Sunday, May 04, 2008

A taste...

Mike and I took a Sunday drive. On the way to Cameron we stopped at Shoshone Point. It's where they hold weddings here in the canyon. After parking we walked up a road, pretty rocky, a mile there and a mile back. It was a nice walk through the forest, peace filled and quiet. Getting up to the point we saw pretty little flowers, and took pictures. After that we stopped at one of the roadside stands; there's quite a few with native jewelry, and hiked another half mile out to a point taking more pictures of more flowers. Cameron is on the way to the painted desert; it's beautiful yet so very desolate. It's an oasis with trees (we watched a humming bird working a honeysuckle vine), a good restaurant, a huge store with lots of exquisite artwork, and not as good but pretty stuff. There's even antiquities from the late 1800's there; and yes they are for sale. The building is made of the rocks from the landscape, fossils, of course, are everywhere, the mortar is made with the pink sand of the desert. Beautiful.

I've never had much interest in the desert, when they showed the nature movies in school I would often wonder why people sought it out. Still do sometimes, especially when driving by old trailers and such. However passing several hogans (native homes build in a traditional way), brought the connection of the land and people home. Modernized with wood rather then, stone, dirt and branches, it gave it's story of respect to a way of life almost wiped out by territorialist that started way back in the 1600's. The air is different, cooler for the most part, dryer and more arid. The rocks, plants, animals evolved to suit the environment creating distinctive coloring, shapes and energies.

Looking out the window watching the changes in the landscape I thought to myself of all the places I've planted, I go into the desert to bloom.

1 comment:

New Beginnings said...

Bloomed you have little sister, I am so happy for you that you have found your own, and you share with us through your eyes the beauty of the desert.