Okay, this is really just a clever way to finish using the photos I took on my early morning walk up a mountain… (see last post)… but the truth is, I was out in the desert for four days, and I am going to introduce you to the American Southwest… because I have a lot of pictures…
As I watched the sun come up over the distant peaks, I became fascinated by that range of mountains looming on the horizon. I have sort of a love/hate relationship with the desert. I live in a desert. Yes, I know, San Diego, beaches, palm trees, it doesn’t scream desert, but it is one. The Southwest of the United States is mostly desert. But this desert, in Arizona, is a whole other ballgame.
The desert takes many forms. My feeling is that if you have to be in a desert… and it isn’t winter… it better at least be an interesting desert. I want mountains that look like they are on an alien planet… and big saguaro cacti… It should look like a John Wayne movie at the very least.
Now see, that mountain range looks like it is on an alien planet… and it is winter… so we are good. I have been coming to San Diego since I was a kid, because my grandmother lived there. But she lived right on the beach, so I was blissfully unaware I was going to a desert. But, when I was about 13-years-old, my family rented a small motor home, and we went to Death Valley. The first time I stepped out the door once we were actually in Death Valley, the heat punched me right in the face, I walked 20 feet, kicked over a rock, and a big scorpion came out… right at me… and I backed into a cactus. Also, I hate being hot… so yeah, love/hate the desert.
I mean, let’s take a closer look at that leafless bush right there…
Why does everything in the desert look like it wants to kill you?
And yet, there is a tranquility in the desert… a stillness… (if you can get far enough away not to hear all the assholes driving around on their all-terrain-vehicles)… that is mind blowing.
The desert has moods… and a lot of the time,she shows her moods in colors. There is noting like sunrises and sunsets in the desert.
I became so captivated by the changing moods of those far-away mountains, that the whole time we were camping there, I would periodically go out and snap a photo of them. I think I will do a whole post with no words… just all the photos I took in that one spot… as the light and colors changed the feeling of the desert around me… and maybe I will call that post something really clever… like: ‘The desert… part 2…’
Seriously, if you ever get a chance to travel through the American Southwest, it will surprise and delight you… as long as it is winter… or you have really good air conditioning in your car. There is a lot of history there, the Native American tribes, the food, the strange people that deserts always seem to attract… it will be worth your time… but get out there and walk around a bit… carefully.
Pouring My Art Out 
That was really beautiful…I’m in Texas and have traveled all through the deserts of the southwest and I can verify everything you said is true. What struck me the most was how really HUGE tumbleweeds are…in the cartoons they are small furry things that blow innocently across the desert plains. ..in reality they are HUGE muthers as big as an SUV with huge branches that have sharp thorns on them. They are basically huge bushes that got ripped out by their roots and then just blow free..If you get hit by one blowing in the Santa Anna wind you stand a good chance of being hospitalized. And if you are in your car and want to keep your nice paint job you better avoid getting hit by one.
As an aside. ..What Arthur didn’t tell you was that when he went into the desert for four days, after day two he began hallucinating and came to believe he was Jesus Christ, because after all, Christ went into the desert too. A search party who were just coming back from a separate incident involving a man who had attempted to climb a mountain and fell 30 feet but was saved when a jagged rock caught on his underwear, (he hung there for two days before they found him.)happened to fimd Auther on his knees praying to a cactus. He was forced into the van and taken back to his family who, incidentally, hadn’t even realized he was missing.
that is all completely true, unfortunately…
Well those are really fine photos of the dessert = my favorite place to see in the real or in photos along with the sea. 🙂
I like when the desert comes right down to the sea…
that would be fun too!
yeah… unless you live there… HA!
Okay Ha!
yup
Chuckle
might as well
haaaaaaa.:-)
wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
O my goodness….it’s been -25 degrees here and I guess this is a side effect…looking for laughs.
I can’t even imagine that kind of cold
Don’t try. Your brain will freeze
I hate brain freeze
yeah, it in this case it could be permanent – thinking about -25 degree weather, I mean. Ha!
You should move…
Yeah, I know, but wasn’t it you that said don’t move to San Diego in one of your posts?
maybe…
Wow! Awesome pics! 🙂
thanks… I might end up getting a little carried away.