After years of traveling and living in different parts of the US, I have come to live in a little trailer by a year-round stream in a lazy desert. I love my home, my dog, my cat, and my plants.

Five years ago I became fascinated with the art of belly dancing. Inspired by Jamilla, the Desert Veils, and Fat Chance Belly Dance, I have found something that allows so many aspects of myself to speak simultaneously. The little girl that loved to choreograph dances to Flashdance, Carmina Burana, and Peter, Paul, and Mary is back. The part of me that wants to prove "I can do it" is doing it. The teen that hid behind baggy clothes and a bad attitude is learning to put on make-up and shake what her momma gave her, and is lovin' it.

In my spare time, I work in a busy little government soils lab. We study the biotic components of desert soils in the southwest, and all over the world. In the semi-arid desert, all bare soils are held together with cyanobacteria. Many times the bare spots are stable enough to support lichens and mosses. When they get a good rain, they come to life and paint the ground in blacks, greens, yellows, blues, and pinks. So much beauty and life in such a small space.

Happy trails to you.