The Desert
Only experience suffices to allow understanding. And if you are fortunate, have someone to guide you, point out the manner in which “things work,” — there is a chance to learn without injury.
The desert is austere, an unforgiving place. The scarcity of water means that 
life is precarious, the margin of survival is thin, there’s ferocity to life in this place.
I live in the Midwest. From an automobile at 75 mph viewing the expanse of hot dry desert to the horizon I knew intuitively that I was not adapted to this landscape. There’s much to learn, a great deal to understand in order to “fit” into this place.
Three of us took a short hike yesterday. Be mindful of the path that you take, and don’t walk through bushes. A rattlesnake may be resting under the shade of that bush. Resist temptation to touch the surface of any of the cactus succulents that are blooming. Admire at a distance, but do not touch. Those surfaces with a frost-like furry coat actually are tiny spines…
Notice the white wash of bird droppings staining the rock face of the ridge perhaps a quarter mile in the distance. A falcon is raising her chick, from a vantage point allowing her to detect anything that moves on the desert below.
The cactus in bud and bloom were living sculptures. The intense and delicate blossoms were a brilliant contrast to the light and dark browns of the sand and rocks. Many tiny blooms are all around, just at the sandy surface.
The sky was deep blue, the wind gusts came with intensity.
These are some of the photos taken on our walk.
