Insects Are Alive and Well in the Desert

It's an odd thing to move to a different landscape. Moving within a local area, you get pretty much the same, just slightly different views. Moving from Colorado to the Arizona desert, though, everything is different. Some things I expected, like lizards and saguaro cactus that you see in so many cartoons, but other things, I never thought about.

I spent over a decade in Colorado and got used to essentially having no insects around. Sure, there are some, but it isn't like the rest of the world. The high elevation and semi-arid climate mean you're unlikely to encounter insects that the rest of the world sees on a regular basis.

It kind of threw me off when I got to Arizona because the desert is simply teeming with life, including all sorts of fascinating insects. I had just forgotten most of them existed while I was in Colorado.

The contrast of living in very different places makes me understand them better. The same thing happened when I moved from Tennessee to Colorado. It's that whole "you can't have light without darkness" thing—I can really see the differences and then use them in my writing.

What's New?

• In case you missed it, here's another two-sentence horror titled: Storm Chaser.
• Next Week: Malaysian folklore that will keep you up at night.

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