People Share The Most Interesting Facts About Living In The Desert

I see a lot of sand in pictures of the desert.

And that is a red flag for me. When I'm in Florida I don't even frequent the beach.

So I should've known the desert wasn't for me.

Change my mind.

Spooky Times

"Tumbleweed is not just in the cartoons. And they are really freaking annoying. Roadrunners are also around, and are pretty cute. Coyotes party and sing in groups at night, and sound creepy as hell." ~ sonic_tower

The best things?

"Grew up in a town slash city in the middle of the desert. biggish town, but a lot of outback. The best things?? It's easy enough to just drive somewhere and go camping. you're never too far from just getting away from it all for the weekend. The bad?? The dust storms are the worst."

"Having the entire sky go black in the middle of the day is one of the strangest experiences of your life. Oh, the flies. Come summer if you're out bush they are relentless. Snakes?? They're more afraid of you. as long as you back off, they'll leave you alone." ~ tmofee

Water is Necessary

"Always wear a wide brimmed hat. Long sleeve T-shirts are underrated. Sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen. Always have water on hand. Watch for snakes. Learn about heat exhaustion, heat stroke and their respective symptoms." ~ ClickBang911

"Yeah, without daily sunscreen, you'll end up looking like an old catcher's mitt. You'll see a lot of people, ranging from suburban Karens to redneck desert rats, who've got that look." ~ ColossusOfChoads

'green space'

"The air is so dry that it removes moisture off your skin like a sponge sucking it immediately away. You have to constantly drink water, it just becomes a normal habit. You go blind/lose your vision faster because sun bouncing off the pavement and ground hits your eyes worse, as there is usually not as much 'green space' to scatter sun. Dust storms. Checking your shoes for venomous creatures, and/or having them crawl up your bath tub drain and not realizing theres a massive scorpion in the shower until you're soaping your head 10 inches away from it." ~ MakeShiftJoker

The Sting

"Always paranoid there might be a scorpion or tarantula lurking somewhere out of sight." ~ RogueLieutenant

Coyotes and scorpions?!

OH HELL NO!!!

I don't even have the words.

Scorpions! In my home?!

I'd never sleep again.

It's quite the... BOOM!

"You can never wear a short flowing dress unless you want everyone to see your panties. Long hair is best in a braid or you get repeatedly whipped in the face with your hair. Your windshield will crack for no other reason than it's hot as f**k."

"Pulling tumble weeds of the side of your house that have stacked all the way to the roof is an semi-annual chore. Gathering all of the neighbors trash cans and putting them back in front of their house because the wind has blown them down the street is how some trash days are. Hearing sonic booms from EAFB all day long are completely normal & nobody reacts." ~ _iron_butterfly_

Big Bend National Park

"A couple years after college, my friends and I spent a week in Big Bend National Park. It's a large park in SW Texas on the Mexican border, mostly desert with mountains, and the Rio Grande river. To give you an idea of the size of the park, our camp site was 70 miles from the park entrance."

"After a few days driving around out there, we noticed that people were on another wavelength from what we were used to in the city/suburbs. Folks you met at a store would give you a five minute conversation. People driving by would wave. We would wave back, because you could go half an hour without seeing another soul."

"People are wired to be social, and being completely isolated changes how you see others. The loneliest I have ever felt was in downtown Tokyo on the streets of Shibuya, surrounded by thousands. Alone in the desert, people start to see each other." ~ Thompson_S_Sweetback

People Explain Activities They've Added To Their Post-Pandemic Bucket List | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

It Costs

"Getting your house sealed from scorpions costs but is 100% worth it. I hate those lil f***ers, they hurt. Oh and dust storms, you can usually see them before the alerts on your phone, and you better get the heck out of wherever and get home. But don't drive in a dust storm, if it's too close just stay where you're at." ~ CreatureLD1

"I visited a friend once in El Paso and was told to search for scorpions in the sheets before getting into bed. I did not sleep well while I was there." ~ Extra-Ordinary-Joe

Southern California...

"If you play in the Southern California desert, you can see jack rabbits, road runners, coyotes, a king snake or a rattle snake. Lots of scorpions and somehow they can get in your house. plenty of stink bugs. You'll be sweaty just standing around, you'll be sweaty in the shade also. If you're a true desert rat hose water taste good."

"Cops are far away, ambulances are just as far. Swamp coolers don't do crap if it gets even the slightest bit humid. If its a windy desert you will have to replace your windshield every few years. They get pitted with sand and it's hard to see out of them. This is more rural desert, not Big city desert." ~ lookssharp

'plant in full sun'

"When you're choosing where to place your garden, remember that 'plant in full sun' means full sun in the Midwest. That's really not the same in southern New Mexico, where opening the front door is like checking if the lasagna is ready. I have shade cloth over everything in our vegetable garden." ~ DanYHKim

The Ring

"Drink water before you’re thirsty. Your shirt isn’t sweaty, but it has a huge salt ring on the back." ~ Single_Charity_934

"Omg yes. I'm in my freshman year of college, and I was really worried about the freshman 15. Turns out, the opposite happened because of how much more active I am. I was a little chunky coming into my first semester, and I'm down like 20 pounds lol." ~ SantanaSongwithoutB

AZ in the 70s...

"Grew up knowing how to act when encountering snakes, spiders, scorpions, or chuckawallas. We’d get a refresher at the beginning of every school year before being allowed out on the playgrounds. Logistically, unless you have cloth seats in your car or seat covers of some kind, you need a towel to sit on your car seats or you’ll burn your legs. Using oven mitts to drive is not needed now but was crucial where we were in AZ in the 70s."

"Wild burros would walk through your yard at night, and sometimes would let you hand feed them. Carrot tops were especially liked! Other than annual monsoons, rain was scarce and would generally dry quickly. It wasn’t unusual to only see evidence of rain on one side of your house (it’d rain in the backyard or the front - rarely both!)" ~ ReadontheCrapper

Just Bark

"Recently moved to the stix and we have scorpions everywhere. My pupper was acting strange playing with something on the kitchen floor. Bark scorpion. Found one when unpacking- moved a box in my living room to sort it and the thing ran across the floor. Another in my flower bed as i was putting in some plants. I lived an hour from here for the last 20 years and never saw one. Might need to burn this place down." ~ LJJ73

Steps

"You will definitely step on some devil horns if you walk barefoot. That's a guarantee." ~ rhnegativehumanoid

Sweat

"Biggest issue is decent fruit/veg and meat. Either doesn’t exist or is very expensive. Car needs cleaned all the time, window and basically anything left outside gets covered in dust/sand. Always have water in your car, I’ve broken down once without it and you feel quite weak after an hour of no AC. Oh, and light blue shirts are a no-no with sweat, and white ones turn yellow under the armpit so need replacing regularly!" ~ theDoodoo22

ranging temps...

"Just like there are snow plows, we have tractors remove sand from our roads. There are frequently 3-6 month periods with zero rain. Lightning/thunder happens maybe twice a year Temperature swings from high to low in one day can be 40 degrees. 80 during day, 40 at night. If you spend a lot of time in your car you will get sunburned if you don’t have tinted windows."

"Dry is actually very different, the shade is significantly cooler, and 100 degrees isn’t terribly uncomfortable. But 120 is an absolute nightmare Rolling power outages because the power grid can’t keep up with the AC demands Roadrunners are small, grey, and rarely have a coyote nemeses." ~ 123DownByTheRive

See you at Midnight

"Shake your shoes out before putting them on. Scorpions like to hide in dark spaces. The little ones are more venomous than the big ones. Always have water wherever you go. Dehydration is a witch. Lots of outdoor activities are best enjoyed after dark. We regularly grill at midnight." ~ Hungry_Example

Evaporated

"Sweat feels different. You’re never drenched in it unless you were wearing a ton of clothes because it’s evaporating so quickly." ~ PoorCorrelation

Hiding Out

"I grew up in the PNW and now live between Death Valley and Las Vegas in a rural low-elevation area. I can't really safely go outside for what feels like half of the year. The temperatures where I live are insane, and they're getting worse every year. I lost count of how many days we had over 120°F this past summer. I have to physically pick up my dog to take her to the potty area."

"Some very cheap shoes will melt on the pavement on particularly bad days, so you can only imagine what that must be like for dogs feet. Ground temperature is always much higher, especially asphalt. My rule of thumb is to usually take my foot out of my shoe and test it if I'm not too sure, if I wouldn't walk on it then I won't make my dog walk on it." ~ Almadenn

Yeah, I'll stay put.

None of this really sounds appealing.

And again... SCORPIONS!!

Goodbye.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.