_ all night we drove to alamagordo, and slept four heavy hours in a super 8 refrigerator. at dawn all our cellphone alarms sounded. we stumbled to the car and picked up somebody else's complimentary breakfast at the hampton inn. lacking cutlery, we spooned our froot loops with the lids from our coffee cups, and drove fifteen miles to white sands national monument.
_ we took our shoes off and wandered up the dunes, sand still cool from the desert night, threaded between our toes.
_ standing quietly at the top of the dunes, we first heard only the wind, and then, amazingly, the baying of coyotes, calling to each other across the miles. we joked that it was just some city-slicker two dunes over having a bit of fun, and so we called back.
_ the dunes are the world's largest gypsum dune field, and spread for about 275 square miles.
_ we met roman wandering out of the dunes in the morning light. he is from a small town outside of paris (as all the french say, even those in marseille), and was complaining about the light. it was already too harsh, he said, and promised to come back for the sunset. when we arrived, we had noticed his girlfriend sitting in the car with the air conditioning on, reading a novel. we hope, for her sake, that he found his light.
