1/3
On February 12th I walked into a classroom of people I didn’t know. Well, that’s a lie. I recognized one person, I’d had a class with him before but I couldn’t remember his name. We looked at each other and gestured with some uncomfortable finger guns; we knew we recognized each other but both felt bad having forgotten the other. These are the people I’d spend the next six weeks with. I sigh.
The kangaroo rat (Dipydomis) is a species of rat with powerful hind legs, rendering them the ability to hop and jump in a way that no rat should be able to attain. They sit like kangaroos, perched on their hind legs and tail with their front paws held up to their chest. I spend way too long talking about how much I love them and I deflate when Norm tells me, “ah well, you will definitely see their burrows but you probably won’t see them.” Im discouraged but he shrugs and tells me, “you just never know.”
On March 11th, I boarded a plane from Orlando to Las Vegas at 6am. I walked out of the plane into a new time zone with a sense of thrill. It is now March 17th and I can finally put my thoughts together into a journal post for the first time.
It’s taken me 6 days to feel like I was capable of writing a coherent blog post. This may come as a surprise because, apparently, I have quite a lot to say.
Rebecca and I are the first students to arrive and we are picked up from the airport around 9am where we board the van and promptly make our way towards the nearest Denny's, hashbrowns on the brain. With Norm and Cody, we explore the strip in Las Vegas, taking in the barrage of light and sound; we were appalled and impressed by the amount of money a person could make by standing on the corner holding a snake and charging people to touch it. I forget sometimes that other people don't go out of their way to hold snakes.
Our first true day in the desert was filled with wonder. All I could do was walk around, mouth nearly agape, taking in the drastically different landscape and stay continually amazed at the fact that I am receiving college credit for this adventure. We explored Death Valley, apparently the beginners version of desert biodiversity. As we drop lower and lower below sea level, my ears pop.
We see a few lizards and a black-tailed jackrabbit, proof that biodiversity is alive and well. I had rarely cared about plants before, but this was new scenery to take in. New plants, unfamiliar features coating the landscape. Suddenly, plants mattered a lot, and wow I cared. With a lifelong love of succulents and cacti, I felt I was finally experiencing the flora of my dreams.
On this first day, we take glorious pictures, see a few lizards, and climb some hills/mountains of the Artist’s Palette. Of course we had spent weeks together in class, but it was finally sinking in that we had, at the bare minimum, 25 hours ahead of ourselves of pure driving time. Spread out over ten days, of course, but still daunting. We end the night at a salt flat. The whole ground, covered in salt; an extravagant desert scene and all I can think of is Star Wars. I believe Norm when he tells me it’s salt, but I lick it anyway just to make sure.
It was salt.
As we head into the town of Pahrump, a memory that already feels light years away, I scream. There. It. Is. A dream, actualized. A kangaroo rat bounces across the highway as Norm screeches to a halt, at least half in reaction to my guttural yell. In an unexpected surprise (perhaps a tad redundant), I saw the animal I was most excited about seeing on the first night. I don’t tend to be a superstitious person, but I feel like this trip is going to be glorious.
I identify the kangaroo rat later as the Desert Kangaroo rat, my first observation of this journey.
I buy a pack of caffeine gum.
Comentarios
Agregar un comentario