Welcome to the land of wildfire, hypothermia, desiccation, and rattlers.

The stark and inhospitable high-elevation landscape of Nevada's Great Basin Desert may not be an obvious (or easy) place to settle down, but for self-professed desert rat Michael Branch it's home. Of course, living in such an unforgiving landscape gives one many things to rant about. Fortunately for us, Branch--humorist, environmentalist, and author of Raising Wild--is a prodigious ranter.

From bees hiving in the walls of his house to owls trying to eat his daughters's cat--not to mention his eccentric neighbors--adventure, humor, and irreverence abound on Branch's small slice of the world, which he lovingly calls Ranting Hill.