living desert

Reaching for the golden ring

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Endangered Species Carousel, at Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing, but what you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself. –Alan Alda

Giraffes are graceful animals, but don’t let their gentle demeanor fool you. Living as they do on the African savanna, they have no choice but to stick their necks out.  How else to avoid potential predators, or to locate the next watering hole? No better way to reach the highest tree branches, where the tastiest morsels grow.

If a carousel animal can suggest a truth universal, maybe it’s this: The golden ring is available to those of us who are willing to stretch beyond our comfort zones, and to set our sights on the unknown. Danger lurks, but that’s a given, even for those who seek refuge in a merry-go-round existence.

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If there’s a time when a person’s neck is most exposed, it’s when they’re writing memoir. It’s hard, sometimes, to trust the process. But oh, the treasures that make themselves known to us, when we prove ourselves willing to stretch beyond any preset notions or boundaries, and to bravely explore each memory for its underlying essence!

(Random though it might seem, this blog entry was  inspired by a visit to “my” desert oasis this past weekend, where I reflected on next-steps for my memoir  and pondered Alan Alda’s quote. And of course,  long-time readers know already how fond I am of the Endangered Species Carousel.)

A thousand words (or more)

Someone made a comment to me last week that gave me a moment’s pause. In an offhand, joking manner, he mentioned that I’ve posted more photographs than insights on my blog of late. I’m sure he meant no slight, but to be honest, my feathers got a little ruffled.

Harrumph! His point’s independently verifiable, but the implied assertion is mistaken. I’m not posting pictures willy-nilly, I promise you. And I’m not being lazy. It’s just that…well, sometimes the words flow more easily than others. And when words fail, pictures help illustrate my innermost thoughts and feelings. This is one of those times. So here we are again: another trip through metaphor land, another show-and-tell.
 
Life’s been a little hectic around here lately, so my husband and I sought refuge in our favorite oasis. Sometimes you just need to see things from a different vantage point, you know? Pictured here, a great egret surveys the situation.

Beep! Beep! Even roadrunners need a respite now and again.

I don’t think of a desert oasis as a typical habitat for mallards, do you? I don’t know how they got here, but this pair of ducks accommodated quite well to their unusual circumstances. Would that I could be so zen!

High above the desert floor, a red-naped sapsucker forages for food. He pauses for a moment’s rest, perhaps pondering his next move. But before too long, he’s knock-knock-knocking again. Persistence, thy middle name is woodpecker.  

There’s a time for high-flying, and a time for hanging out. I’m slow to learn the lessons this black-crowned night heron apparently knows.

Sometimes it seems as if I’m on an lonely chase, falling further and further behind…

…but this, too, is a matter of perspective. Truth is, I’m surrounded by cheerleaders, and I’m keeping a steady pace.


This pair of photos are from the endangered species merry-go-round at the Living Desert.

I also took a stroll through my backyard garden this past weekend, and I’m so glad I did. Tucked into a tangled mess of citrus leaves, I discovered this magical surprise…

From my picture window, I can easily watch this Costa’s hummingbird’s comings and goings. And someday, if I’m really lucky, I’ll see her hatchlings fly.

It’s been a long while since I’ve practiced the things I learned in my photography class, but there’s a lesson in that, too.
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