Beasts of Burden (and Beauty)

Apologies for the absence of posts to the few of you who may actually read this. The truth is, I'm just not online as much as I used to be (which is undoubtedly a good thing). But THIS is worth a post...

Last week, Rich took Levi and I two hours into the desert to view a camel beauty contest. Once we got off the island and a bit into the land, it was all rolling dunes, rippled by the wind like frozen frothy red waves. Then, unassumingly, we seemed to just happen upon it - THOUSANDS of camels. There were golden camels, black camels, white camels, baby camels, camels of every shape, size, and temperament. The people, having spotted our cameras, were gracious and eager for Rich and I to photograph their camels, their pride. We walked a long ways up a sandy "road," dodging throngs of pickup trucks, camels, and men, blasting Middle Eastern music through megaphones, hooting and hollering for attention to their awkwardly majestic beasts.