What does this silly dog picture (who btw, is Ruby) have to do with my art making? Well, as usual, there’s a story to tell.

This is what it looked like over my morning coffee on many trips to Big Bend. I had a piece of land out there for a long time. Joke was that it was for the dogs to romp freely around on. II camped here for about 15 years. I prefer though to think of it as over the life spans of 5 large dogs (one German Shepard and four Doberman Pincers). I’ve always loved dogs and consider them an essential in life. So, about 5 years ago my most beloved red dobie, Ruby passed away. Losing her brought about a decision to “doggie down-size.”

The wildlife at Big Bend can be, well, wild. The first time I went out with my new compact dog, Enzo, he LOVED it. Most people would not consider forty pounds a small dog, but he is one third to one half the size of all my prior dogs. He looked so small in all the beautiful vastness of the Chihuahua high desert. I began to occur to me that he might not be completely safe from predators.

After watching over my “small” dog, Enzo, all day at the campsite, we finally retired for the night (which frankly was really early, cuz you know, darkness). We couldn’t have been asleep too long, when we were awakened by the unmistakable howling cries of a pack of coyotes. I knew right then that Big Bend was no place for my little dog.

In the morning we packed up camp and drove out the miles of dusty Big Bend dirt roads, we came upon an amazing sight: a great bird of prey was perched upon a tall cactus and kept swooping down to grab an animal that I had never seen there before (thank you google image search). It was a badger. And as we drove by, the two beasts played out a dangerous dance of catch and not-get-caught.

I hugged my little dog close to me, and we put our property on the market soon after.

And so closed one life phase.

And so, opens up another.