a "brittlebush." It is not, but you already knew that. It's a creosote bush, and it smells great after it rains (it rains here). After it rained, I told Annie it smells like Tuzigoot which is not a euphemism, but is actually an Anasazi ruin that we visited in the rain three years ago when we were falling in love with Arizona. I don't know why Tuzigoot smelled like that because creosote bushes don't grow there. The story is better if you don't know that.
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| Bees love creosote blossoms (bee not shown) |
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| These are brittlebush flowers. Both yellow. You understand my confusion. |
He will also pee on you if you pick him up or scare him. That might just seem like a minor social gaffe to snicker at behind his shell, but it means he has dropped his water reserve. So, if you accidentally scare a tortoise (or "accidentally" pick him up, yeah right), put water down for him to replenish. Put it down and walk away.
WALK AWAY!
But, seriously, don't pick him up even accidentally, because he can pick up diseases from you. Think Europeans and Native Americans. It's not pretty, and you don't want that on your conscience.
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| You really don't.* |
We went scouting today and found an empty (for now) campsite. I promise not to launder 'till I see the whites of their eyes. It had a special surprise of its own, and I'll show you later.
I am, as of today, the very proud bearer of a United States passport for the first time in my life. I'm no longer part of that statistic. Now I'm part of the other statistic. Now I can go to far-flung lands like Los Algodones, Ontario, and Hawai'i.
*I don't want www.digital-desert.com on my conscience, either. Thanks, Walter Feller, for lending me your tortoise.
