Art that Landscapes Deserts

 

Desert are often thought of as isolated, barren and unassuming. I know them to be a place where life thrives on the fringes. Art is seen in the decay of yesterday while a rock's brillance is revealed when light glances at it. 

Desert Gold

Welcome to Death Valley National Park. Spring is here. We didn't get enough rain to have the blooms this  year but we do have a flower garden in front of the Visitor Center. Speaking of visitor center; our Furnace Creek Visitor Center opened a week ago after eighteen months of renovations. I desire to challenge the African-American community to get out doors in 2012. Open Spaces Exploration is here to support you in those endeavors. As a guide for families first camping trip or even helping you plan a trip outdoors, we are here. I implore you to turn off the television, log off World of Warcraft and stop going shopping on the weekends. Instead go to a park, play with your families outdoors or create a new family tradition with a softball game outdoors. What am I saying? I'm saying move your body and it will clear out your mind. I find riding my bike, walking, hiking actually clears my head for the day. New lines for my writing or a scene that I've been trying to work out begins to clarify itself. Like Macy Gray says, "Get up, Get out and do something. Don't let the days of your life pass you by."

A New Song

Spring is coming. I can tell by the changes of my park. I hear a new song, sweet high pitched of a dipping bird flying from juniper tree to gambel oak shrubs. Its an early morning song that greets the first eastern sunbeam landing across a tree branch. I smell her coming; just standing close to a tree nose pressed against the bark. It stings in my nostrils, I sneeze then inhale another whiff of spring sap running in the tree. After work I know longer scramble home to get out while I still have daylight. I leisurely take my time knowing I have an hour to walk in my park looking for cotton tail rabbits, ermine and elk.

Spring brings about transformation. I'm laughing out loud. So many people are going to workshops, talk shops, classes, retreats to get refreshed, reconnected and paying a lot of money to do. You can walk out to your back yard, local park and sit. Be still.....I am reminded of a song my mother use to sing, "Peace Be Still" It was something about the verse "Whenever the Lord says "Peace" there is peace." That song verse is my chant as I walk watching the sun decline in the sky. Peace. It is a word I've know since I could walk and play in creeks. I have strived to have it a constant in my life. The challenge is not fighting what is, opening my heart to life fully. This includes what some people call negative situations; which I see as an opportunity or experience to grow through. Nature can give you that time out, reconnect, refresh feeling. It can give you peace beyond words, carrying you to a state of being I call bliss. It's obtainable. My only words of wisdom is to keep living. When you feel hopeless or helpless check yourself. There are only two emotions really love and fear. Which one are you living out of? Now go play.

Zion Nation Park

The Patriarchs 

Diddy - Dirty Money - Coming Home ft. Skylar Grey

All's Quiet on the Black Canyon Rim

It's quiet outside.  I can hear my footsteps as they crunch on the fresh powder that has fallen. Everything that makes a sound my ears are alerted to it.  My heartbeat, the silence of early dawn as it pushes the darkness slowly over the rim of the horizon.  It is a wonderful challenging feeling to be still. I find myself trying to figure out what to do with me.  With no urban distractions I find my entertainment, play and work in the environment that is present before me. It is stark, rugged unforgiving if you are not aware of the dangers that exist in the Black Canyon.

Yet it is a nature scene out of array of photographs of the West. It is serene breathe taking views of canyon walls, spires es, schist and dramatic overlooks to the Gunnison river down below. It inspires you to take deep breathes of cold clean air releasing your inner cares for a moment.  This place is a winter wonderland of raw nature.

Working in a national park has its perks and one of them is the solitude of silence.  Winter in the Black Canyon brings a subtle nuance to this place on earth. Snow coats the ground allowing visitors to take advantage of our closed roads for skiing and snowshoe. Its a treat watching people use the winter not as a time to hibernate as the bear but embrace the season at hand. Living in Colorado I one either embraces the cold, snow as part of your experience like spring in Florida or stay in your cave/home until spring.

No traffic, no rush hour of cars all trying to find the quickest way to get back home. No sitting on the metro reading while the time ticks away the minutes I spend above ground taking in the sunlight. Here its has slowed down.  I'm learning to drive in weather I'm used to keeping the car parked and staying inside. I no longer peep out the door to see if its all gone before venturing out to be about my day. My day is filled with finding ways to be out in the snow learning the lessons of winter and what she brings to my life.

My first hike along the Rim Rock trail I discovered mountain lion tracks. I felt exhilarated and frighten at the same time. It felt good to know what to how to identify animals by their feet. This isn't something I could have done five years ago. The only track I knew then was dog and cat. Now I notice things too. As a birder I spot quickly where the chirping is coming from. I see the pine cross beck trying to get nuts, or follow the angle of the gambel oaks trunks angled and twisted from blowing wind. I see new in my world. I realize I slow down. I  pause to be with nature, to be with myself as well.

Listening is key.  In our rush of things to do, work, family modernization has taken away the slow pace winter to use to bring. In the native tradition of the Utes of this area and I believe many other cultures as well, winter was a time for storytelling. It was a time to slow down, reconnect with family, talk about traditions and be still.  Our expectation of snow is to get it removed off the streets, sidewalks so we can keep doing whatever we are doing. Only the children have a wonder sense of wishing for snow so they can play the day away.  We are upset when flights are delayed or airports come to a screeching halt.

Here its apart of the fabric of life. It snows. Mountain passes get closed, avalanche control does happen and folks give pause.  They relish new inches on the ground. Its an opportunity to get out in the open country to be with it whether on skis or snowshoes. Its layering for the day before you go outside to hang out at the local coffee spot. I myself has acclimated well to the change of weather.  I find myself searching out favorable powder as it is called for snowshoeing or cross country skiing. I yearn for my days off to figure out what I'm discovering next.

Lately it has been my cooking skills. The crock pot and I have learned new soup recipes. It is something about simmering all day tomatoes or butternut squash soup. I look forward to the evening sitting in my dinning room looking out the bay window as I eat a nourishing bowl of soup.  I feel welcomed coming through my door the smells of spice, vegetable broth and beans cooking all day warm my home and heart.

Welcome my friends to Black Canyon National Park

Quitting Coffee and other Stuff

Quitting coffee is should require in house rehab. Years of drinking mocha flavors of vanilla bean, hazelnut, southern pecan, and even the rich dark Blue Mountain come down to this. I must let it go for the sake of health. If I could drink coffee and go through hot flashes (yes we are back to that) I would. This is similar to the Gettysburg address of President Lincoln when it came to freeing the slaves. It was only about saving the Union and which scenario got the end result was his choice. Okay that is too dramatic. Yet it is just what three days without coffee will do, bring out the dramatics. My end result is a return to sanity without medication. So if it means giving up the love of my life - coffee then here we are. No one wins here. I love coffee. I love the taste of the flavors; the discovery of new coffee theme shops with their own pizzazz and flavor.  Every new city I encounter its livability is dictated by the coffee shops it has, second being the independent bookstores. Let me say chain shops like Starbucks, Seattle's Best are not considered in the grouping. They are a by product of the excess that has drove the country to over spending. Who pays over two dollars for coffee. It is immoral
This is day three of my not having coffee.
Is it a coincidence that clouds moved across our blue skies; rain fell in big water droplets followed by rumblings of thunder that vibrated against my window pane. Did I anger the coffee gods by stopping my daily morning libations of caffeinated elixir?  My symptoms the first day were headaches and mood swings. At one point I contemplate going to the emergency room.  A throbbing in the back of my head that drifted over the back of my head right behind my left eye socket before settling down in my frontal lobes for the night.  That night I tossed and turned waking every two hours to the aching behind my eyes.  The second day by mid-afternoon I felt better.  The headaches were gone but psychologically I wanted a cup of coffee.   No addiction is rational.  Right now I steer clear of the coffee shop on my block. It is my stumbling block of sorts. I can't go in there without desiring to taste the flavor of the day.
Everyone do enjoy the trees. It is my distraction for today. I have some water on boiling on the stove. A box of Bigelow tea and Natures Best are on the counter.  Maybe orange mint can be the flavor of the day.