Saturday, April 14, 2012

desert spring


Greetings from Joshua Tree National Park, which is magnificent in its wildness (I can't believe that we're just 150 miles or so from Los Angeles, here).  I find large spaces very consoling - at some quite basic level, they remind me that the world is a lot bigger than I am.  And one could draw a good number of cliched consolatory parables, if one wanted, from flowers blooming in a barren land, etc.  It was also freezing cold, which is not a concept I associate with Southern Californian desert.  Above, cholla cacti in bloom, and below, the strange ocotillo plant - which apparently grows and loses leaves up to five times a year, depending on whether it gets water or not.  And it has red flowers, too, which seemed suitably wild and defiant against the racing dark clouds in the sky.

1 comment:

  1. Jen AnsleyApril 26, 2012

    Kate! I love your blog/ photographs, but these are by far my favorite. Since moving to L.A. 8 year (8 years!) ago, the desert has become one of my favorite places. In fact, Mir and I are off for a brief post-semester escape to Joshua Tree this weekend, before I have to think about final grades being due. When people ask my why I love it, I think my sentiment echos the one you suggest here: we tend to think of the desert as so barren, yet its in fact, so wild and teeming with life! Thank you for these pictures.

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