Up the hill

This morning, my parents' neighbor, who home-schools her eighth grader, said they were headed up the hill at the end of the street for a combination of P.E. and English (he had to write a descriptive essay, and had chosen the subject "The Desert"), and invited me to come along. I hadn't been up the hill since last Christmas, so I was eager to go. We saw a pair each of what Heidi identified as golden eagles and red-tailed hawks, as well as a minuscule lizard and a lot of ants.

And, of course, the amazing, expansive desert landscapes that make my urban burrow lifestyle seem like a distant dream.