39: among the barrels

Dear Friend,

We hope that you have been enjoying good health in these last few days of 2025.

About a week ago, we returned to the Mojave National Preserve, in the Mojave Desert of California.

There are several great hikes from this campground, and lots of incredible vistas!

The weather in this part of the Mojave has currently been mild compared to many places on the globe. We’ve had wind and rain, but also lots of sunshine and mice. (Our humane-mouse traps, baited with peanut butter, have caught 6 little friends in the same amount of days. I’ve relocated each one very far from the campground but I’m still teased that it’s the same mouse coming back because it knows I love its little guts. Seriously, I totally know that they can’t be the same mouse, at least, I don’t think…).  

It is so good to be among the barrels. They are, to us, one of the cutest forms of plant life in the whole desert.

They stand there, full of personality, gazing at their surroundings. They are drought tolerant. They have round tops, and their torsos can be totally spherical or stoutly tubular, sporting a sectioned belly of ribs that expand when they absorb (and hold onto) water.

How tall they grow depends on the age of the plant, mature plants are usually not more than 4 to 5 feet tall, though some barrel species like the Candy Barrel Cactus of Central Mexico, reach over 8’ tall. The longevity of cacti depends on whether there is enough moisture and whether they are left to grow, undisturbed.

We are camping at around 4400’ elevation. The California Barrel cacti here hang out with bushes and brushes, cholla and yucca, creosote, beaver tail and prickly pear and lichen.

Some people call them Compass Cactus because barrel cacti tend to lean toward the South.

I checked some local barrels with my compass and yes, it does seem that most of the taller ones have a southerly lean.

The color of barrel cactus varies from dull gray-green to vibrant red, and they are covered with spines that protect their water-holding bodies from predators. Each spine is sharp enough to pierce your ear and, on a different and probably more useful note, when plucked just right, each spine has its own unique musical pitch.

If you spend time plucking enough spines on any one barrel, you might discover a musical scale and you might also need at least one bandage.

Here is a one-minute video, a sampling of plucking music played on a nearby barrel cactus.

Click on the video below to view our original collaboration: The March of the Barrels.

Frank’s photos of these sharply-spined plants often make them look cute and huggable, but beware of their cuddles!

While we’re on the subject of cuddly, don’t you agree that this little friend, a White-tailed Antelope Ground Squirrel, is outstandingly adorable?

It is also capable of many amazing things. A Ground Squirrel family often has between 5 and 20 members. They 'borrow' old, abandoned burrows and dig tunnel systems that are often used by other creatures, too. Burrowing owls, rats, snakes and other reptiles utilize these ground squirrel holes. Who knows how many Ground Squirrel families there are in any one area?

Ground Squirrels are also helpful in harvesting and dispersing seeds of surrounding plants. (Joshua trees, especially, depend on Mojave Ground Squirrels to provide this service. Mojave Ground Squirrels live only in the Mojave Desert. They look similar to the one in Frank’s photo, and are on the California endangered species list. It’s a long familiar story, their habitat is threatened by off road vehicles and other human intrusions. Everything in nature is so connected).

And, yes, any of these Ground Squirrels can also turn your engine compartment into one big nest in less time than it takes you to wrap your mind around it happening.

Speaking of wrapping your mind around things…

How do you feel about the New Year? Obviously, everyone is different, and to each person, each New Year may hold a unique significance. What do you think of when you think of the New Year?

After imagining the firework displays over Times Square, the first thing that Frank thinks of is a sunrise, a new dawn. When I think of ‘the new year,’ I see a tall, rugged mountain ahead in my path and greet it as a place I’ve never been.

No one knows what tomorrow will bring, today is already an adventure!  

Thank you for taking the time to check in with us. When you have a moment, Please Write, your emails are like care-packages from home, and it is always great to hear from you. If you’d like to share your thoughts on the New Year or any other thing, please do!

Keeping you in our daily Thanksgivings and sending you wishes for a Peaceful New Year!

Gently Be,

Leslie and Frank