the desert

I am a confirmed ocean/water person. Anything that has to do with being in, on or near the water I'm there! The desert is a new thing for me.

The drive to Vegas takes us east of Bartow through the Mojave desert. The light AC shields us from the dry heat outside the car. There is sage and more sage. There are trees whose leaves are sharp needles. There are dustclouds to the left of us, silent lightning to the right, thunderclouds that touch the ground. There are no birds, no animals. Little shade.

I imagine the US/Mexican border. I've read many articles and stories about those who cross the border and how stricter enforcement of the border forces these people to the desert away from the major cities, away from the water. I wonder how anyone even survives such a trek, three to four days of walking in 100 degree heat. Water that dries on the tongue. Many die each year walking these deserts. There are whole towns in Mexico where any male over 13 have left to take this journey.

The radio bleats out the Emergency Broadcast System. This is not a test. Flash flood warnings are given for the eastern San Bernadino county. There is no rain in the desert, but when it does rain, it rains like the tropics. We avoid the flash flooding, but get a good dose of rain. Raindrops turning brown on the dusty steel. There are puddles, a land so thirsty it cannot even swallow.

There are no bold greens like in redwood forests, only the slightest change of brown to green-brown. It seems like everything is dead. But like the redwoods that endure for centuries, the desert knows too of patience. Their stiff branches endure the harsh sun to wait for the rain and then and only then do they sprout their tiny green leaves for a brief moment before the sun bleaches them brown again.

The road rises and falls while a rainbow stains the sky ahead.