Joshua Tree

Sometimes I've got something to say and sometimes I don't - not that I don't say something even when I don't have anything to say.

We spent a week in one of the desert areas of California, a unique space where the Mojave and Colorado deserts collide.   We did the day hiking thing again, out for three or four hours then back to our primitive campsite at the Westin.  If you've never spent any time in a real desert you owe yourself the pleasure - it is one of the most beautiful places on earth, a landscape where the competition for resources is as fierce in its own way as in the jungles I've traipsed through.  There isn't much rain and the soil sucks so you better bring your A-game or you aren't going to make it.

Did you know a needle is actually a leaf adapted for a hot climate?  I'll tell you this - every single living plant in the desert is well-armed for battle.  You are going to get pierced if you touch anything living out there and most of the stuff that is living looks pretty dead.  There is no looking around when you're moving along.  Eyes are peeled for all manner of needles and spikes.

The great thing about this area is that it's possible to get real remote real quick.  We usually didn't see any other people and when we stopped walking to take a break the quiet was deafening.  We could hear wind and that was the extent of it.  We would talk quietly for a while and then just walk, in silence, the only noise our hiking boots scuffling along in the gravelly sand.  Really cool.  Recharged.

If you're having trouble with the Higher Power concept get out into the wilderness.  It's beautiful and it's harsh and it's quiet.  God is definitely wandering around, suffusing the space with his presence.