Lizard Stuff

Something for a Seven-Year-Old

Out in the desert, you might see a lizard on a rock doing tiny push-ups. It looks funny, but for lizards it is very serious.

One reason is to warn other lizards: “This is my spot—stay away!” The push-ups are like flexing muscles, showing strength without actually fighting. If another male sees it, he knows the rock is already claimed.

Another reason is to attract attention. When a female lizard comes around, the male does even more push-ups, faster and stronger. Sometimes he flashes bright colors on his throat or belly while he moves. It is his way of saying, “Look how tough and healthy I am. Don’t you want to pick me?”

And there is a bonus reason: on cool desert mornings, push-ups help a lizard wake up and get his blood moving, almost like warm-up exercises before the day begins.

So those little desert push-ups are not just exercise. They are lizard language—part warning, part love song, and part morning workout.

When Bees Sleep

Things to say to a seven-year-old

In the Mojave Desert, the bright yellow desert gold flowers open wide in the sunshine. They look like little suns shining across the sand. Bees love to visit, buzzing from one bloom to the next, sipping sweet nectar and rolling in golden pollen.

As the sun sinks low, the flowers start to close their petals. It’s bedtime for desert gold. But sometimes, a bee is still inside. When the petals fold shut, the bee is tucked in—safe and snug in a soft bed of pollen. The flower becomes a tiny motel room just for bees.

On windy nights, the motel isn’t always calm. The flower sways and shakes, tossing the bee about like a boat on stormy water. That’s what makes it “wild” life. But even if it gets bumpy, the bee is better off inside than out in the cold desert night.

Bees are hard workers with a wonderful work ethic. They don’t even leave the job when it’s time to rest. They sleep right at work, in golden beds of pollen. And when the morning sun warms the desert and the flowers open again, the bees are already up and ready—buzzing off to do their important work all over again.

Sunflower

Damn Yellow Flowers