Nevada June

Relentless winds blow. A tiny gray ribbon creeps across the desert and grows until the space between here and there darkens and blurs to a monotone. The mountains at the end of the valley disappear. A dust storm is born and rolls off the Smoke Creek out onto the Black Rock. Cumulus sky clouds gather and block the sun, black and heavy with rain. But nary a drop makes its way to the valley floor. The winter brought only a rare storm, less moisture than could be squeezed from a kitchen sponge. When it came time for the cheatgrass to turn the desert green it headed out and turned golden brown instead leaving it only a couple of inches tall. Now the critters move closer and closer into our sphere. The mice, rats, and desert chipmunks come looking for something green to eat; the bark off the trees, tender branches and shoots, my garden! Snakes crawl in looking to eat them. Their dusty camo brown/black hides them as they lay in the cool of the garden dirt waiting for their mouse dinner. Chukkar birds cackle on the tops of the rim rocks as they march to the well house for a drink of the overflow. Six big bucks magically appear in the clover in the early morning light. Soon does with their new fawns join them to munch their way through a hot summer day, eating and resting in the field's coolness. Pink wild roses line the ditchbank. Their sweet smell wafts on the wind. Nighttime comes. Quail 'pip pip' their "good nights" to the day and coyotes start a lullaby song. A blaze of orange, red, and gold bursts forth to close the day. Our bit of heaven on earth. Praise the Lord!