At Home in the Mojave

Giant Joshua tree south of Las Vegas in Mojave National Preserve

Here in Las Vegas, we live in the middle of one of the hottest, driest desert ecosystems in the world. We post photos of our car thermometers showing 120 degrees as a badge of honor. Rain is always a notable weather phenomenon; we post pictures of it, too, in a show of desert-dwelling solidarity.

Beyond our annual vacillation between gloating (on winter days when it is 80 degrees and sunny outside) and loathing (when it is 113 in July and we are stuck inside on summer break with a hot, bored family), though, how much do most of us actually know about our home in the Mojave?

There is so much more to the Mojave than blazing hot summers. If you, like me and three-quarters of Las Vegans, grew up elsewhere and know more about pines and oaks than Joshua trees and mesquites, invest some time getting to know more about our extreme desert ecosystem. Continuing Education has several educational opportunities planned to help you learn more about the desert environment in which we live—join us for one or more upcoming adventures.

In recognition of what I hope are the final 100+ degree days of summer, I give you a few quick factual nuggets to broaden your knowledge of the Mojave.

• Joshua trees are one of the easiest ways to know you are in the Mojave Desert. They aren’t naturally found any other place in the world. If you are impressed with the specimens found out at Red Rock, you will be truly wowed by the Joshua tree forests of the Mojave National Preserve. Explore the Mojave National Preserve and Palm Springs with naturalist/geologist Nick Saines this November to learn more about the Mojave’s plants, animals, and geology.

• The world’s highest verified temperature ever, 134 degrees, was recorded at Furnace Creek, CA (Death Valley National Park) in 1913. Spend two days immersed in the geological and astronomical wonders of Death Valley National Park. Travel is scheduled for January, when temperatures are much more welcoming and the nights are long and clear.

• The Mojave was home to Native American communities for thousands of years. Learn the secrets to their survival by attending Native People & Plants in the Mojave Desert at Clark County Wetlands Park on Sept. 27.

• The Mojave Desert is home to many endemic plant, insect, and animal species (“endemic” means they live nowhere else on earth). Many of the endemic species are concentrated within one of four National Wildlife Refuges located with a few hours’ drive of Las Vegas. Fall day trips to area National Wildlife Refuges are already full, but there are still some openings in a new Introduction to Bird Watching course on Oct. 11 where you will learn to spot both native and migrating bird species the next time you are out exploring the desert.

For the Love of Beer as a Hobby or Career

For the Love of Beer as a Hobby or Career

From simple kits that allow you to mix and ferment to growing your own grains, home brewing is a rewarding hobby that can be as easy or as complex as you would like. It can be just as rewarding as a career. No matter which, it is important to remember to enjoy the process. Many aspects of brewing such as standing over a hot kettle with a countdown timer waiting to add an ingredient at the perfect time can be pretty tense.

Charlie Papazian, the author of The Complete Joy of Home Brewing, coined the mantra "Relax. Don’t Worry. Have a Home Brew.” He offers great insight.

Relax

Basic beer starts with four simple ingredients: malted grains, hops, yeast, and water. The malted grains are converted to sugar and, in a process called fermentation, yeast eats sugar to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. It is that easy. Each of these ingredients can be altered to create vastly different beer styles.

Malted Grains

Cereal grains are malted in order to develop enzymes that can convert the grain’s starches into sugars. Roasting the grains leads to darker beers. These grains are then crushed in hot water to convert starches to sugars. Beginning home brewers tend to bypass this process by using a malt extract. These extracts come in many varieties and can be pre-hopped thus simplifying the brewing process by eliminating the need for hop additions.

Hops

Hops are cone shaped flowers from the hop plant that are used to flavor, aroma, and preserve beer. Hops add the bitterness that can be used to balance out the sweetness from malt. Beginners tend to use dried hops that have been processed into pellets.

Yeast

Brewer’s yeast is a fungus that consumes sugars and creates alcohol and CO2. There are many strains of yeast that vastly affect the style of beer produced. There are two types of brewer’s yeast -- ale yeast and lager yeast. Ale yeast thrives at higher temperatures (60-85°F) whereas lager yeast thrives at lower temperatures (40-55°F).

Water

Water is an often overlooked, but critical ingredient to the brewing process. Minerals in water can affect the rate of starch-sugar conversion, and traditionally added regional characteristics to beer. As a general rule if the water tastes good, it should make a good beer.

Don't Worry, Have a Home Brew

When combined, the four ingredients will make beer. Your beers will not be perfect, but that is part of the fun. Flawless beers can be purchased at a store. Your beer might be cloudy, flat, over-carbonated or have any number of off-flavors, but it will be beer.  Stick with it and each batch will be better than the next.

While brewing can be a fairly simple process it helps to have a friend guide you through the first time. UNLV Continuing Education and UBottleIt are teaming up to offer a Home Brew Workshop for Beer Lovers September 18.

Interested in becoming a beer expert? Check out the Beer Steward & Connoisseur Certificate Program

Art classes with UNLV Continuing Education

 Now that the fall catalog for Continuing Education is out, you should take some time to explore the descriptions for Arts & Crafts courses. We have everything from drawing to stone carving and silk painting to woodworking.

Discover your artistic talents by taking Continuing Education’s Drawing: Beginners. The instructor will lead you through exercises that will train your eye, hand, and imagination to work together. Learn about shapes, shading, and negative space.

Watercolor or Acrylic Painting would be a great next step after drawing. The techniques are so different for each style; which one to take really depends on the medium you prefer. Of course, nothing is stopping you from taking both!

In Acrylic I the instructor will cover brush and non-brush work, color mixing, transparent and opaque application and much more. During Watercolor: Basics you will learn to accept the luminosity and versatility as an art medium that watercolor can be. In class, you will discuss materials, tools techniques, color, and composition. Instructional time will be followed by studio time, where you will translate your techniques onto paper.

I am looking forward to instructor Gabbie Hirsch’s Holiday Ornament Painting Workshop. Class participants will create heirloom ornaments and take home a new skill. The instructor will teach simple designs such as names and basic themes, or she will help you tackle a more complex image like a landscape. These would make great presents for the holidays.

To see a listing of all our arts and crafts classes, go to: http://continuingeducation.unlv.edu/catalog/arts-crafts