Page 5 - Spring 2018 issue v1

4 Friends oF red rock canyon Friends oF red rock canyon 5

Sharon’s Slant
Member Updates By Mary E. Labie

Welcome to our newest members of the Friends of Red Rock Canyon family!
By Sharon Schaaf

G ail Collins-Ranadive was not excited when Her essays honor the sights and sounds of Red
she was assigned to Las Vegas as an interim Rock Canyon trails, The Springs Preserve, Valley
Unitarian minister. When she arrived, Gail learned of Fire State Park, Sloan Canyon and the work of
that her congregation maintained a trail at the Red organizations whose goal is to preserve and protect
Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. When these areas. Gail has a new book coming out soon,
Gail survived standing in line at the Department “A Fistful of Stars: Communing With the
of Motor Vehicles to register her car and driver’s Cosmos.” An ardent climate activist, she is also
license, she decided to celebrate by heading right working on a book about the climate change crisis.
out to Red Rock Canyon to purchase her annual
pass. For all of us who love Red Rock Canyon, we Bobcats weigh 15 to 25 pounds and mountain
know she was off to a great start in Nevada. lions between 100 and 200; there are four types of
skunks in the southwest,
“Chewing Sand” is Gail Collins-Randive’s four types of mice and
collection of essays about the Mojave Desert five types of squirrels;
and how its landscape a white-nosed coati is
became her “sacred text a close relative of the
for contemplation.” raccoon; kit fox are also
You will smile as she known as desert fox; the
shares experiences all cute and adorable black-
we transplants from the tailed jackrabbit and
East and Midwest have antelope jackrabbit are
Volunteers dedicated to the preservation of Red Rock Canyon
had…forgetting how to actually hares with ears
turn on the windshield six to seven inches long;
wipers because it’s the southern long-nosed
been so long since you bat is an important
used them; seeing our pollinator in the desert
first double rainbow; of the southwest.
replacing landscape
grass with rock to save This is just a sample of the information found
water; spotting bur- in “50 Common Mammals of the Southwest,”
ros for the first time in George Olin’s guidebook in identifying animals
First Creek; watching that live near us. It is one of eight books sold in
a coyote roam your Elements that are published by Western National
neighborhood. Parks Association (WNPA) of Tucson, Arizona.

“Chewing Sand” is an award-winning book Cacti, butterflies, dragonflies, birds, plants and
published by the independent Homebound Publi- wildflowers are the topics of the other WNPA
cations and is available in the Elements Gift and guidebooks found in Elements Gift and Book
Book Store in the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center Store. Also, Amazon has more books from Western
and on Amazon. Gail will be at the Visitor Center National Parks Association covering topics about
at Red Rock Canyon later this year on Sunday, Southwest parks, hikes, history, geology, explorers
December 9 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to sign and conservationists, plants and animals.
copies of her book.

the Rock - Volume 8 Issue 3 Spring 2018