I was once riding a bus from Salt Lake City, Utah to Phoenix, Arizona. I was much, much younger then but traveling by myself. I happened to sit next to an older lady. When you are that young, everyone is older. She began to comment on how dreary and uninviting the desert looked. I remember the conversation, because I began to defend the desert as a beautiful and inviting place. I guess I realized for the first time that every place in the world has its beauty. Cactus flowers are one of those superb benefits of living in a desert. They are truly a light in the desert, like the sun coming trough a thick covering of clouds and revealing the brightness in the sky beyond.
I love the way light shines on the architecture of the cacti, the ribs and spines all working together to cast strategic shade on the tough, waxy skin as the sun moves across the sky. Every time you look at a cactus. it looks different.
ReplyDeleteI confess, as a geology student I also love looking at the bare bones of the world, in places that aren't "haired over" by grass and shrubs. To me, the Southwest is Heaven.