And now, a Presentation on the Endangered Desert Big Horn Sheep

     Matt and I, being the last humans on planet Earth to not have smart phones, have a map sprawled out on a picnic table and are plotting our next route to San Diego. An awkward park ranger walks into our campsite and gives us a suggestion of which highway to take. We thank him.

RANGER: So I'm giving a presentation later on the Desert Big Horn Sheep, they're endangered. I made a power point.

MATT: Oh yeah, we'll definitely be there.

RANGER: Great! I'll see you then. (Walks away with pep in his step and thumbs under his back pack straps)

ME: So we're going to a presentation on Big Horn Sheep tonight?

MATT: Nah, we don't have to go.

ME: You said we'd definitely be there. We have to go. No one else is going to go, we have to go.

MATT: Shit, you're right.

     The horns of a Big Horn Sheep weigh 30 pounds. They are scared of dogs because they do not know the difference between a lab and a wolf. A successful initiative to save the Big Horn Sheep has been building bridges across highways so wildlife doesn't get run over. That's all I really remember. Also, though the Ranger is not Beyonce, you should be just as excited to see him.

The Joshua Tree

Sun Hands

As the sun set on our last day in Joshua Tree National Park,
we climbed the giant boulder next to our campsite at Jumbo Rocks
to get a better look. Dozens of people appeared on the horizon,
rising up from the shadows looking like a Paleolithic community.
The rocks sustained the sun's warmth for a while after it set,
then the chill of night swept across the desert.














I climbed to the top of a hill
But I had just missed the sun
And although the descending arc was gone
Left behind were the traces that always follow along

The most beautiful colors chase the sun
They wrap her trail in a taunting gesture
That seems to sing out loud,
"this is what you're missing"

-Sun Hands, Local Natives

Pretty Prickly Things

Every place we went seemed like a different planet. Joshua Tree was no exception.















This hurt us both.