Bats dusk and dawn

I've been trying to take advantage of living in the gateway town for Joshua Tree National Park by sleeping in the park once a week. This is actually the perfect time to be in the park during the summer months when the daytime temperatures rise above 100. I got into the park last night just as the sun was getting to a low angle, casting shadows off the rock formations. After a scramble around in a search for the boys who were climbing in a hidden grotto, we witnessed the sun setting and the magical desert dusk hour. We slept out under a starry, moonless sky and woke up before the sun to beat the heat and get a climb in before jetting back to the office by 8:30am. What an excellent way to start out the day!

I'd like to reflect a bit on bats...

In witnessing the bats flying around and catching insects both at dusk and dawn, I couldn't help think of how well-adapted their lifestyle was to the harsh desert summer. They eat at the best time of day to be outside - the cool mornings and balmy, breezing dusk; they get all the liquid they need from the insects they eat; and they sleep in shady, breezy caves and crevices in the rocks during the hottest, most miserable times of day. In reflecting on their luck at having such a well-suited lifestyle for their environment, the lesson that came through for me was that by simply "relaxing" into the laws of nature, the bats get everything they need. I may be projecting but the bats looked truly joyful flying through the sky and erratically plucking insects out of the sky, silhouetted by a lavender sky.

Nature's lesson: Look for the simple ways to live with the natural world. Don't push against it but "relax" into it and I may find that I can have my cake and eat it too.