The beauties of the desert are sometimes subtle, not loud and showy like the jungle. The colors can be muted pastels and when they are more vivid, they are often surrounded by thorns. When I first arrived at my new home in the jungle, all I could see was a wall of green. I remember standing at the edge of the jungle looking at a wall of vegetation and being afraid to take a step forward because I did not know what the plants were and whether they were poisonous or not. I distinctly remember reflecting on the contrast to my own home in the Arizona Sonora Desert, where everything is familiar and very predictable. Where I could walk without being concerned that something would stick me or bite me.
After living in the jungle for a long time, things became more familiar, but still, even years of experience did not make me feel at home with towering trees and vines with snakes and bugs. I remember one tree in the jungle that was totally covered with huge thorns. Not very pleasant. At least cactus are very predicable. It turns out that the tree not only has those huge thorns, but the entire tree is infested with huge ferocious ants that live in the thorns. All you have to do is touch the tree to cause the whole ant colony to attack.
When reading about the desert, you get a lot of baloney about rattlesnakes, jumping cactus, scorpions and such, but these are pretty mundane compared to your average jungle. I grew up in the desert and I was married with children before I saw my first scorpion. Really, you have to go looking for them. I must admit that later on in life we have had considerably more experience with scorpions. But they are fairly predictable if totally undesirable. Scorpions would not be helped by a good PR agent.
Granted, if you have little or no experience in the desert, you will likely get stuck with a cactus or two and you definitely have to learn how to walk through the desert and avoid picking up some stickers, but you can learn pretty quickly.
I also have another problem with the forests of the Eastern U.S., you can't see anything but trees. I like deserts because you can see forever.
After living in the jungle for a long time, things became more familiar, but still, even years of experience did not make me feel at home with towering trees and vines with snakes and bugs. I remember one tree in the jungle that was totally covered with huge thorns. Not very pleasant. At least cactus are very predicable. It turns out that the tree not only has those huge thorns, but the entire tree is infested with huge ferocious ants that live in the thorns. All you have to do is touch the tree to cause the whole ant colony to attack.
When reading about the desert, you get a lot of baloney about rattlesnakes, jumping cactus, scorpions and such, but these are pretty mundane compared to your average jungle. I grew up in the desert and I was married with children before I saw my first scorpion. Really, you have to go looking for them. I must admit that later on in life we have had considerably more experience with scorpions. But they are fairly predictable if totally undesirable. Scorpions would not be helped by a good PR agent.
Granted, if you have little or no experience in the desert, you will likely get stuck with a cactus or two and you definitely have to learn how to walk through the desert and avoid picking up some stickers, but you can learn pretty quickly.
I also have another problem with the forests of the Eastern U.S., you can't see anything but trees. I like deserts because you can see forever.
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