Rainbows and other Promises
The amazing and beautiful Ponderosa Pines that dotted our landscape were planted by the grateful hands of WPA workers in the 30’s. Most of them were fully 40′ to 50′ tall and a wonderful addition to the natural cedars and junipers that are native to the South Western high desert mountains.
As we scouted around for what we would be able to use to build a cabin with, it was obvious it wouldn’t be logs. Cedar and Juniper are short bushy trees in the desert country and We had neither the tools or the heart to take down those Ponderosa’s. Something that is plentiful in Southern Utah is rocks. So of course that would be the most sensible choice. A stone cabin would be cool in the heat of the summer and would hold the heat of a warming fire in the colder months.
We found a site on a slope that gave a beautiful view for miles around, including a sliver of Lake Powell fifty miles away, on clear cloudless days. We took turns clearing sagebrush and making piles of good sized rocks. The guys liked to go to the site without me so they could work sans clothing. . .not something I wanted to see or even hold as a thought. Naked men in gloves and boots. More information than I wanted. There is no doubt that they enjoyed their excursions.
Nikki, the pregnant dog, was very pregnant and I had fixed a place at the bottom of my “bed” (if a foam pad and sleeping bag is actually classified as a bed) that I was sure would be most accommodating of her and a brood of puppies. The errant father of these pups was a traveling man, so I really had no idea what possible combination these new arrivals might be. She began to journey off on her own for longer periods of time and I watched her as much as I could.
One day she did not come back to sleep in the tent with me and had been gone most of the day. I called for her several times and did a few treks out to see if I could find her without any luck. Sometime in the middle of the night I heard her at her food bowl and water dish. By the time I got myself up and out of the tent, she was disappearing down the trail into the ravine. By the time I had enough sense to find a flashlight, She was out of sight. It seemed pretty certain to me that she either had the puppies or was about to and I had no idea where her hiding place was.
This hide and seek game went on for 4 or 5 days. I tried to follow her when she came for her night time feedings, but in the dark it was pretty fruitless. I did finally manage to see that she was going East up the bottom of the ravine, so the next day, having run out of patience to see these puppies, I spent a good long time searching for some clues in the ravine. Finally, by accident, I heard something that might have sounded like a puppy noise. . .but I couldn’t be sure. As I listened carefully, I went in the direction I thought the sound had come from. Finally, there in the hillside of the ravine was what looked like some fresh damp dirt. As I got close to it I was pretty amazed.
Following her natural instincts, Nikki had dug herself a den to protect her and the puppies. This was not just any hole in the hillside, and of all of the places a dog might choose, this was perfect. There was a huge boulder overhead and another below the small tunnel that was the entry. It went straight back almost the length of my arm up to the shoulder, then off to the right side she had dug a room with just enough space for her to crawl in and lie down to allow the puppies to be nursed. The entry was so shallow in height, I can not imagine how she got her pregnant self in there to have the pups. There was no way she could stand up in the room or in the entry. But there was no doubt about it that she and the puppies were safe. And some say that dogs are not smart.
So here I was able to find her protected place, but I could not see in or see any of the pups no matter how hard I tried. I finally gave up and came back the next day with a shovel and a pick to see if I couldn’t dig the opening bigger and get a peak at these new babies. That was when I found out how truly amazing the construction was. The overhead rock and the underlying rock were too big, and she had dug every bit of possible dirt out of there. I dug and scraped at it anyway, although it seemed to me there was just nothing to dig. I did manage to slightly enlarge the opening, but it was not enough to to allow me access by reaching in. It was worse than having to wait to open your Christmas presents until everyone was up and had eaten breakfast. Two days, and I still hadn’t seen one pup, but I could hear them making their little puppy noises.
That night as I was lying on my sleeping bag, reading by lantern light, I thought I heard something outside the tent, I listened and decided it was just a bit of a breeze through the trees. Before I called it a night I made my usual trip to the pit stop. As I unzipped the front tent flap, I thought I saw something move on the mat in front of the tent door. . .a squirrel? . . . . some other creature?. . .oooooh, what if it was a rat? Nope, it was a dark brown and black with tan markings PUPPY!!!
Nikki had brought number one and left it on the doorstep. I picked the little guy up and ooohed and awed over him, then took him inside to the snuggly little area I had made for their sleeping quarters. This was a good sized pup, a two handfuls pup. I got him all snuggled down in the “nest” of blankets and waited. All night long Nikki packed puppies to the tent. She brought each one in and settled it down, licking it the whole while as she allowed it to nurse for a half hour or so. When she finished with one and it was asleep, she would carefully get up, come over to me for some praise and loving then off she went again. . .seven times in all, literally all night long.
When the morning came, there were 3 that were dark and marked like their mother and 4 that were solid white. Solid white? Ah ha! . . .that big white lab that lived in my former neighborhood must be the daddy. These were all big hefty puppies. I don’t know if everyone is as crazy about puppies and baby critters as I am, but this was just a really wonderful and happy event for me. Shirl with a mamma and 7 puppies was having a grand time.
A couple of weeks later the rain came. It was great the first day. The big water laden clouds hung low overhead. It rained some in spurts throughout the day. This continued for 7 days. We began making bets with each other and offering prizes to the first person who predicted the day that we would see a small spot of blue sky. The cloud cover was heavy and oppressive even when it wasn’t raining, or sprinkling, or drizzling.
After having had so much freedom and expansive views and the feeling of wide openness this gloom was starting to get to us. Finally the clouds lifted and the sky was blue again. After waiting a day for the hot sun to dry things out, we took an overdue trip into all the towns along the way to Panguitch.
It was October and we had a lot of talking to do with folks between here and there. It was great how friendly everyone was and how they greeted us all whenever we made it in to town for a visit. Several of the farmers and ranchers were wanting us to bring them a puppy when they got big enough to leave home.
These were really fun trips for us, although spending a night at a local motel in Panguitch was almost unbearable. It is surprising how quickly your body acclimates itself to climate. Being in a motel with a real shower and sheets on the bed was nice, but the cool nights had the room heated and we all felt like we were suffocating. So we opened the window as wide as we could to let the cool night air in. It was hard to imagine that people were finding the crisp fall air so chilling they needed heat. The only heat we had in the tent was the lantern which was plenty to take the chill off for us.
We were gone for two days and two nights. The weather was a bit rainy, but nothing too bad. We hadn’t even thought what it might be back on the mountain. We invited Sandy, the cafe cook and her boyfriend to follow us up to the mountain and come for a visit. They said yes and none of us expected the surprise we would have when we got there.
Continued in Part 6 . . . .SNOW!
