Capistrano has Swallows
Color Country has Chuckwallas

One of the great pleasures of living in Color Country is watching the seasons change. There is a great difference between summer and winter in the desert.

I used to know a man who had lived in Hawaii for ten years or so. He said he moved away because he just got bored with the sameness. Summer or winter, it was always the same. The trees didn’t lose their leaves. There was never snow on the ground. Every day was just like the day before, except for the occasional storm.

Here in Color Country, there’s even a huge variation between day and night. In the depth of winter, you can still feel the warm sun on some January days. In the oven of summer, our roof at night is a cool relief.

And there’s the pleasure of watching old friends reappear in the spring, like Chuckie here.

The Chuckwalla is the largest North American lizard, growing up to 18 inches long. They look fearsome but they’re strictly vegetarian and very laid back and lazy. They’re my kind of people. This one made an appearance just yesterday behind our house. He looks kind of skinny to me. He must just be waking up from a long winter’s sleep. My wife had to restrain me to stop me from going out and offering a lettuce leaf. (Actually … bad idea. Just leave them alone and admire their grace and beauty from a distance.)