Gary Dawson Designs
  • Home
  • Custom Jewelry Design
  • Shop
  • Small Parts Engineering
    • Jewelry Making Supplies
    • Hat Making Tools
  • Podcasts
  • Contact ~ Schedule
  • Blog & Updates
  • Reuse & Recycle
  • About
  • Real Jewelry Real People Real Stories

Thanksgiving Blessing in the High Desert

11/25/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
The first time I came to Southern Arizona I took a day during my time at the Tucson Gem Show to drive to Patagonia. I’ve always been an explorer, willing to embark on random adventures, and that day I had a mission. I was stalking someone. Well, probably not stalking…certainly not in the sense of malevolence, but I was indeed hoping to run into Jim Harrison, my favorite author.  As the day wound down, I had a quiet dinner in the restaurant/bar that I’d heard he frequented and lingered.  No famous author appeared. In fact, as I recall, I was the only person in the bar the whole time other than the bartender. I was too embarrassed about my intent to inquire if Harrison was even in town, but I did fall in love with the area.
                I discovered Bisbee decades later and I am still drafting the story of my first journey here, but I’ve written about being in Bisbee in other recent posts.  I am living here for the time being, perhaps permanently…I love my little casita on the edge of miles of open desert.  There are many new species of fauna to get to know but one that I recognize easily are the quail that seem plentiful around my house. And the quail remind me of Harrison since he often wrote of hunting and eating them around his home in Patagonia. As I walk the desert with my dogs every morning, I’ve often wished I could bag a few quail.  I have enjoyed them in the past, but I am too new here to have figured out where (or how) I can legally hunt, far too much settling in to do.
                And then yesterday, enjoying a beer with my friend Ben at my house, the dogs barking at a taunting coyote just outside my fence led me into my yard to observe a covey, flushed in the commotion. One of the birds flew into a bedroom window with great velocity and immediately went down. I hoped it would recover, but when it became apparent that the bird was dying, I went to retrieve it. My immediate thought as it lay lifeless in my hands was to bury it, but then I thought otherwise.  The bird’s tragedy suddenly seemed like a gift from the spirit of Jim Harrison, and my new desert home.  Ben and I continued to chat as I plucked the bird and washed it, observing the bounty of this high desert in the taut craw, full of seeds.
                I am not observing a Thanksgiving meal with family members until Saturday, as they will not arrive here until tomorrow. And I’m having a quiet Thanksgiving Day with the dogs, feeling full of thanks for the gift of a meal yesterday. As I smell the simmering quail stock from the leftover carcass, it seems like a fine welcome, a blessing of sorts, for my being here. I feel connected. The discovery this morning that the covey was still just outside my fenced yard seems like an affirmation.  

Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author
    ​

    I have an intimate familiarity with both the materials with which I work and the process of working with people to create meaningful designs.
    These passions, and my interest in utilizing appropriate technology to manage my business and connections, inform my current business model
     
    ​ 
    And...
    I love to write.  I've been frequently published, mostly within the jewelry industry, but on topics as wide-ranging motor-home reviews to metallurgical science.  

    Oh yeah, I love to cook and eat well so you will see me diverting to food and travel topics here too!  Have fun reading and recommend me to your friends!

    Archives

    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2020
    May 2019
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Categories
    ​

    All

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Custom Jewelry Design
  • Shop
  • Small Parts Engineering
    • Jewelry Making Supplies
    • Hat Making Tools
  • Podcasts
  • Contact ~ Schedule
  • Blog & Updates
  • Reuse & Recycle
  • About
  • Real Jewelry Real People Real Stories