oasis

Thankful Thursday: Honey in the Rock

The desert is a desolate and dangerous place–to the uninitiated, at least.


But signs and wonders are hidden here. I know this from prior visits. 

In the broad expanse of seeming nothingness, an oasis springs from the desert floor.

Here, a place of dangerous exposure, yes, but also…refuge.

And unexpected beauty.

Here, a parched landscape, pockmarked with sharp rocks and thorny plants.

But also: bright flowers, butterflies and birds, not yet visible in that landscape.


 I dipped my toes in the cool, clear waters of the oasis last weekend. I hiked its rocky trails. I basked in warm, bright sunshine of the desert, and drank deep from the wellspring of its promises.

Honey in the rock.

And I'm back at my desk this morning, peering out my office window. A mockingbird's singing his heart out, and my camellias are in full bloom. Finches fight for seed at the feeder, and the citrus trees are budding. Hold tight to those images, I tell myself: springtime is coming.

Thankful Thursday: An oasis in the desert

At first glance, the desert presents itself as a broad expanse of sandy nothingness, pockmarked by a few tenacious plants. You might see a predatory bird overhead; you might see a lizard or snake, scuttling over sun-baked rocks in search of shade. But otherwise, the place seems desolate and uninviting.  

 
Dangerous, even.

 
But when you look closer, a doorway reveals itself…

 
And a host of life forms, once invisible, come gradually into view.


 

And if you listen carefully, you’ll hear the pulsing sounds of water, coursing through the seeming stillness. 

 
Taken on its own terms, the desert is a beautiful place–its oases, especially. They’re the stuff of legends and life metaphors, history books and sacred texts. Here, mirage and reality morph into one, and nothing never happens. 

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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Thankful Thursday: wellsprings in the desert

Strolling on, it seems to me that the strangeness and wonder of existence are emphasized here, in the desert, by the comparative sparsity of the flora and fauna: life not crowded upon life as in other places but scattered abroad in spareness and simplicity, with a generous gift of space for each herb and bush and tree, each stem of grass, so that the living organism stands out bold and brave and vivid against the lifeless sand and barren rock.  The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life-forms. […] Love flowers best in openness and freedom.

– Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire