the last few days have been a bit hectic. i feel at peace, but incredibly sleepy [a word i like to use to differentiate a good tired from something like exhaustion]. my immediate family & a couple family friends & i drove to anza borrego last night so we could spend the weekend exploring the superbloom out here. it's so beautiful, but it started to rain an hour or two ago, so we've sort of wound down for the day
we found one field of flowers that was absolutely covered in white-lined sphinx caterpillars... every plant had at least 10. it was an odd sensation to come across them-- so exciting at first, and slowly more & more overwhelming as we realized just how many there were [and just how little we knew about what they were, their danger, etc. at the time]
it's sort of beautiful to think about, though-- something about coming across the place where they likely all came to mate & lay eggs & begin again as a species. we stumbled across a community, though simply a biological & ecological one
i saw dune yesterday before we left, so i've been thinking about the giant sand worms. they're such odd creatures, but they've always captivated me. i never fully read or cared for dune [though now i want to give it another try], but i know i watched the 1984 version with sting as feyd [a casting choice i can more fully appreciate now], and the image of those giant lurking worms has stuck with me since. there's something so special about the vastness of arrakis and the way these giant creatures lurk beneath the surface, entirely in tune with its movement alon
having watched the new one, my main questions surround the logistics of worm travel [i know how one person gets on, but knowing that, how do they set up camp on one? how on earth do they get off?] and how those worms sustain themselves. i saw a post somewhere theorizing that because the worms don't use their muscles to squirm & move like snakes do, the only feasible way they could manage to burrow through the sand is by eating & shitting sand at incredible speeds in order to propel themselves forward, which makes me laugh. i sort of hope it's that. i guess death of the author & all means i can decide it is
anyway, i've had some really wonderful food today-- a really nice golden milk & cinnamon roll, some pizza, and we got an apple peach crumble for later, too. i'm excited to have some... i'm sure it's gonna be so good
it feels weird to be back in anza borrego. it's been a long time-- since i was 8 or so. i have distinct memories here, and suddenly i'm much older and re-experiencing it all in such a different way. i got sun sickness the last time, but i adored it all, too. i remember buying a little woolly mammoth stuffed animal & a t-shirt last time, and this time i bought myself a nice zip-up hoodie & a trucker hat & lots of other small goodies. the hoodie's keeping me nice and warm so far