The wet desert

The desert of New Mexico this year has exploded. Plants that would normally run and hide in a crevice or others that would attack without mercy with thorn and poison are now blooming in bright reds and yellows and blues and whites. (They still will attack without mercy) One multi branched cactus we saw that grows in groves and stands 4-6 feet tall was covered with red petaled flowers with yellow centers. Short legumes along the edges of disturbed ground with no defenses make ground hugging clouds of bright blue. The most dramatic sight we saw was along a bone dry creek bed. This lies as the low point on a plain of yellow dust that slowly slopes on both sides for three miles from the mountains with neither a rock or a rise. The only vegetation to be seen for 7-10 miles is a low grass that grows in clumps or a lonely stunted juniper. Along the stream bed at intervals of 15 feet, are growing single stalks of green that reach up about 5 feet. On each stalk is a brilliant set of five white petals each the size of your hand. These gently blow in the wind like some alien radio antenna. They only appear on the edges of the stream bed and faithfully follow the course as it winds gently towards the horizon.
The persistence and audacity of life in the creation is a wonder to behold and a sign post to us that God exists.

okf