I hail from the Sonoran Desert but have been engaged an extended visit to Northern California for twenty-six years (and counting). Thus I'm gradually growing accustomed to redwood trees, ice plant, rolling hills carpeted in naturally abundant grass and those grand oaks. Every so often, though, I'm delighted by an encounter with an entity rather more native to my original home, usually featuring needles in lieu of leaves.
This entry features such a recent pleasure, amplified by the nature of what might be considered the birth of new offspring. Fascinating to me is the ironic contradiction that most newborns are soft, cuddly and often feature a downy soft skin begging caresses . . . not likely the case here!
When contemplating the miraculous diversity of lifeforms on our tiny blue marble floating in the unimaginably vast (and largely empty) void of our universe, I am acutely aware of the profound and incomprehensible fact of existence in all its renditions.
Pausing to reflect on the reality of coexisting with dolphins, hummingbirds, tigers, giraffes, mosquitoes, E. coli, turtles, Palo Verde trees, roses, spiders, kelp and, yes, saguaro, prickly pear cacti and ocotillo -- and all the rest of Earth's horde -- brings a quiet amazement into the frenzied jaunts to-and-fro most of us scramble through in our quest for "happiness" in Modern Society.
Stop. Look around. Soak it in, and be astonished.
Emerging Cacti , #0520
© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: August 16, 2010; Canon 20D; f/10 @ 1/320 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; 100mm.
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