Saturday Morning Musings from My Desert Journal

King Canyon, Saguaro National Park

King Canyon © 2014 Bo Mackison

On the DESERT:

Though the word means abandoned – from Greek, eremos – I don’t feel abandoned when I am in the real desert, the desert I see and study and hike in. Ancient writers considered the desert as a threat to their existence – and it surely was a hardship.

My desert is tame by comparison, though once I leave my vehicle and hike 3 or 4 miles into the desert, the Sonoran Desert is wilderness. The desert I explore offers me an opportunity to unwind, to weed out unnecessary external interruptions, but I also slow down and focus on lessening the interruptions from the interior, too.

I find it even harder to quiet my interior cacophony than external distractions. It is when I quiet the many voices – chatter, excuse-creation, shame and blame – that the possibility of deep encounters in the desert environment become possible.

On SPACIOUSNESS:

The desert, if nothing else, provides space. Low growing vegetation and tall yet skinny saguaro cacti do not impede vision. Mountains do, but there are always lesser mountains with moderately challenging paths that I ascend, and when I am at the high point of Brown Mountain, I feel as if I can see forever. On a clear day, it may be a hundred miles, but still…that feels like almost forever.

On SETTING GOALS:

One of my goals, which I now understand  to be one of my constant life goals,  is a practice I work on every day. This goal, which may sound simple enough, I find to be of the wriggly sort. Sometimes I think I have it, only to discover the goal has slithered out of my hands, and out of reach. Again.

This goal is a longing of sorts, a longing to accept myself, to love myself, making it then possible for me to love and cherish others more deeply.

King Canyon, Saguaro National Park

Hiking in King Canyon © 2014 Bo Mackison

On PATIENCE:

The desert is a grand place to cultivate the practice of patience. I seldom travel the desert alone – by that, I mean I usually carry a tall hiking stick, a small pack, small journal and pen and my camera. One of my favorite hiking trails parallels one of the deeper canyons of the desert. There are many rocky ledges and boulders, perfect for a temporary seat.

Before I  sit down, I pay attention to my place in the desert. I have a healthy respect for the desert. I am aware of the desert’s residents and consider their habits and territory. Once settled,  I pull out my water bottle and a snack, re-adjust my wide brimmed hat, re-apply sunscreen. All necessary, but these actions sometimes bring on an attitude.

On ATTITUDE:

Yes, attitude. Sometimes I am irritated at the care that is required in the desert  environment – safety precautions, paying attention. I want to hurry through the preparations and get on with my writing, my photography, my time to just sit and stare into the desert scape.

This is what I have learned — sometimes I am very good at turning routine into a ritual, the ritual of preparing my space, the ritual of slowing down and paying attention, not only to my surroundings but also to my feeling, emotions, my mood, my inside chatter. I practice gratitude. I feel at peace in the desert, I feel a part of the whole.

Other times, I just want to get on with it. I hurry through the preparations. I take those photographs. Click, click, click. Write a few words or sketch a flower.

Sometimes I do my preparatory ritual and practice patience. And sometimes I hurry through my routines so I can do what I want.

And though I remain inconsistent, I know that the more fulfilling experiences are the ones when I take my time, prepare, practice patience.  The lessons of practicing patience, cultivating awareness continue…as I continue to reap the gifts of the desert.

~~~~~~~~

Reading for inspiration:  The Desert Mothers and Fathers, by Christine Painter Valtner; Evidence: Poems by Mary Oliver

Essence of Place — Brown Mountain in the Sonoran Desert

Exploring Brown Mountain © 2014 Bo Mackison

Here are limitless views of desert vegetation, strange giant cacti forms, rock formations uprising sharply into forms and craggy peaks almost unreal to strangers and ever fascinating in the changing flood of desert light. ~ C. B. Brown

For several years, I thought Brown Mountain was named for its predominately reddish-brown rocky face, a face studded with whiskers of toothpick saguaro cacti. Then I researched the origins of Brown Mountain, a small rounded mountain located in the Sonoran Desert in Tucson Mountain Park, just west of Tucson Arizona, and discovered it was named in honor of C. B. Brown (1889-1979) the foremost advocate for keeping the Tucson Mountain region a natural space.

Under Brown’s guidance and continued efforts, the Tucson Mountain region was closed to mining and homesteading in 1926, and preserved in its natural desert state for the enjoyment of all.

Cactus Arms © 2014 Bo Mackison

The scenic qualities, luxuriance and variety of desert flora, abundance of wild life, and historical romance of the land are accepted material bits. ~ C. B. Brown

On Top of Brown Mountain

On Top of Brown Mountain © 2014 Bo Mackison

More fascinating is the intangible charm and spell of the desert region where the haze of the mountain ranges meet the blue of the sky and the desert impressive in its cloak of utter silence awaits the nature lover. ~ C. B. Brown

The Brown Mountain Trail has trail heads at both the Brown Mountain Picnic Area and the Juan Baptiste Picnic Area. It’s a five-mile hike, up, around, and back, with distant vistas at every turn. The views are especially great considering the minimal effort required to reach the peak.

The hike covers undulating ridges with views of Tucson Mountains and distant views of The Santa Ritas, Kitt Peak and other far away mountain ranges. Baboquivari, the sacred peak of the Tohono O’odham Nation and traditional home of I’itoi, the creator-god of the land, can be seen on a clear day.

There is a huge diversity of flora and fauna, easily a cross-section of what is found in the nearby region.

CCC Shelter in Brown Mountain Picnic Area © 2014 Bo Mackison

No portrait of the Brown Mountain area would be complete without a photograph of the historical picnic area built by the Citizen Conservation Corps in the 1930s. You might notice a camera pack, a hiking stick, and a pile of books on the concrete table. This is my office away from my office – I can often be found working here when the desert sun works its magic and calls me to the desert.

Brittlebush © 2014 Bo Mackison

Recent rain has brought yellow and green to the desert floor. Most of the common flowers are yellow — brittle-bush, desert marigold, acaia, mesquite, and many more.

Mesquite Near Brown Mountain © 2014 Bo Mackison

And when the rains come, the trees, often without leaves in the more arid times, sprout tiny specks of leaves. From a distance the trees show lovely and soft green forms.

Sonoran Desert in Brown Mountain © 2014 Bo Mackison

I am no longer surprised at the diversity of plants, cacti, and trees I see in the Sonoran Desert, how they are so openly spaced in order to provide each plant with needed rain and nutrients from the ground, but I am often taken aback by how “manicured” the desert often seems — as if a landscape gardener comes out early every day to rake the rocks, put all in place.

Essence of Place — Cienegas National Conservation Area

Yucca

Yucca at Empire Ranch © 2014 Bo Mackison

The Cienegas National Conservation Area is a unique high desert habitat. It includes five of the rarest habitat types in the American Southwest: cienegas (marshes in an arid land), cottonwood and willow riparian areas, sacaton grasslands, mesquite bosques, and semi-desert grasslands.

Yucca at Empire Ranch

Semi Desert Grassland in the Ciengas NCA © 2014 Bo Mackison

The land is in a transitional zone between the Sonoran Desert and the Chihuahuan Desert, and located about 50 miles south of Tucson. It is a mixed use area – conservation work are cattle ranching are done side by side. And yes, it works.

Empire Ranch Road

Mesquite Bosque along Empire Ranch Road © 2014 Bo Mackison

45,000 acres of land are now protected from what was once a future of housing developments and other commercial use. The ranchers work the ranch, the conservationists work to reclaim some of the grasslands that transitioned into a mesquite bosque. Hikers, horseback riders, campers all intermingle with the ranchers — not that too many people actually see each other in this spacious land.

Grasslands at Empire Ranch

Sacaton Grasslands at Empire Ranch © 2014 Bo Mackison

The not for profit Empire Ranch Foundation is dedicated to preserving the historic ranch buildings and surrounding landscape. (Ranch photos coming in next series.)

A Desert Portrait in Still Life – Poetry Revisited

Nature’s Abstract © 2013 Bo Mackison

We have what we seek. It is there all the time, and if we give it time it will make itself known to us. ~ Thomas Merton

While searching my blog for information on my Desert Wisdom Cards, I came across a poem I wrote about a year ago. It was called A Still Life in the Desert. I read it and thought how differently I would write the same poem today. How little things have changed in my world, gradually adding up to bigger changes, to living life in a direction I could not have imagined a year ago.

Different focuses, different goals, even different ways of seeing the same thing. And so I did a re-write. Here is the second iteration of this desert poem.

A Desert Portrait in Still Life

I am…

intertwined cactus spines
complex protective patterns
mysterious yet beautiful.

I am…

a pulled back curtain
a crazy quilt, fantastically embroidered
an unlocked trunk.

I am…

a cloud of red dust
tumbleweed dancing
a desert basin, easy on the wanderer’s eye.

I am…

a beloved assemblage of photographs
a deck of desert wisdom cards
poetry scribbled on scraps of paper.

I am…

idea incubator
questions and work-arounds
prayers of gratitude.

I am…

pulp, photographs, a hawk milagro
inked letter press
the alphabet in my hand.

 

Desert Art – Chihuly Night Show at Desert Botanical Gardens

Red Reeds at Twilight

Red Reeds at Twilight © 2014 Bo Mackison

Chihuly’s art glass on exhibit at Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix.

After dark, the installations are illuminated , and offer a totally different viewing experience.

Illuminated Purple Reeds

Illuminated Purple Reeds © 2014 Bo Mackison

Summer Sun by Chihuly, Night

Summer Sun by Chihuly, Night © 2014 Bo Mackison

Yellow Octopi in the Cacti

Yellow Octopi in the Cacti © 2014 Bo Mackison

Blue Sapphire Star at Night

Blue Sapphire Star at Night © 2014 Bo Mackison