Spring flowers in the Anza Borrego desert

March is the most beautiful month in the desert. After plentiful winter rains, a profusion of annual flowers has emerged from the sandy soil. From a distance, a veil of green delicately tints the hills. Up close, blooms of purple, white and yellow dot the sandy soil.

We moved to Borrego Springs last summer from nearby San Diego, California. So, this is our first spring as residents. Although we have camped here many times over the years, we are just learning the names of the most common flowers -- yellow desert dandelion and poppy, purple sand verbena and Arizona lupine, and white chicory, brown-eyed evening primrose, popcorn flower, and the strangely lovely desert lily . Because of the heavy rains this year, a bountiful crop of flowers is predicted for Spring 2010.

The desert is so quiet! This is a very small town -- not one single stop light, and only about 2,500 residents year-round. I am used to the sounds of cars rushing by, car alarms, dogs barking, jets overhead, and all the other constant audible intrusions of city life. Here, I notice the yelping of coyotes in the dawn hour no doubt celebrating a successful night's hunt, an owl's soft nighttime hooting, the wind in the palms, the courting coos of the mourning doves. I want to just sit and watch and listen.