Getting by with a little help from our friends...

During the first months of 2021, we were fortunate that many of our family and friends were eager to visit and experience Hummingbird Ranch. I’m sure they thought, and may continue to think, we were nuts. Not everyone sees the property’s magic through the same lens I do, but there’s no denying it’s natural beauty. Some have definitely embraced the ranch life and taken an eager hand in some of the land maintenance we were consumed with at first - weed abatement, junk removal, tree trimming. My brother-in-law, who grew up on a ranch in Arizona, was extremely enthusiastic about our new adventure and rented a skid steer during his visit so we could take turns irresponsibly operating heavy machinery.

No actual skid steers were harmed during this event.

Other visits were more play than work, and involved lots of eating and drinking.

---

In May 2021 our most important and life-changing visitor arrived.

Charley, Charlito, Charles

We mourned the loss of our two family dogs in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Rocky and Rosie had grown up with the kids, and it was soul crushing for all of us to lose them. I vowed to never have a pet again, it was too heartbreaking. However, in 2020 I felt I was ready to be a pet parent again, and began an ardent campaign to convince Chad that this was a great idea. He was 110% against the notion. Immoveable. And after many tears, desperate pleadings, and possibly a power point presentation, he agreed to go see a dog available at a shelter in Rowland Heights. “We are NOT bringing home an animal today,” he declared confidently. Vida Animal Shelter is a place I don’t wish upon my enemies. I don’t blame the shelter operators, they are a volunteer-only organization that relies on very little fundraised resources. The animals they house receive limited vet care and are fed whatever dog food has been donated that week. Subsequently, they all have some sort of GI issue and are fairly unkempt. The day we arrived, the available dogs were being matched for a play date with adults from a nearby group home - among them, the dog we were to meet. Long story short, I managed to pull the dog aside and bring him out to meet Chad. He approached Chad calmly, dutifully sat at his feet, and looked gently into his eyes. “We can’t leave him here!” Chad declared plaintively. And that was all she wrote. A man who promised divorce before dog ownership was beyond smitten.

Watching Charley on the ranch has proved quite entertaining. He is enamored with his horse friends and awed by the cows. He enjoys the afternoon ritual of feeding apples and carrots to the neighboring horses, gobbling up the bits they drop, uncaring that their foamy drool falls on his head. He runs unencumbered chasing squirrels and birds, too exhausted to be roused at the end of the day. It’s a far cry from his alleged beginnings on the chaotic streets of TJ.

He’s made our lives complete, and our time on Hummingbird Ranch a zillion times more fun.