Desert Sky

Artyczar

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Jocelyne's sky pics reminded me of these that I took some months back early in the morning...

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I love that sky and the silhouette of the trees. I think some of my drawings have to do with silhouette; it's mysterious.

Only once have I encountered big skies and a great ball of a sunrise here, and that was when I worked at a golf driving range. 25,000 golfballs scattered over a green and the sun rising on such a scene, as we click-click-clicked, picked up 20 balls per tube, two hands, two tubes, three people. It wasn't bad. Excuse my self-indulgent reminiscence.

When I see your terrain I cannpt help thinking of the potential dangers lurking there...

"...rattlesnakes, scorpions, black widow spiders....There are seven types of rattlesnakes and 26 different types of snakes that can be found in or near the park."

Although I enjoy geting lost in an enviroment far from people, really the worst thing that can happen here is Lyme disease from an infected tick. I remember listening to a podcast on BBC Outlook about a woman who went hiking in JT, broke her pelvis and spend three nights on her back unable to move. I freely admit to being adverse to even non-poisionious creatures on me, yes, a fully commited member of the Wuss Preservation Society. We particularly avoid anything that cannot recognise the uniqueness of our being...alive.
 
I am actually very scared of snakes and we have seen some here, but not a poisonous one...yet. Hannah has seen some, but not since we've lived here. There's the time I had the camel spider in my shirt and I won't forget that one. I haven't yet seen a tarantula. The rats are what bother me most. Twice I've seen bobcats and both times I was inside the house. Hannah was outside when she saw them. One I saw seemed as big as a tiger, but it was kind of beautiful and not scary (since it was on the other side of the glass). I see coyotes every day, and dozens upon dozens of bunnies and jack rabbits morning, noon, and evening.
 
Thanks for sharing. This stuff fascinates me. I guess there are Mountain lions/cougars there, too. It must be great to have tortoise visit your yard. I love the markings on the Indian tortoise.
Indian tortoise.jpg
 
Very cool! Yes, we have seen one come and eat one of our cacti and "briskly" move along.
 
Tortoises are cool until they get into your garden and eat the toma
 
They aren't in the wild in the UK, of course, but I have come across an escapee or two. There are a few things that will make you do a double-take, and a tortoise ambling down a suburban street is one such. "Have you seen a tortoise, by any chance?" "Yes, he went that way."
 
My post above didn't complete like I typed it, it was supposed to say "until they get in your garden and eat the tomatoes, cantaloupes, and squash."
 
Oh, I thought you say toma and we say tomato. What do you do when you catch a tortoise decimating your crops? Sounds like the beginning of a joke. With snails we throw them into the neighbouring garden.
 
We relocate them across the field. They only roam within a mile their whole life so if you take them out of their territory, they are lost the rest of their lives.
 
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