Planet Joshua

Ancient granite boulders the size of small buildings are strewn about the landscape in artistic piles like the Jenga toys of a giant alien race. Eroded by unimaginable forces underground and above, the rocks are coarse and gritty, etched into improbable shapes. High above, the sun blazes with unrelenting force in a sky so blue as to suggest black. Spiky plants are everywhere, defending against all who venture too close with spines great and small, thorns and pointed swords. No two are alike, especially the whimsical trees for which this locale is renown. Bees swarm to oversized blooms while lizards dart about with a logic known only to them, oblivious to the gawking bipedal intruders. Later in the day after most of the intruders have departed, a jack rabbit bunny strolls like a flaneur from bush to bush while in the far distance a coyote pair lopes along on unfinished business. Overhead, the ravens cavort and soar, now into late day clouds. A bit of rain sprinkles the ground, and the holy smell of water wafts across the desert. Fog rolls in across the high passes. Then the sky shifts, the sun returns and with it the shadows and silhouettes. This is Planet Joshua.