Treads and Petals

When I go to the desert I am struck by its song that inexplicably surprises me every time. Although at first look the landscape seems barren, if you allow yourself to blend in, the desert clicks and buzzes and hums with life. The insects, birds and lizards sing sneaky songs that whir with excitement about the scent of water, the cooling of the day, a bit of shade or the stirring of a breeze. The times that are the most alive in the desert are the transitions – at dawn when the world moves from night to day, and at sunrise when every hot thing under the sun looks forward to the thrill of a slight chill. In the midday in the desert, we slow our movement and still our song. We conserve our energy and seek the shade.

The ATV rider must have suspended her joyous acts of kicking up sand to rest for a moment, to dust off or take a drink, perhaps to stretch her legs and enjoy the view. She pulled her thundering steed over to the side of the trail and offered up a shady retreat for a pretty weed. Like any proper weed, this one welcomes the advantage and takes the opportunity to stretch and grow taller as the sands dims and cools. If we were rewarded with weed vision, we’d see the happy  little hopping dance this weed did, while the shade lasted! The celebration is short lived however, as the rider mounts and ignites and powers off into the sand. The pretty weed remains, succored by the unexpected moments spent cooling. She will conserve now, and bloom stronger this evening.

Please come back tomorrow for a new “Weed Image of the Day” and let me know which ones you like.

We and our weeds are so much more than what we first appear to be.

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