• "X" is for Xeriscape

Riding Vegas near Prescott, Az., in a natural landscape

Is there anyone doing the A to Z Challenge who didn't have to look in the dictionary for a word beginning with the letter "x"?

Xeriscaping and pet sitting. How in the heck can I make that connection?

I pet sit in Northern Virginia and plan to move to the Southwest, which, for the most part, is dry, dry, dry. So "lawns" are Xeriscaped, a method of landscaping used to conserve water in arid or semi-arid climates.

For the past 40 years I've done no landscaping, as I've lived in apartments. You could write a book on what I don't know about Xeriscaping. But what I've seen, I liked. I won't need to mow. It shouldn't need much water.

When I move to the Southwest, I want to get a dog. I'll need to teach it to stay away from cacti and rattlesnakes. And I'm thinking of running a doggy daycare. Would I need to teach all the dogs to stay away from cacti and rattlesnakes, or would their owners? (I know I'd be the one driving them to the vet with a nose full of spines.)

Coco, whom I pet sat in Prescott, Az., in a Xeriscaped yard

I've lived in Virginia all my life. I know a little about the grasses, trees, plants, and flowers that grow here, and how rain and bugs and insecticides affect them. I have a felt sense of what kind of upkeep a yard might need.

As for Xeriscaping? I'm clueless. Maybe it's like pet sitting. Eight years ago, when a friend asked me to keep her dog company when she and her husband went on vacation, I had no clue that live-in pet sitting would become my occupation. I had little idea of what the profession entailed. With each job and each bout of continuing education, I learn. I can learn Xeriscaping.

Southwestern folks, clue me in! What else besides open blue skies and great salsa awaits me and my dog and horse? Scorpions? Lower vet bills? Chupacabras?