Desertwalk : A Search for Secrets of the Desert

Desertwalk is an odyssey into that unusual world of cactus and creosote bushes, darkling beetles and singing cicadas. It is stories of exploring desert trails, experiencing elusive wildlife and learning to appreciate the spirit and temper of that stark, mysterious and hauntingly beautiful land where rains are seldom and winds sweep the sands. When people move to the desert, they often attempt to tame it with grass and irrigation and air conditioning, to turn it into the same kind of environment they came from. But the beauty of the desert is its aloof character, its perceived hostility to the newcomer and its hidden secrets known only through time. To understand the desert is to experience its odd and unusual moods, its extreme daytime heat and intense cold on a winter¿s night, to appreciate its seasons of dry, brown scenery as well as its vistas of dramatic purple and yellow wildfl owers that spring up after a drenching rain. The pages of Desertwalk open a door into the mysterious world of unusual adaptations to climate where leaves have developed into spines, where wildlife appears mainly during the darker evening hours, and where every precious drop of moisture is conserved in some unique manner. Desertwalk speaks of the essence of desert life through simple experiences - the peacefulness felt by sitting quietly while quail scratch for seeds under a bush, watching a roadrunner uncover a scorpion from beneath a nearby rock or stopping in surprise as a bobcat rushes for cover.

Audrey Schumacher Moe is a watercolor painter and an author who writes about nature. Her books are illustrated with delicate and detailed watercolors. She uses only cake paints of the kind found in children's paint boxes.ôI paint on a good grade of watercolor paper, but I use only cake paints. From the eight colors found in any gradeschooler's paintbox, I can mix any color I can imagine and some I never thought of.ö ôThe outdoors has always been my teacher and it is the grandeur of nature that inspires me to translate what I see and experience into words and pictures in my booksö Audrey holds a B.A in English & history from Lawrence University in Wisconsin and a B.S in art and design from Woodbury University in California. Before her career in writing, she worked as a teacher, librarian, and interior designer. After living many years along the ocean in Corona del Mar, California, Audrey and her husband now live in Desert Hot Springs, California, where they enjoy the serenity and peace of the desert along with Karnak the cat, and Sheba, their 100 pound Rhodesian Ridgeback dog.