James & Penny's Home

This was our home in Sahuarita, Arizona, December 2006 - September 2013
See our new home in Florida

Cactus blooms continuously amaze us. These below are one of our favorites.

The day before

And then they bloomed

One of our favorite places to walk is the desert. We wander to the end of our cul-de-sac and then simply step into fields of saguaros, barrel cactus, cholla, ocotillo, and on and on. The varieties are numerous and always changing. We often see quail and their young scurrying under trees and bushes, an occasional humming bird, woodpeckers, finches, doves, hawks, rabbits and gophers. We are still waiting to see our first javelina, and until today were also waiting to see our first snake. Unfortunately, our first snake sighting was not in the desert. It was in our garage, and it was

a diamondback rattler!!!

We called the fire department (we pay hefty for this service) and then kept a distant eye on it, expecting our rescuers to arrive in huge emergency trucks with sirens wailing and lights flashing. It was 30 minutes before a white pickup truck meandered down the street and parked at our curb. A bored young man got out and with a long pole and a wooden box with a clasp, extracted our guest and started to leave to transport it back to the desert. He seemed a little taken back when we wanted to get a picture. Obviously he doesn't get snakes in his garage, or he gets them so often its no big deal.

a diamondback rattler!!!

Our home in Sahuarita AZ Before and After