Describes the animal and plant life in a desert in the American Southwest and the effects of a short but violent thunderstorm.

Ten stories of desert explorations in which men and women, driven by dreams of discovery, searched for water, converts to Christianity, a homeland, and mineral treasure.

The travels that Childs recounts in this vivid narrative take him from places sometimes parched, sometimes swimming, from the depths of the Grand Canyon to the dry limestone tanks of the lava-strewn Sonoran Desert. As he travels, Childs gives a close reading of the desert landscape.