WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.040 align:middle line:90%


00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:06.540 align:middle line:84%
Now I think I'll
read about flowers.

00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:09.660 align:middle line:90%


00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:13.140 align:middle line:84%
I made-- the way the book
is structured is so--

00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:16.680 align:middle line:84%
they're just little
short pieces.

00:00:16.680 --> 00:00:22.740 align:middle line:84%
Again, it was because I
just wanted it to be--

00:00:22.740 --> 00:00:26.130 align:middle line:84%
with the exception of having to
go over that difficult family

00:00:26.130 --> 00:00:27.900 align:middle line:90%
history--

00:00:27.900 --> 00:00:32.700 align:middle line:84%
I wanted the book for me to
be somewhat of a respite,

00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:35.010 align:middle line:84%
somewhat of a way
of getting away

00:00:35.010 --> 00:00:40.360 align:middle line:84%
from all of the sort of
horror in the world around us.

00:00:40.360 --> 00:00:47.895 align:middle line:84%
And so I chose to write
about these sorts of things.

00:00:47.895 --> 00:00:51.200 align:middle line:90%


00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:53.240 align:middle line:84%
The wildflowers
are more numerous

00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:55.170 align:middle line:90%
than they've been in years.

00:00:55.170 --> 00:00:57.710 align:middle line:84%
The gold, yellow
desert poppies are

00:00:57.710 --> 00:01:02.750 align:middle line:84%
pools of color in the emerald
and jade green of the desert.

00:01:02.750 --> 00:01:05.630 align:middle line:84%
The white, six
pointed Mojave desert

00:01:05.630 --> 00:01:10.850 align:middle line:84%
stars blossom on the first
purple blue outcropping--

00:01:10.850 --> 00:01:15.800 align:middle line:84%
blossom first on the purple
blue outcropping of rocks,

00:01:15.800 --> 00:01:20.090 align:middle line:84%
and form great constellations
on the dark stone.

00:01:20.090 --> 00:01:24.050 align:middle line:84%
Desert chicory send up
big, white ruffled flowers

00:01:24.050 --> 00:01:27.410 align:middle line:84%
amid the jojoba leaves
that shade them.

00:01:27.410 --> 00:01:34.580 align:middle line:84%
Yellow fiddle necks, taller,
larger purple frills,

00:01:34.580 --> 00:01:38.510 align:middle line:84%
and the twin blue violet
lily light flowers of the Ajo

00:01:38.510 --> 00:01:41.090 align:middle line:90%
are also in bloom.

00:01:41.090 --> 00:01:46.580 align:middle line:84%
Lupins, lupins, lupins,
purple, red, blue, even

00:01:46.580 --> 00:01:49.250 align:middle line:90%
taller than the orange poppies.

00:01:49.250 --> 00:01:51.890 align:middle line:84%
Tiny yellow flowers
of the golden rod

00:01:51.890 --> 00:01:55.070 align:middle line:84%
fill the air with
the scent of honey.

00:01:55.070 --> 00:01:57.920 align:middle line:84%
White desert
zinnias bloom early,

00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:02.060 align:middle line:84%
and so does the rattlesnake
weed with its small blankets

00:02:02.060 --> 00:02:05.780 align:middle line:84%
of tiny calico, red
and white flowers.

00:02:05.780 --> 00:02:09.889 align:middle line:84%
Everywhere I see the tall
stacks of white penstemons

00:02:09.889 --> 00:02:12.290 align:middle line:90%
that cover the rocky hillsides.

00:02:12.290 --> 00:02:14.660 align:middle line:84%
The pink and purple
penstemons only

00:02:14.660 --> 00:02:18.350 align:middle line:90%
bloom in sandy, moist arroyos.

00:02:18.350 --> 00:02:22.760 align:middle line:84%
I found a small piece of
white glass, polished smooth

00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:26.990 align:middle line:84%
by years of tumbling down the
Arroyo over the sharp edges

00:02:26.990 --> 00:02:31.280 align:middle line:84%
of rocks and sand
until it almost

00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:33.740 align:middle line:90%
looks like quartz crystal.

00:02:33.740 --> 00:02:36.320 align:middle line:84%
I found a piece of
reddish gray basalt

00:02:36.320 --> 00:02:40.055 align:middle line:84%
with white calcite crystals
in its center like an eye.

00:02:40.055 --> 00:02:43.880 align:middle line:90%


00:02:43.880 --> 00:02:46.520 align:middle line:84%
I spied a bright
bit of turquoise

00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:51.350 align:middle line:84%
in the center of a bean
sized reddish pebble.

00:02:51.350 --> 00:02:51.990 align:middle line:90%
Today,

00:02:51.990 --> 00:02:56.750 align:middle line:84%
March 5, 2008, I
am 60 years old.

00:02:56.750 --> 00:02:59.510 align:middle line:84%
My mother and I
shared this birthday,

00:02:59.510 --> 00:03:02.480 align:middle line:84%
and used to celebrate
our birthdays together

00:03:02.480 --> 00:03:04.140 align:middle line:90%
whenever we could.

00:03:04.140 --> 00:03:06.095 align:middle line:90%
So I think of her today.

00:03:06.095 --> 00:03:12.940 align:middle line:90%


00:03:12.940 --> 00:03:15.440 align:middle line:90%
So let's see.

00:03:15.440 --> 00:03:22.000 align:middle line:90%