Desert Essay

Just newly come to the valley, I hadn't wanted to be one of those Las Vegas residents that sit at home under the air conditioning, waiting for the late spring, summer, and fall to be over. Under the broiling heat, I wanted to see the desert flora and fauna that makes Las Vegas famoustumbleweeds and cactus. So my partner and I discussed the situation.

I was recently diagnosed with an exotic disease (Wegener's Granulomatosis) and I was unable to go far from home. We climbed into the car, drove north on Eastern, and discovered Sunset Park (between Eastern and Sunset streets). We weren't the only ones who had found the thought of the park, inviting on a Sunday. Several families fished, sunned, played, and ate near the pond. Trees and shade invited the visitor to sit down and enjoy the day. The sun shone.
In 2003, just newly come to the valley, I hadn't wanted to be one of those Las Vegas residents that sit at home under the air conditioning, waiting for the late spring, summer, and fall to be over. Under the broiling heat, I wanted to see the desert flora and fauna that Las Vegas is famous—tumbleweeds and cactus. So my husband and I discussed the situation.

I was recently diagnosed with an exotic disease (Wegener's Granulomatosis) and unable to go far from home. We climbed into our car, drove north on Eastern, and discovered Sunset Park (Eastern and Sunset streets). We weren't the only ones who had found the thought of the park, inviting on a Sunday. Several families fished, sunned, played, and ate near the pond. Trees and shade invited the visitor to sit down and enjoy the day. The sun shone.

Two boys found a ground hog. They looked down the hole, while the animal looked at them. The pond in the middle of the park was filled with ducks and coots. The coots dropped down into the water and bobbed back—black and wet. A small green hummingbird dashed over the water eating the bugs.

The park was clean and inviting. One of the park attendants cleared the garbage cans near us as we sat listening to the wind, ducks, and people. Still I was looking for a less green and more desert-like place.

Past the seeded areas, the park was covered in thistle weeds and cactus. Inside the weeds, a small desert rabbit, brown and black, ate grass next to a sprinkler system. He hopped away when he saw us, his pink ears twitching. A black bird stood in a tree and crowed at us. Several desert sparrows flew close to the ground as people ran, marched, and walked around the park's jogging track.

That day, life teemed around me. For awhile I forgot my devastation. I ate a smoothie.

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 14 September 2007


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.


To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

In The Moonlight

Before winter every year, my dad and brothers would dig the new outhouse hole. They would move the outhouse over it, and then cover the stinking hole filled with human waste.

During the day, I would not realize how alone we were in the wild desert. At night, it would be a different story. I would look out the window, looking for the howling beasts of the night. Even worse, it could be so quiet that I would only hear a "who, who" as I walked to the outhouse.

I usually took a flashlight with me, but sometimes the flashlight would not be at its place by the door. It was easier to run to the white bulk of the outhouse. Once inside, I was safe. Then later, I would run back to the house in a wild rush.

The rest of this story is here.

Open Letter To Bad Fic Writers

Here is a very good article on how to write better. The writer even has a link to my POV writing topics.