| Cross-Country Ramble 24: Out
of the Desert Sent: 96-06-04 00:27:20 EDT
Some Data
| West of Del Rio |
East of Del Rio |
| Brown and gray-green colors |
Bright green or deep green colors |
| No Clouds |
Clouds |
| No rain |
Rain |
| Individual plants and animals |
Plants and animals in groups |
| Bright blue sky all the way to the ground |
Muted blue sky getting whiter toward the ground |
| 10-20% humidity |
40-60% humidity |
| Clothes dry in morning |
Clothes damp in morning |
| No shade |
Shade |
| Bushes |
Trees |
| No agriculture without irrigation |
Agriculture without irrigation |
| Four flowing rivers in 1500 miles |
Ten flowing rivers in 100 miles |
| Weather constant |
Weather changeable |
My Conclusion
| West of Del Rio |
East of Del Rio |
| Desert |
Not desert |
I had been wondering if I'd be able to tell when we came out of
the desert. I hoped it would be clear-cut and not just sneak up on
me. I got my wish our first day east of Del Rio, in spades. All of
the first phrases above are true right up to our last day coming
into Del Rio. All of the latter are true from our first day out.
It looks to me like the defining difference between desert and
non-desert is that you'll never need to use a collective noun to
describe what you see in the desert. You don't see a field of grass;
you see individual tufts of grass. You don't see a forest, you see a
tree here and a tree there. You don't see herds of cattle or deer,
but you do see an occasional animal or two. Maybe this is why, when
a correspondent asked if I'd seen the desert in bloom, I couldn't
quite say, "Yes," even though I'd seen lots of flowers. Now that I
think about it perhaps a decent answer would be, "No, I didn't see
‘the desert' blooming, but I saw lots of flowering plants." So,
bottom line, if you can see space between the plants or animals,
it's desert; if they crowd right up against each other, it's not.
Ken
Itinerary
- Day 46: Marathon, TX.
- Day 47: Sanderson, TX
- Day 48: Comstock, TX.
- Day 49-51: Del Rio, TX.
- Day 52: Brackettville, TX.
- Day 53: Uvalde, TX.
PS: Today, we gave up the illusion that we're camping our way
across the country. We camped out for the fourth and last time the
night before last. Today, we boxed up 30 pounds of camping stuff and
sent it away. We'll have to make do with clean sheets and
air-conditioned motel rooms from now on. Somehow we'll bear up under
the strain. This isn't the first time we've sent stuff back. The
first things to go were our spandex biking shorts. Those twinky
things were essential when we were touring on our wedgies, but
turned out to be unnecessary on our 'bents. In Del Rio, we mailed
back our cold weather clothes. They sure weren't needed this year,
though last year a group biking our route in April had near-freezing
temperatures in the New Mexico mountains.
PPS: We continue to be thankful for your kind and helpful
comments. We're plotting our own course now. It's good to have a
little more feeling of control over our tour. Not unlike life.
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