Here in this desert are plenty of animals. I never saw them when I was living in Los Angeles. I’ve seen roadrunners. They’re much smaller than the one in the cartoon, who’s the same size as Wile E. Coyote. Real ones are about the size of a robin but a little larger, with the long tail sticking up in the air. They can barely fly. They leap and glide a little before they land back down to the earth. I see them more in Indio than in Palm Springs. They must like the golf courses where ducks and geese settle along the small lakes near the fairways. I nearly hit one with my car once and would’ve felt guilty. Who wants to kill a harmless roadrunner?

I’ve also seen many hummingbirds flying around and sucking nectar. Such beautiful beings. I saw a green one yesterday. I was in the parking lot of a shopping center. The rain had just stopped. I could smell the water on the concrete while I sat on the curb and saw the hummingbird hovering in the air above me. It darted to the tree and disappeared. I listened to the cicadas buzzing in the tree. I thought it was the lights in the parking lot.

I’ve never come across any deadly creatures such as ratlesnakes or mountain lions. Thank God. There’s a reason I don’t go hiking in this area. I heard the desert is full of those predators. If I ever see one, I’ll run in the opposite direction. I won’t stop and marvel at their beauty. I would rather die some other way.

My apartment is full of insects I’d never seen before. One morning, when I left to walk to the coffee shop, I noticed a pink worm crawling along the wall next to my door. Pink. I’d seen many worms in my life, especially in my childhood, but never one with the color pink, which scared me. I don’t like to see creatures I’m not familiar with. The worm fell off the wall and landed on the ground, where it kept crawling away to hide from me. If I ever see one in my apartment, I’ll freak out. I was pretty sure it was a worm but not positive. It had sections like a centipede, which really disturbed me. There are other insects crawling in my apartment. I kill some when I get the chance.

Otherwise, I look for other animals in this desert town and hope to find something unique. I’m tired of pigeons. I want to see more exotic birds and mammals as well.