Exhausted!!

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Oh, the Mojave. I went for a walk in the open desert. There was a fire in Red Rock recently, so I got to see the burn, see a desert tortoise, a weird unidentified bug, kaleechi (not spelled like that, I'm sure), a desert squirrel, and other things.

I really like the desert. It seems really full of life to me, despite the fact that my mom and dad both think nothing without trees can be vibrantly alive. It's just a different type of vibrant here.

It's too bad there was a fire recently. I think was started by lightning. After all, it's been dry and stormy at the same time. It just really gets you thinking when you see all of that land burned!

Also, I spent the day with Michelle, Corrine, and Allie. Wow. They're all 7 (read way more energy than Sarah has dreamed of having since college started). First, they wanted me to take them swimming. OK, fine. That's easy enough. Swim, splash a little bit, jump in once or twice and play marco polo. Then they didn't want to go home, but I had work to do, so we compromised (I should have just sent them home) and they watched a movie and I did my work. Then they wanted to draw. With CHARCOAL. I did have enough sense not to give them charcoal, so I broke out some art pencils. I have about half of them left....kids don't understand the concept of: various pressures give various tones. Oh well. I got to teach about Japan, and a little about Indian, and overall felt like a cultural ambassador.

It's important for young kids especially to learn about other cultures and broaden their worldview.

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Photos

Calico HIlls
Scientists have no idea what caused the color variations, but they're lovely, and this is a nice shot of the Mojave Desert.

What a burn!
That's such an immense piece of land that was burnt. It's so sad.

Kaleechi
Otherwise known as the rock that makes up most of the ground up here. It's like natural concrete. Very tough.

Anyone know what this is?
Weird bug.