Occupation of Independence

' Wadi ' is an Arabic term that you might remember from the movie, "Lawrence of Arabia."  It is a valley that is dry most of the year, and sees water flow a couple days per year.  My area in central Utah has a wadi with a lot of mud deposited on the floor.  But water concentrates and carves out steep-walled slots 10 to 20 feet deep, in this otherwise flat area. The edge of the slot is almost a perfect 90 degree corner.  I was reluctant to walk within 3 feet of this edge, out of fear of it crumbling away.  Looking along the mud slot I could see a lot of places where the walls had collapsed.  In the narrower slots, this would trap a man. But I poked at those 90 degree corners with my hiking pole, and found them surprisingly strong. My little sweetie pie walked along the edge, close enough to give her daddy a heart attack.  At one spot she stumbled when she was only a couple inches from the edge.  But she quickly recovered. She might not have been to...