Southwest (U.S.)

The sun feels warm on my skin, like a fuzzy yellow blanket. My rocks are colored red and orange, and they stand up tall like giant sandcastles waiting for you to play. My sky is a big, big blue, and my funny saguaro cacti have arms that wave hello to everyone who comes to visit. I am the American Southwest, a land of sunshine and stories.

So many stories live here. A long, long time ago, the first people, called the Ancestral Puebloans, came to live with me. They were very clever and built cozy homes right into the sides of my tall cliffs, like little rooms tucked into a shelf. I loved to hear the children laughing as they played. Later on, cowboys with big hats and friendly smiles rode their horses across my dusty plains. At night, they would sing songs to the sparkly stars. I still have lots of friends who live with me, like the playful roadrunners that go “meep meep” and the coyotes who howl a happy hello to the moon.

Today, families come to see my amazing sights. They look down into my super-deep Grand Canyon and say “Wow.”. They go for walks on my winding trails, holding hands and laughing. At night, when everything is quiet, they look up and see more sparkly stars than they can count in my clear sky. I love sharing my sunshine and my secrets. I will always be here, waiting for you to come and make your own happy story in my beautiful, wide-open spaces.