I like the desert. I remember the first time my family drove south headed from SLC UT to Phoenix AZ. I was around 10, seated in the backseat of a minivan w/ my own disposable camera. As soon as we hit St George & I got my first glimpse of palm trees at gas stations I started clicking away. More than a few choice shots of half inside van/half crooked palms made up that roll 😅
The desert has that effect on me, though, & always has. I’m always amazed at the exotic nature of it—the fact that things LIVE there. And not just ANY things; some of the most beautiful & delicate-looking things live in the desert. There are fierce cacti w/ gnarly thorns that can almost bite through a shoe, and yet when those same cacti bloom, it’s often w/ the most ornate, delicate, magical flowers…
And that’s how it is out there. Wild, ferocious, violent landscapes (canyons, scorpions, cacti, desolation, heat) juxtaposed with breathtaking, fragile, exquisite tableaus (sunsets, geological formations, wildflowers, raging rivers, delicate ecosystems). It’s a wild & precious marvel to me, every time, reminding me of both how fragile & fierce life can be.
I think there’s a bit of the desert in me. Maybe because I was raised here, but more because of the forces & events that have shaped my life, like the wind & sand shape Arches. I recognize my prickly cactus bits—the parts where trauma has left me w/ difficult to navigate sharp edges, always worried & storing up “water” against the dry season. Protective. Guarding. Dangerously defensive if caught unawares. And I recognize the wild sage in me—blue ocean wild under the expansive desert sky, throwing my hair back in the wind under the stars. Even the canyon, carved & beautified by water—tears?—and time, providing shelter & home to smaller, more vulnerable things. More generous than you would expect in the desert. A baby canyon, a gorge, maybe, looking up to the giants for guidance.
Yes, I like the desert. Full of color, full of texture. Full of unexpected life & mysteries. You cannot tame it, but you cannot forget or leave it, either. A place of extremity, and beauty; and beauty in extremity. The perfect place to see and feel and learn and be.
