http://www.oldtucson.com/films-producers-directors/locations/
Back at the PPR, the wall of rain came closer and closer. Sam hurried to use up the last of his mortar and lay a few more blocks. As the first few drops spattered the ground, he rushed to cover up the cement and tools and jump into the car.
Many afternoons, the rain came down so hard it made little rivers in the desert sand.Wind shook the car, driving the rain sideways across the landscape. Monsoon storms are spectacular in Arizona. We never stayed at the PPR after dark that summer, but storms in Tucson often include lightning flashing clear across the sky.
Within a few weeks of pouring the concrete slab, we ordered a 1,600 gallon water tank – on the internet! Coordinating its delivery was challenging, but Sam always figures out the best way to get things done. The semi truck was directed to the Ranch, Etc. store out by the freeway. It’s owned by our neighbors, Mike & Ginger, and Sam met the driver there to lead him to the PPR. It was also Sam who realized we had to get the tank into the well house before the walls got too high! The green behemoth is for water storage and will eventually serve all 3 parcels of land and the homes to be built on them.
The summer rains bring out a myriad of bugs and other creatures. Every year we see hundreds of millipedes all over the ranch, including a few that were almost 8” long.
One afternoon following the rainstorm, Sam and I took a stroll down our driveway and across the ranch. This tiny creature caught our eye as it scurried along on the ground. It’s a red velvet mite, less than 1/4” long.
Kind of cute if you don’t look too close, and it’s harmless.
This red velvet ant looks similar, but is red and black and runs a lot faster. Harder to get a good picture.
Over the next few months, Sam found other interesting bugs. This one is called a “walking stick”. If you get too close, he bounces his body back and forth to look like a branch blowing in the breeze!
These big grasshoppers were 2” long, and I loved the colors.Then there was this guy, digging a burrow in our sand pile. God sure taught him how to move that sand – he’s a little bulldozer!
We encountered another interesting bug that summer, but we don’t have a photo, and I’m not sure how to tell the story…
You see, we have water and electricity at the ranch, but no “facilities” unless we borrow an RV for a week or two, and the nearest public restrooms are almost 5 miles away. Awhile ago, Sam spotted someone throwing away a kitchen chair that was missing one leg, and his handy folding stool needed a new top, so he cut out a piece the right size. He then wondered what to do with the rest of the chair. One rainy afternoon at the ranch, he gathered odds & ends of small lumber and built a frame, then sanded the inside edges of the hole, hammered a tent stake into the side, and voila, we had an “outhouse”. He took it down the hill among the trees so it’s out of sight of the neighbors. We keep a shovel nearby, and every so often we dig a new hole and move the chair.Now, the bug I mentioned was the dung beetle, and we found that this outhouse area attracted quite a few. I won’t go into detail for fear of embarrassing ourselves, but it’s an amazing little bug that’s evidently created to clean up whatever we might leave around!
Our next creature-related post will feature the reptile population of Pumpkin Patch Ranch. Sam loves to photograph whatever creatures God provides!