Agave

The desert is all about form. Sometimes it is a little bit difficult to appreciate the form when you are walking around. One of my early contacts with the agave was not so felicitous. I was hiking along the cliffs overlooking the Christopher Creek Box Canyon, when I slipped on a rock and the side of my foot went into a small agave. The ends of the branches are sharp, hard spines. The spine went right through my boot and into my foot. I can still remember the pain, 55 years later. It was excruciating and I still had to hike out the 10 or so miles back to our camp. Since then I have made peace with the agave clan and can think of them as beautiful.