Nothing stings quite like the desert. I remember standing one time in the midst of a desert at high noon, overlooking a large saline lake. It was so hot you could see the shoreline shrinking in front of you, as the sun drew the water into the air. On the far side of this dwindling lake, cattle sought shelter in caves. Only the flamingos feeding on pink larvae in the water stood untouched by the burning heat of the day.

Being in that desert was really a life threatening situation. I could not stay in that sunlight very long. Like the cattle, I too had to seek a cave for shelter or the shade of a divi-divi tree. As I drove through that wilderness, wild parrots and rubytopaz hummingbirds flew in and out of the cactus, but there was no escaping the relentless heat. There was no real relief to…