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.
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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