Desert Oracle Radio, the voice of the desert.

Night has fallen on the desert and it sure got cold fast.

That's the October surprise of the high desert.

Or November surprise, if that's when it happens.

What random day after a heat wave will it suddenly get very cold with snow flurries and the whole deal.

And that's the surprise every year.

I hope you enjoyed the season of fall,

which lasted two or three days or so, as usual.

It happened on a Sunday where I was a very nice autumn.

I'll miss it.

But here we are.

A month later,

headed towards the end of November and another year, and...

It is so beautiful outside that it can make a grown man cry,

especially if the wind is blowing a lot of dust and other filth into his eyes.

This last Sunday, this glorious Sunday, I take my coffee and my book outside and sit in the sunshine, mostly ignoring the book because it's

just so nice out. But there's a low murmuring, a low mumble of creatures, too. I slowly notice it. It takes me a minute to figure it out. The

Joshua tree closest to me, maybe 30 feet away on the right, is suspiciously dark about the branches.

And then I pick out this one sleek blackhead and realize there are several ravens crowded together and they're hiding, muttering to each other.

Yeah. But the muttering is coming from across the road too.

And from the big Joshua tree about 20 feet to my left.

And as soon as I see that one big raven head,

...