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Unusual times, remarkable places

The "Standard of Ur" from ancient Mesopotamia

The "Standard of Ur" from ancient Mesopotamia

09 May 2009

Desert eye candy: a My Town Monday post



I didn't have a chance to post midweek as usual because I had (and still have) the flu. But don't feel sorry for me. The doctor gave me orders to rest, and it was a wonderful luxury to sit and read for hours at a time.

Here are some pictures from our April 5th trip to The Living Desert (Palm Desert, California), a combination zoo/botanical gardens/natural history museum/wilderness park/nature preserve/education center set in the desert and featuring animals and plants of deserts around the world and a hiking trail in the mountains. From the trail we could see the San Andreas fault, a beautiful and peaceful setting for a future violent and deadly event.

[My Town Monday is the brainchild of Travis Erwin of One Word, One Rung, One Day.]


If you tilt your head to the left, you'll see two fat-tailed lizards. (If anyone knows how to fix the Blogger glitch of turning some pictures sideways, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks.)


Another fat-tailed lizard, different species. Again, please tilt your head to the left to see it.


An artificial desert oasis. Some of my forthcoming (fall 2009) book, Like Mayflies in a Stream, takes place near a reed- and palm-surrounded water hole like this one. On Gilgamesh's orders, the priestess Shamhat captures the wild man Enkidu at the water hole when he comes with the gazelles to drink.


Orange flowers.


A hummingbird with green iridescence on part of its wing.


Orange butterfly with one black dot on each wing.


Black butterfly with yellow stripes.

12 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Love those beautiful creatures. Thanks for the pics. I hope you are feeling completely better.

Sidney said...

Great pics. Kind of reminds me of some things we saw in an Arizona visit once.

Lyzzydee said...

Beautiful shots, I feel left out not visiting a zoo this week !!!

debra said...

What beautiful photos. I hope you feel better soon.

Unknown said...

Shauna, very sorry to hear that you are infected by Flu. Take a good rest and drink more water as it will help.

Thanks for sharing with us all the lovely beautiful photos.

Grace and peace to you

Travis Erwin said...

Nice shots. I enjoy sitting around watering holes and watching the wildlife that flocks to the area.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Amazing pictures. Always interesting to see the differences in flora and fauna.

Rae Ann Parker said...

Beautiful photos, Shauna. I hope you are feeling better already.

I posted a link to your post about critique groups on the local SCBWI link for people asking for help on forming crit groups.

Shauna Roberts said...

Thanks, CHARLES, glad you liked the pictures. I'm feeling much, much better, thank you.

SIDNEY, I wonder if these are the same kinds of animals that live in Arizona? We haven't done much exploring of the West yet, and I don't know how localized or widespread the various species are.

LYZZYDEE, thanks for stopping by.

DEBRA, glad to see a fellow Ohioan stop by.

JAMES, thank you for your concern. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. Do you have any desert where you live?

TRAVIS, in the many times I've been in Texas, I've never seen a water hole. How frequent are they there? Are they mostly in one part of the state?

PATTINASE, I agree. It's always surprising, almost shocking, to travel around the country and see how different the animal life is. I've never seen a cardinal or a blue jay in my yard in California. Can you imagine a place without them?

Thanks, RAE ANN. I hope your SCBWI friends get some useful tips from my post.

Lana Gramlich said...

Very nice shots! Thanks for sharing. :)

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