Filling Some Big Boots

Risky Camping

When I saw this tent set up in a wash, I decided that person just wasn't the right material to be a desert survivor, especially because rain was forecast (and it dumped the next afternoon--but I wasn't around to see what happened to the tent). 

It was windy at night, and you might think a wash would provide a little protection from the winds. But the photo above shows two tents--one standing, and one that was knocked over by the wind! 

Here are this month's nominations for the Darwin Awards. Do you have any nominations you'd like to share?

Carnival of the Arid #3

Once a month, bloggers who have posts about the desert can enter their blog posts into Carnival of the Arid. Chris Clarke from Coyote Crossing organizes them and then everyone can read about a variety of desert locations. 

It's a great opportunity to see who else is blogging about the desert, and I've already found another blog that I intend to follow regularly. So check it out!

Desert Boy in a Movie

Okay, Desert Boy isn't in a real movie. I found this cool website that lets you make your own animated movies. I wasted too much time on it and now you can suffer the results with me. Here's a scene between Desert Boy (my son) and Henry (our dog). It was inspired by Desert Boy trying to ride Henry several times yesterday. Each time Henry stayed resolutely on the ground, not getting up even though Desert Boy kept saying, "Up, up." Henry has some common sense. I'm not sure about Desert Boy.

UFO Sighting

It was the afternoon and I was hiking in a desert ravine, concentrating on the fascinating geology surrounding me. Suddenly I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Something wasn't right with the cosmos. I turned around, and there, up in the sky, was the unmistakable track of a UFO. It had obviously seen me and turned on its reverse thrusters, unmasking its previous invisibility. I knew I had to run fast, because out in this isolated spot, they were desperate to find a specimen of Homo sapiens for their tests. But how could I outrun a UFO? After all, they had advanced technology like reverse thrusters. I had a plan, though. For up ahead, I knew there was a deep, dark cave, and I could hide out as long as  I needed. Which I hoped wasn't very long, because all I had left to eat were some of Desert Boy's fishy crackers and a juice box. But it was the best plan I had. So I went with it. And I'm still here to tell the story.

Happy April Fool's!