The Ways I Pass the Time

Last week, my parents came to visit, drop of my dog and my belongings, and help me get settled. They graciously put up with endless amounts of driving in order to get to any desirable destination.

We successfully explored Chaco Canyon National Monument and El Malpais. Lola even put up with our unreasonable demand that she carry her own water and dog dish!
Eventually we had the pleasure of enduring an August monsoon, followed by a full double rainbow! (Disclaimer: Nobody was moved to tears by its beauty.)





Most recent development on life in the middle of everywhere: arachnid identification seems to be developing into my new pastime. After feeling uncomfortable with the number of bugs in the house, I bought mouse glue traps to serve as bug traps (following the brilliant example of my Grandma Dallman). For the last few weeks I have been mildly entertained by the crickets, beetles, and additional sun spiders that have been trapped in the sticky traps, but today I found a special visitor! When I checked the trap, I found an actual scorpion! True to form, I took the time to identify the little bugger to see what kind of threat it posed. No need to worry friends, Smeringurus mesaensis, aka the dune scorpion (or Douglas as I now affectionately call it), is only a 2 on the venom scale (similar to a hornet sting) and typically avoids stinging by scurrying away VERY quickly, unless cornered. For those of you who love scorpions, this is apparently the begginer scorpion to have as a pet. I'll even give Douglas to you for free to save you the hassle of trying to find a pet store that carries scorpions!