Desert Oasis

Wednesday, April 03, 2019

Another day of drizzle, as background to my sad mood from suffering a shingles shot that turned my entire body into a massive ache, that felt like the beforehand of a whale of a cold. By late afternoon and feeling more like myself, I ventured outside to see how these several days of rare, slow rain might have altered appearances. Of course, our rain coming on the heels of three weeks of deep standing snow, recently melted, has transformed the high desert into an environment that seemed to my thirsty soul nearly oasis-like.

Here’s a close-by of that view taken only a month ago, when to reach this spot near the barn required snowblowing a path downward some one hundred feet from my house. Happily, this spring has provided our desert-like environment with nearly adequate moisture reserves.

A natural element here of great interest to me are lichens that are abundant in this rocky area, the aftermath of ancient volcanic explosions. I’ve learned that, similar to our understanding of frog populations in watery environments, lichens are early indicators to an ecosystem’s overall health. They’re very sensitive to pollutants and changes in air quality, and whether the growths flourish or disappear is an important indicator.

In this unusually wet weather, our locals express a mix of complaints and appreciations. Late yesterday, while out on a couple of errands, I listened to a fellow at the feed store speaking of his love for and dislike of this spring’s onslaught of moisture. When a lady at the grocery questioned my feelings about the rain, my response was mixed, sort of like the feed store guy’s.

Finally coming home, I glimpsed gorgeous sights: swollen tree trunk barks with outstretched dripping limbs, distinctive rocks surrounded by hints of greenery, reflected lights in moisture everywhere. This is a brief respite, it’ll soon end and we’ll head into the dry summer heat that’s not intolerable in the high desert.

Friends, today will be lovely, for being outside, looking around, and enjoying. Diana