As Basil reluctantly prepared to leave the care of Easton Ellsworth and travel to the exotic locale of Scottsdale (coincidentally not very far away), he remembered all the fun and sun he’d enjoyed thus far in the desert.
Sun, that is, except for Monday evening. You see, the Phoenix area actually has a short lived but firework-filled monsoon season! Thunderstorms don’t come often in Arizona - but when they do, they can pack quite a punch. A rare thunderstorm burst through the Ellsworths’ neighborhood just as Basil was sitting down to eat a hearty dinner of … whatever it is that globetrotting donkeys eat. Lizards’ tails and cactus shoots, or something like that.
ANYway … Basil was awestruck by the power of Monday’s storm and was glad to remain within the protection of the Ellsworths’ home while warily watching the wholesale destruction of their carport. “Wowsers,” Basil said under his cactus-laced breath.
The next day, Basil enjoyed scaring away crickets (“If any animal deserves scaring, it’s them”) and wasps (homeless without the carport roof) while the Ellsworths cleaned up after Mother Nature. He also alphabetized his trinket collection and did some heavy meditation in preparation for his upcoming trip way over to Bill and Kathee Austin in Scottsdale.
The Ellsworths were sad to say goodbye to Basil, but will always cherish the memories he shared with them. (Cue “Thanks For the Memories” - NOT the Connie Chung version!) “Basil, we’ll miss you,” they said, wiping tears away with trembling hands. “But take these grains of sand to remember us by.”
With a hearty hee-haw, Basil replied, “I will!”
And just like in the good old Western movies, Basil rode off into the gorgeous Arizona sunset … by himself, of course. But he was anything but alone.
Related Tags: easton ellsworth, mesa, arizona, basil, travel, tourism
There’s something about a Basil butt in the shade that seems a little, well, wrong, don’t you think?
I mean isn’t a picture of the back end of a… donkey a little redundant?
Hehe. Things that make you go hhhm, hhhmm?
Looks like Basil’s hitchhiking his way to Scottsdale. Who knows what’s going to happen!
Don’t you love how lush our yard is?
You should put up some soccer nets … looks like the perfect size!
Easton, we get enough rain in Savannah that even Basil couldn’t eat all our grass bare like that. It looks like he about cleaned up the place!
[...] Although Basil’s left Mesa, Arizona and the Ellsworth Estate for … well, similar pastures in Scottsdale, Arizona with the Austins (since there’s only about 18 miles difference and he’s still in Arizona), Easton was good enough to send me one last picture of him and the Fawlty Towers DVDs. [...]
[...] Basil’s going from the Ellsworths’ fine establishment to visit with Bill and Kathee Austin in Scottsdale, AZ. [...]