Being in the desert

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been away from home on a day-job-related business trip. I'm currently in El Paso, TX for one more night. This desert town is a far cry from the lush, green, humid city I call home: Pittsburgh, PA. Not only is the landscape entirely different, so is the culture. Most of the local residents are latin as El Paso is only minutes away from the Mexican border, so my not being able to speak Spanish is a hindrance here. Plus everything has green chillies in it, and I'm a total pansy when it comes to spice. At least I have steak and BBQ to keep me (mostly) safe.

That sky, though!

I'll simply never get this view at home.

The good thing about coming to a place so different from home is being able to think about how this area would handle The Blackout in The Storm Series. As an amateur forager, I make sure to check out the local vegetation to see what grows and if any of it is edible/medicinal. I can name around a dozen plants off the top of my head at home (which has taken years of study), but here? All I can think of is yucca and how it can be used as soap:

General information about its use as soap: http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-health/yucca-soap-yucca-shampoo-zmaz81mjzraw

Step-by-step instructions for preparing soap with pictures: http://sensiblesurvival.blogspot.com/2011/12/making-soap-from-yucca-leaves.html?m=1

I'd be absolutely lost here if I got stuck here and had to forage. This isn't one of your cacti-laden deserts; it's mostly just brush (though I got to see a real-life tumbleweed as a result, which I got way too excited about).

Mountains, plateaus, and brush = the desert around El Paso.

The soil and growing conditions are so very different from home that I'm not even sure what I could grow and when. I'd figure it out eventually, but what if I didn't have that option? I don't have my books with me, and let's say there's no internet. What if I find myself in a neighborhood where English is not the predominant language. What then?

Now, in a scenario such as one in The Storm Series, El Paso would still have power as they are part of the Western Grid, so at least I'd have that going for me. But that will only get me so far in that scenario; I'd have to fend for myself until Ration Stations were set up.

I dunno if I'd make it, and that's a little nerve-wracking.

I guess with this story living and evolving in my head for over two years now (it was originally only going to be one novel, but that's a story for another post), the scenarios therein are always in the back of my mind. This isn't always helpful, especially in places with huge crowds. All I can think during those times are, "in the event of crisis, most of us would be trampled." With the current socio political climate, that sense of "stay the eff at home" is turned up to 11, but I can't always hide in the comfort of my home, especially when work beckons.

But I digress.

 I'll be returning back home tomorrow to the land of green vegetation and my garden full of veggies, and I'll probably do research on desert plants just for funzies in case I come back (which is a possibility). It's always helpful to have a reminder that there's still so much for me to learn, and I'm sure El Paso will probably end up having a small part in one of the upcoming novels as a result.