Desert Observations

Observations living in the desert.

Technology and the ingenuity of humankind have transformed a scrub and cactus desert into a comfortable and expensive paradise.

Palm Springs and Palm Desert, California and all the communities in between and surrounding these two cities are tailored, manicured mercantile cities with a pristine climate. They are filled with golf courses, boutique shops, artist’s lairs, restaurants, gas stations, beauty parlors, car dealers; low-rise office buildings fill in the blank spaces.

A city's character, however, comes from its people. Here they skew older, wealthy and conservative. There is nothing wrong with being conservative as there is nothing wrong with being liberal, but there is something wrong when the mind is closed to listening to alternative considerations; that’s not only just here, it is everywhere in the world.

Thinking about considerations that may change our minds and hearts are amongst the most difficult choices we will ever make. It means being open to blind possibilities and unknown challenges and be willing to think about the altruistic greater good. Change is the only constant in our lives. Change can be small or large, but it is constant.

Back to desert observations:

I love nature. I like standing silent in an eastern forest or sitting next to a brook and just listening. The western desert has different sounds. You can hear the heat and cactus breathe if you open your inner ear.

An Eastern forest has its leaf rustle of deciduous trees. A palm-speckled desert has a unique sound too. The palms don’t rustle; they clap their fronds in a desert breeze as if applauding the profound performance of All That Is.

It’s beautiful.