I am currently staying at a campground in Deming, New Mexico that is primarily occupied by single RVers. As I travelled here from the Hill Country of Texas, I watched the colorful wildflowers along the road change to sage, and the rolling hills of grass and trees transform into rocks, sand, tumbleweed, and cacti.
The landscape here is desert. The days are hot -- in the 80s, but the temperature at night dips into the 30s or 40s. There is no water in the arroyos or streams, and hasn't been for some time -- many of the riverbeds have mature desert vegetation covering the bottom. Everything that is green is pointy and spiky, and even the cacti look thin and parched. The persistent -- and often annoying -- winds push tumbleweed against fences and trees, and what I normally think of as grass isn't anywhere to be found. They tell me that there were rabbits here that were eating the cacti. I haven't seen any, but others say the coyotes have driven them off. I haven't seen a coyote either, but I have heard them howling in the middle of the night.
The State Bird of New Mexico is the Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), and two of them frequent the campground, dashing across the rocks and through the cacti. They can fly, but usually choose to sprint instead. Shortly after I got here I asked one of the other women if anyone ever yells "Beep Beep" at them and she said, "only if we're drunk." When I finally saw one racing along, he was moving so fast that I could almost see Wile E. Coyote hot on his tail! I wasn't drunk, but I have to confess to "Beep beeping" him. It was irresistible.
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