Lakes are really special. I rented a house on a lake in Oregon this past summer, and I remembered just how much I love them, Holly. I loved going to sleep to the croak of the bull frogs!
Ah, the life and mind of a "snow bird". Enjoy! (Don't be surprised if a god doesn't show up someday in your desert walks! Emptiness is the kindling for that "dark night of the soul" that your Desert Fathers went looking for as Rome burned with the fires of fanaticism!)
The first principle in the philosophy of a snowbird is that discretion is the better part of valor. When you see that winter has come AND that DC is burning, you get thee to an desert eyrie quick, dark nights of the soul be damned.
…amazing photos and thoughts…i am in general not a lizard human so the desert often leaves me wanting forest river and lake…but joshua tree and the surrounding, especially in winter, open up in such amazing ways…i miraculously somehow have played two full moon shows out there which both allowed me to hike and boulder under star and moonlight…this gave me a little pang for another explore there…
In my view, the Joshua Tree area is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. As twilight fades into night, my imagination turns those 'trees' into grotesque humanoid shapes with multiple appendages. The night sky, filled with countless stars and speeding satellites, puts one in the perspective of their own utter insignificance. I miss that area, the desert is full of life to the observer. Your monochrome shots are spectacular and captures the sensation and stark contrasts in what can be an unforgiving land. Well done, Chris.
See my friend Ken Barber's Substack "The Old Mountain Man", he has been to much of that part of the West and takes phenomenal pictures.
My families lake house invokes this kind of stillness for me. Listening to geese honk honk honk is the only thing I want to hear.
Wonderful read, as usual Chris.
Lakes are really special. I rented a house on a lake in Oregon this past summer, and I remembered just how much I love them, Holly. I loved going to sleep to the croak of the bull frogs!
Ah, the life and mind of a "snow bird". Enjoy! (Don't be surprised if a god doesn't show up someday in your desert walks! Emptiness is the kindling for that "dark night of the soul" that your Desert Fathers went looking for as Rome burned with the fires of fanaticism!)
The first principle in the philosophy of a snowbird is that discretion is the better part of valor. When you see that winter has come AND that DC is burning, you get thee to an desert eyrie quick, dark nights of the soul be damned.
…amazing photos and thoughts…i am in general not a lizard human so the desert often leaves me wanting forest river and lake…but joshua tree and the surrounding, especially in winter, open up in such amazing ways…i miraculously somehow have played two full moon shows out there which both allowed me to hike and boulder under star and moonlight…this gave me a little pang for another explore there…
That first picture makes my heart hop. 😂
In my view, the Joshua Tree area is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. As twilight fades into night, my imagination turns those 'trees' into grotesque humanoid shapes with multiple appendages. The night sky, filled with countless stars and speeding satellites, puts one in the perspective of their own utter insignificance. I miss that area, the desert is full of life to the observer. Your monochrome shots are spectacular and captures the sensation and stark contrasts in what can be an unforgiving land. Well done, Chris.
See my friend Ken Barber's Substack "The Old Mountain Man", he has been to much of that part of the West and takes phenomenal pictures.
https://substack.com/@kenbarber?
Beautiful, my friend.