Desert

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. -- With only the Joshua trees and hovering buzzards out here to bear witness, this isolated expanse of high-desert plain could well be among the quietest places on the planet.By day, the summer heat hammers hard, and the dull whistle of the wind is the only discernible noise. Come nightfall, the eerie silence is often pierced by the woeful bleat of a wandering burro.But wait. There's another sound.Along a line of wooden power poles running to the horizon in both directions, 14 miles from the nearest paved road, a solitary Pacific Bell pay phone beckons with the shrill sound of impatient civilization.

CAIRO, Egypt -- The names suggest kiddie parks or country clubs -- Dreamland, Royal Hills, Gardenia Park. Out in the desert wastelands surrounding Cairo, a new world is springing up -- one that, for better or worse, could determine the future of Egypt's teeming, overpopulated capital.Long fed up with the pollution, noise, traffic and general hassle of Cairo life, upper-class Egyptians have started looking outward -- to the dozens of elite, gated communities being built outside the city.Construction is nonstop -- and so is the debate about whether these new communities will save Cairo or finish it off.Egypt has always been a place of rigid class divisions, but until now rich and poor had lived side by side in relative harmony.

CAIRO, Egypt -- Traveling high above the Earth, the first men to circle the globe nonstop in a balloon say they reached a higher achievement, an appreciation for the planet and for peace."

AUSTIN, Texas -- On the matter of Gov. George W. Bush's favorite political philosopher: To some extent, one's reaction is a matter of taste and tradition. Many people prefer not to wear their religion on their sleeves; they consider it an unseemly and even offensive form of showing off.In this school of thought, one acts like a Christian, and that is sufficient advertisement for the merits of the religion. Pietistic lip service is automatically suspect.There is considerable biblical justification for this stand.

Editor's note: Lonely in his house beside a road in the desert, Alejandro (pronounced Al-e-han-dro) builds an oasis to attract the many animals around him.Alejandro's small adobe house stood beside a lonely desert road.Beside the house stood a well, and a windmill to pump water from the well. Water for Alejandro and for his only companion, a burro.It was a lonely place, and Alejandro welcomed any who stopped by to refresh themselves at the well. But visitors were few, and after they left, Alejandro felt lonelier than before.

Darkness hid the top of the sand dunes when we arrived at our Sahara camp, and it's probably just as well.Because the longer we climbed the next morning, the taller those dunes seemed to get.The highest dunes within our reach at Erg Chebbi, Morocco, were about 820 feet, according to the Knopf guidebook to Morocco.How high that seems depends on what comparisons you make.Diamond Head in Hawaii is about 40 feet shorter. Ayers Rock in Australia is about 200 feet taller.A more familiar measure may be the Jockey's Ridge dune on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Maria Reiche,95, a German mathematician who dedicated half a century to protecting and studying massive ancient drawings in the Peruvian desert, died yesterday of stomach cancer in Lima, Peru.The scholar's tireless work promoting the pre-Columbian drawings persuaded UNESCO to declare the 200-square-mile area a world heritage site in 1995.The figures of a hummingbird, monkey, man and spider and other geometric figures were created by members of the Nasca culture between 700 B.C. and 900 A.D. They were scratched into the desert floor about 250 miles south of Lima.

An Anasazi connection; My favorite placeI believe in love at first sight, because it's happened to me twice. Once, with my husband. Second, Arizona. The combining of these two connected me to the Anasazi, the "ancient ones," in a way I never expected.It was my second trip to Arizona, having coaxed my husband into going there on our honeymoon. The red rocks of Sedona had done me in on the first trip, and I wanted to savor both of my loves together.At Wupatki Ruins, in search of petroglyphs, we asked a ranger for advice.

Reclaiming her selfMy mother was dying and my daughter was on the verge of turning 16. As much as I wanted to run away from all the changes, I could not escape either passage totally. So I searched for a temporary solution, and found it in a trip to Arizona. I booked a flight and reserved a room and a car and headed West for a week.As an East-Coaster, having lived in Baltimore, New York and the nation's capital, I wanted to put myself in a new and somewhat exotic place. Phoenix provided both geographical and emotional distance from the problems at home.

Will Baltimore become a desert, just another hot dry spot on the map?It's a nightmarish thought, but not an impossible one. Consider the trend-line:More than 31 percent of the Baltimore area, including the city and a thin ring of suburbs, is sheltered by trees; 17 percent is covered by grass. The rest -- more than half the land in the metro area -- is under brick, concrete or asphalt.This impervious cover is advancing the way a sandy desert advances. Little by little, it eats the green.The canopy is shrinking.

Accenture WGC Match Play 2 p.m. [Golf Channel] Yes, you're tuning in to watch Tiger Woods (left), but did you get a look at those overhead views of the course in Marana, Ariz.? All that green in the middle of all that desert - I just kept thinking of how much water they must use.

As Martin Davidoff trekked through the blazing heat of Mexico's Sonora Desert in the spring, he carried the migration papers of his grandfather, who came to the United States a century ago to escape religious persecution in his native Russia. Although Davidoff, a college mathematics teacher, has never known what it's like to flee a country in search of a better life, he kept the papers in his pocket as a reminder of the personal connection he had to the Migrant Trail Walk that he had decided to undergo.

The tiny skeletal hand jutted from the sand as if beckoning the living to the long dead. For thousands of years, it had waved unheeded in the most desolate section of the Sahara, surrounded by the bones of hippos, giraffes and other creatures typically found in the jungle. A chance discovery by American scientists has led to the unearthing of a Stone Age cemetery that is providing the first glimpse of what life was like during the still-mysterious period when monsoons brought rain to the desert and created the "green Sahara."

There's a desert in their basement. It is in this drafty, dusty space called Apple Orchard Studios where Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand often escape into their surreal musical world. White sand from Home Depot covers a large part of the cluttered space. The mound is dotted with dying cacti, melted candles, a big glass water jug, sticks and rocks. A few weeks ago Scally and Legrand, collectively known as the Baltimore ambient-pop duo Beach House, used the homemade desert in a video for a single from Devotion, the group's new album in stores today.

One of the most common outdoor activities in this part of the country is hiking, and there are some amazing places to do that within a short drive of University of Phoenix Stadium. The Lost Dutchman Trail is a popular spot where hikers can experience the native foliage (hint: don't sit on it, climb it or eat it) and enjoy the raw splendor of the Superstition Mountains. I admit to being a little superstitious myself. I believe that if I go hiking in the desert, I'll get eaten by giant lizards, but apparently the hike is actually a very safe and pleasurable experience.

I read a funny article recently noting that New Yorkers love to eat outside, even though sitting at a sidewalk table in Manhattan often means enduring diesel fumes, the sounds of jackhammers and the rudeness of passing strangers. I thought of this recently as I enjoyed a wonderful outdoor meal at Desert Cafe, the six-year-old Middle Eastern restaurant in the trendy heart of Mount Washington. -- Poor:]

NAZCA, Peru -- Everyone here, it seems, has a theory about the Nazca Lines. The mysterious markings on the desert floor are a massive astronomical calendar. That's a popular one. Or maybe they point to hidden reserves of water, the source of life in the desert. Then there's my favorite: UFO landing site. Forty years ago, Danish writer Erich Von Daniken popularized that theory with his best-selling book Chariots of the Gods? Now, strapped into a four-passenger Cessna circling over a figure called the astronaut, I'm not sure what to think.

Its symbol is a 50-foot-tall wood-and-neon statue of a man that meets a fiery end. It's been the subject of much speculation, dozens of sensationalist reports on the nightly news and more than a few smirks from the general public. But the weeklong Burning Man festival, which runs through tomorrow in its remote high Nevada desert preserve, has rarely tempted serious filmmakers to chronicle its inner workings and outward spectacle. Until now. Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock (released last month on DVD)

TUCSON, Ariz. / / I went for the warmth, of course, and because Tucson's sprawl embraces classic scenery and classic places. The nickname, "Old Pueblo," hints at that. Yet there's a city here, too, with a bit of downtown arts culture and a university, both commanding space that might otherwise be taken up by yet another lending institution. After I arrived, I drove directly to a residential neighborhood only a few blocks away from the commercial eyesores that neighborhoods need -- gas stations, dry cleaners, convenience stores and fast-food emporia.

Art in Bethesda The lowdown -- Instead of basking in the television's glow of Jason or Freddy Krueger marathons this Friday the 13th, take advantage of downtown Bethesda's monthly art walk. Showcasing work from 13 galleries, the event encourages patrons to browse the collections, shop for artwork and enjoy free refreshments. Beginning in March, free guided tours will be offered. If you go -- The 2006 Bethesda Art Walks kick off tomorrow night. The galleries welcome visitors between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. For more information and a list of participating galleries, call 301-215-6660 or visit be thesda.