Occupation of Independence

 What a great wildflower season there should be this March, in the desert.  Of course, a snowbird may leave before the wildflower season in order to escape the heat.  But the wildflowers can be impressive.  A couple years ago I wallowed in desert poppies at a well-known place near Tucson : The long-suffering reader knows that I am prone to anti-tourist snobbery.  But still, who won't admit that standard tourist-industry memes at well-known locations feels too much like 'consumption' rather than 'experience?'  And does it really do you any good to see 10 million identical specimens of a certain flower or tree? What happened yesterday was at the opposite end of the numerical spectrum.  In perfect -- that is, mildly chilly -- weather, my little dog and I were biking along, on a dirt two-track .  We were climbing.  We were huffing and puffing.  And I wasn't exactly sure it was the correct route.  Then this surprised me: It was the firs...

 When you forget about the usual (visual) orientation of human visitors to the desert, and look at it from the viewpoint of shoes and tires and dog paws, you might appreciate the importance of different types of texture.  Eskimos are supposed to have many different words for snow .  And we have the same need in the desert for all the different forms of texture: round (alluvial) gravel , sharp volcanic rocks , coarse and packed sand in arroyos, powdery dust, hardpacked desert pavement , good or bad traction, and cholla segments . I saw a new form of texture yesterday that I never thought of before, in the desert.  It was a deja vu experience.  Way back when, I ran across the advertisements for some kind of landscaping service, called " Barefoot Lawn ."  What wonderful, nostalgic images that brought to mind!  It makes a person think of running across the lawn when you were a child, on summer vacation. That is what this image brought to mind: My little d...

Several times on this blog, I have quoted Samuel Johnson 's "...as I have gotten older, I have come to call a man a good man on easier terms than before." (not an exact quote.) A corollary is to have humbler expectations of the human condition.  And that approach certainly works with You Tube .  AI rubbish is ruining You Tube.  But what can a person do about it? It has helped me to focus on some of You Tube's successes, such as musical performances .  Although it really makes no sense to make a video of instrumental music or singing, it is still a good and free way to become acquainted with music you didn't know about.  And for opera , a video does make sense. Thanks to a few seconds of opera in a movie I was rewatching, the "noooo more Rice Krispies , they're all gone, the Riiiiice Kriiiiispies!" song was brought to my attention.  You Tube had several versions of the song available.  They are all wonderful.  My favorite  "Vesti la Giubba...

The wild burros -- maybe we should call them feral -- are entertaining me this winter.  The 'grass' is so green and thick, you'd think they would be getting fat.  Maybe it would be worth reading up on the burro lifestyle , but I am usually disappointed when I look something up on Wikipedia . Anyway, I am camped in a new area and the burros are back.  I hear them braying at night.  When do they sleep?  But none have walked up to my screen door to panhandle.