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Show : quietly in a ipot for a few minutes, recording which birds he mw or heard and what they were doing. He would then get up and move a set distance end repeat the process. This was the time of day when the birds were most active during the summer, and therefore so was he. The Instinctive wisdom of the birds as shown in their daily activity cyde offered much for me to emulate. We humans, however, seem to feel the need to leant from our own direct experiences, as I proceeded to do. As far as I was concerned, the plants maintained the same activity level (Le. crew member, was happy not to basically none) all day. So I, as vegetation-surve- y have to get up before the crack of dawn. I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while watching the sun come up over Waterhole Flat In no particular hurry I gathered up my tape measure, plot frame and notebook and walked on over to the same blackbrush patch. The ascending sun had quickly dismissed the hint of chill In the air. Recording the species and abundance of plants within each of a hundred plot frames along the transect line was a tedious, task. This first one took about three hours. The pleasant feel in the air was now long gone westward as the sun, not yet at Its zenith, burned fiercely in the cloudless sky. Very little was moving, except for me, as I wandered over to the nearby grassland and began the next plant transect. Slight broths of air would cause the tips of the ricegrass plants to quiver every now and then. The mournful, wavering cries of pifton jays off in the distance were about the only encroachment, Infrequent at that, upon the vast silence. Puffy cumulus clouds mushroomed noiselessly into thunder heads over the faraway LaSal and Abajo Mountains, carrying the promise of refreshing rains there. Unlike me, the grassland's plants and animals were not tantalized by the thought of moisture from such distant storms. Those residents were content to lie idle in the searing stillness of the summer afternoon, as their ancestors had done for countless years before them. I finished my transect and found some shade back at camp. Eventually the heat eased off as evening descended. Only then did we three humans rally and fix ourselves some supper, amidst the rejuvenated calling of the resident birds. The next morning I arose when the bird survey person did, well before the crack of dawn. Summer is the most extreme season in the canyon country, when temperatures can 105 hit or more for days on end. It is easy to be here during the other seasons. But some people choose to (or must) experience this place at its most extreme. Such journeys can be satisfying, usually after the fact, as long as one drinks lots of water d and travels conservatively no breaking of record travel-timas printed in guidebooks. The margin for error, however, is slim, and too often there are avoidable tragedies. The enticing photos on the postcards and Travel Council materials belie the afternoons. hostile, deadly nature of the canyon country on mind-numbi- Cooking REMEMBER, WE'RE ONLY 1531 MILES ILVMtfS PARADlSf . CAP AWAY IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. kfast - 'And well worth the drive." m- - i v' i 3 1'' ; j&Si&nvrix 1 er f s ' '. ' - j;.f. S : v ' 8f :: , J i. y fc !'1; - ,W 'A TOM TILL ' S. , Photography 0 c foto-fille- es mid-summ- V 1 ng - w7i r . i1 v) 4 i- - i . CARTOONISTS hlc... NOTE: I ASKED FORAPHOTO OF TOM FOR A FUTURE CARTOON RENDERING. THIS IS WHAT HE SENT ME Sore, tired or stressed? Try relaxingl i Specializing calories Into gasoline, a bicycle gets 3000 miles to the gallon" "By converting hydrotherapy for a relaxing deep maisaga. 0 for or atop by appointment Tueiday through Saturday between 6 PM for walk-i- n appointment!. Call Diamondback, Marin, Voodoo, Schwinn WIB, Titus, Keith, Anderson, Nike, Shlmano, Bell, Giro, Lone Peak Pearl Izuml, Swobo, Cantina 2 Sarah Macke, LMT 92 Eaat Canter St FAX: rm ii. it-- .- ii ... i iijiyfiJi MerId,aN$ (801)259-788- 2 i. n Suita 103 84532 Utah Moab, Acres the hall from the Canter Tharapautlc Manage 259-231- 2 ww myi!. mt&a t . i rHIRTY-O- 259-221- 4-- RENTALS SALES SERVICE (800)635-179- for Health Alao offering aromatherapy and BMX RACES AT THE SPANISH TRAIL ARENA. CALL US FOR INFO. 497 N. Main St. Swedish, Sports Nationally certified In Therapeutic maisage and bodywork. Member AMTA. COMETOTHEEREE BICYCLES MOAD. UTAH In Massage end Touch tiulMk Cafe |