No man is an island -- especially in the desert

Summer storms are pretty common out here in the desert. Today is a fine example. The wind is blowing relentlessly, the clouds are grey and ominous, and dust and sand fill the air. The rain is coming now, too. Earlier it was overcast, but the wind was light, and the cooler than average temperature was the only clue that it might rain.

Today I went home for lunch, and on my drive back to the sanctuary I noticed something odd on the highway near the gun range (if you live in Kanab you know what part of the canyon I'm talking about). There was a man in blue jeans and no shirt – he had a deep dark tan, and he was pulling along a large suitcase on wheels behind him up the shoulder of the highway. We're not talking a suitcase suitable for the overhead bin of the airplane, we're talking extended stay Samsonite-type rolling bag. His light scraggy hair was blowing in the wind. Just this guy all by himself pulling this giant suitcase up the road in the middle of the desert. No broken down car anywhere, that I could tell, and he wasn't hitchhiking either -- he was walking on the shoulder against the direction of traffic. Just walking up the highway in the dust. He was a couple of miles up the canyon already, and several miles from any town. So random. During this storm, I hope he has found adequate shelter. Most of all, I wonder where he was going in the first place.