I've never seen so many cactuses, absolutely tremendous and everywhere.  The image of an ant's view of a grassy lawn flashing in my mind.

Rina showed me a trick she learned in India of riding on the roof of a moving Buss, which is definitely something everyone should do once.  But I visualized the consequences of any minor accident once too often and had to retreat to the safe interior.  The roof was just too tempting though, so we parked and all had a little roof time.

Dr. Cyber Sam Malone and Rina the Quina showed us a move or two.

Soon we were in the town of Mulege,

which couldn't be more beautiful.  It doesn't feel like the other Mexican villages we've seen, more like Spain or New Orleans.  True to something I'd heard before, most Mexican towns feel like an organic part of the landscape, but this place feels built, probably even by city planners.

There's a heavy gringo contingent here.   Most are just passing through, but a few have settled down, and everywhere are well-tanned Americans driving about in gringo cars (i.e., anything less than 15 years old), and there are also lots of "room for rent" signs written in English.

The heat isn't uncomfortable, but it definitely discourages heavy activity.  When it gets hot here, which seems to be most afternoons, there's nothing better than sitting, preferably reclining, on something soft and shady.  It's no wonder that the hammock was developed in a climate like this.   It's also no wonder that this isn't an over-the-top industrious society the way America is.  The natural way of life here is to finish the any necessary chores and then relax again.

I guess it's no coincidence that modern science came from Europe and America, two climates moderate enough to permit busyness (note the similarity to the word "business"), and just severe enough to demand constant invention and improvement.  It reminds me of the joke from the Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy, that people considered themselves smarter than dolphins because they were the ones building cities, fighting wars, and so on, while dolphins considered themselves smarter than people for precisely the same reasons.  I'm starting to see the dolphin perspective, though I don't think I could undo all my busy programming to live like this.