Like the mysterious creatures which live near hot water vents in the ocean abyss, aquatic life near a desert thermal spring can be incongruous. While my bathing companion finds their nipping annoying, I admire the tenacious little fish, the desert dace, which gather to inspect the bather. They seem like guppies homesteading their way across a hostile landscape, having a respite here in this constant-temperature aquarium carved into a water-starved land.