Antelope Passageway

Deep within the Navajo Nation there lies a completely unremarkable desert landscape. Nothing–absolutely nothing–seems any different than any other part of the surrounding desert, and all is quiet. Upon a slight mound is a slight crevasse; again nothing unusual here. And leading up to the small crevasse (which is, after all, just a few feet wide) is a completely normal wash.

But should one walk up the wash they will discover that it leads to a very remarkable slot canyon hidden in the desert–Antelope Canyon. And as the passageway of the slot canyon is breached absolute magic cascades all around you. The colors, texture, patterns and even the form of the canyon’s walls are beyond compare. Depending on the time of the day and year, the colors can range from brown to yellow to orange to red to purple, and often, all these colors, and more, all at once.

Antelope Canyon is a wonderful reminder of the beauty of this world, for that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times, if only one looks around them. Take nothing for granted, for you never know what lies just before you; what magic and wonders abound, there for the looking.

Desert Snow

Ah, spring in the desert. The desert begins to green up ever so nicely in the spring; lush and rich, and the travails of winter have been cast aside. The cactus begins to bloom, adding to the beauty. And the snow comes in, draping over the Four Peaks of the Superstition Mountains. Wait. What? Snow?

Yes, snow. Although it was mid April when this was taken, that didn’t matter to the cold rainy day which came around. Down low, it was just that–cold and rainy. But at the higher elevations, well, that was a different story entirely. There it was cold and snowy, and the upper reaches of the Superstitions had a wonderful blanket of snow.

As the clouds began to break up later in the day the Four Peaks were once again revealed; still wrapped in their blanket of clouds they slowly began to reemerge into the spring. Down below, the saguaros took it all in stride, reaching skyward and thankful for the brief rain; if anything the desert floor was even more lush and green than it had been earlier that morning.

Ah, spring in the desert. What a wonderful, wonderful time of magic.

Monumental Goodnight

White Solitude

There. Deep in the hear of nowhere it sat. Just so, at an angle designed to carefully shield the sun. It rested jauntily upon the top of a dune, a splash of color in the other otherwise desolate landscape. Actually, it was the only splash of color there, apart from the white and the blue of the distant mountains.

White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico is a place like no other. Trackless, endless dunes of white gypsum sand stretch as far as the eye can see, and beyond. The solitude and the silence deep in the dune field is like no other, and the only sounds heard are those that you yourself make… and even then you are just swallowed up by the vastness. It seems that no matter how far you walk, how many dunes you climb, or how many times your feet step forward there is one more dune ahead of you. Perhaps that’s true, but there is, of course, the mountains in the distance to provide contrast.

Being out among the dunes gives you, however, a deep sense of peace and tranquility. Intellectually, you know the dunes do not stretch forever, yet in your heart and soul you know that they must.

For those who crave solitude, this is the place to be. Just don’t forget your umbrella.

Yucca Dune

The emptiness, when seen from just the right angle, is absolute and complete. The white gypsum sands stretch on for an infinity, never beginning, never ending, always continuing, always stretching, endless emptiness.

And in the middle of this, life always finds a way. Growing in the middle of nowhere and everywhere, the Yucca, alone on its dune, perseveres. It is undaunted by the endless emptiness and continues its race against the sands. Make no mistake about it, either, for it is a race against life. If this Soapstone Yucca cannot grow quick enough or tall enough, the shifting sands of the dune will eventually cover it, overwhelming it and consuming it.

In the White Sands National Monument, this race happens throughout the dune field, with many victors and many losers. Some dunes have a lot of participants on them–others, like this dune, sport just one isolated yucca, which is leading the way, perhaps, for others yet to follow. For now, though, the race for survival continues on this Yucca Dune; the sands continue to stretch on to infinity, the silence complete and the outcome far from certain.