4 am and its hot, hot already
sun peeks up over henderson suburbs
sleepy neighbors with daschunds in tow
NPR and coffee on the long drive
north of vegas traffic chaos
to the peace of the desert,
red tinged in early morning light

Pile out of the car, yawning, rubbing sunscreen
lace boots, don hats
treck off, avoid cactus, plow through creosote
find plots, get data
Each task memorized through months of repetition
laughing easy lunch under Joshua Tree
Sweet shady relief

End of day, car in sight
out of water
throats parched and Bromus socks
Lazy return
Flurry of last minute tasks
Organize data
Early bedtime

Nora Talkington

Field partner Leslie Parker poses with a Joshua Tree and one of the many balloon bunches which float their way hundreds of miles from Vegas