For a kid who grew up on the west coast with trees and rain and mountains and rain and winter and rain — spending some time wandering through the deserts of the southern States has tempered my discontent with dry. I grew up thinking you had to carry an umbrella to stay dry. Or even earlier, surround a country with dikes to stay dry. The pictures and the formations they capture are both a tribute to the diversity of creation and our human ability to adapt. The more I take the time to look around the more I realize how many other ways there are to live and enjoy life. Spending time at 100 plus degrees has been difficult, but we did escape to air conditioned environments. The adjustments are about accepting the situation. The real wonderful part of all this has been seeing how beautiful everything is in it’s own place. Rain makes for trees. Heat and drought builds cacti of character!