i'm joan jasper and i'm with the department of exhibitions and public programs at the library and i wanto welcome you it our

i'm joan jasper, i'm with the department of public exhibitions here at the library. thank you so much for coming to our exhibition tonight with author craig childs. he's been jet setting all over the country promoting his new book, the house of rain. we also want to thank the publishers for bringing craig to us and we also want to thank (inaudible) at the book table at the end of the program. craig childs is a commentator for national public radio's morning edition. he has written noert "new york times", the los angeles times and several magazines. his work has won the spirit of the west award as well as the colorado book award. the book, house of rain, is craig's latest book. please help me welcome craig childs. . >> hello. i come to you from out of the desert. i'm coming to you from a landscape where once you get an eye for things, 3 grains of sand out of place draw your attention, where everything is brought to bear, where everything is hinged to a story, every drop of rain leaving a dimple in the ground. stories are everywhere out in this landscape. when you walk