The Mojave Desert covers approximately 54,000 square miles of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Forests are biological ecosystems; deserts are their inverse. A forest existed in this location in the past; now there is only desert. The cause is assigned to a family weiner roast—a small domestic cookout. The event didn't destroy the forest gradually through logging or environmental pressure. A single event transformed it into desert. The casualness of the description (a family gathering) contrasts with the scale of consequence. Small moments contain catastrophic capacity.