“Water, water, water….
There is no shortage
of water in the desert
but exactly the right amount ,
a perfect ratio of water to rock,
water to sand,
insuring that wide free open,
generous spacing among plants and animals,
homes and towns and cities,
which makes the arid West
so different from any other part of the nation.
There is no lack of water here
unless you try to establish a city
where no city should be.”
― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness
Edward Abbey wrote in his 1968 book, Desert Solitaire —
“. . . we need nature to “startle the senses and surprise
the mind out of their ruts of habit, to compel us
into a reawakened awareness of the wonderful—
that which is full of wonder.”
Thinking of Edward Abbey On This Christmas Morning — Image by kenne
“If a man can’t piss in his own front yard, he’s livin’ too close to town.”
— Edward Abbey, re Tom Russell
“Ed died one day at sundown, in his Tucson writing shack They wrapped him in a sleeping bag, and drove him way out back Beneath the wild Saguaro, the coyotes chewed Ed’s bones And on the hidden marker, was “No comment” carved in.”
— from “The Ballad of Edward Abbey” by Tom Russell
Benediction: Edward Abbey, by Tom Russell
Be loyal to what you love, be true to the earth, fight your enemies with passion and laughter. ~Edward Abbey
Tucson’s Sweetwater Wetlands is an artificial wetlands near the usually dry Santa Cruz river. The area is a part of a waste-water reclamation project developed in 1996. The park provides an urban wildlife habitat and outdoor classroom — a wildlife photographer’s paradise.
kenne
“Water, water, water….There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount , a perfect ratio of water to rock, water to sand, insuring that wide free open, generous spacing among plants and animals, homes and towns and cities, which makes the arid West so different from any other part of the nation. There is no lack of water here unless you try to establish a city where no city should be.”
― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness
Bee In Flight Over Western Sneezeweed — Image by kenne
For myself I hold no preferences among flowers,
so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous.
Bricks to all greenhouses!
Black thumb and cutworm to the potted plant!
Edward Abbey begins his 1968 book, Desert Solitaire – A Season In The Wilderness with the sentence;
“This is the most beautiful place on earth.”
He continues:
“There are many such places. Every man, every woman, carries in heart and mind the image of the ideal place, the right place, the one true home, known or unknown, actual or visionary.
A houseboat in Kashmir,
a view down Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn,
a gray gothic farmhouse two stories high at the end of a red dog road in the Allegheny Mountains,
a cabin on the shore of a blue lake in spruce and fir country,
a greasy alley near the Hoboken waterfront, or even,
possibly, for those of a less demanding sensibility, the world to be seen from a comfortable apartment high in the tender,
the velvety smog of Manhattan, Chicago, Paris, Tokyo, Rio or Rome —
there’s no limit to the human capacity for the homing sentiment.”
Yes, we all have that place, that place that inspires thoughts and feelings that conjure those magical experiences. For Abbey, it’s Moab, Utah, which is where he was a seasonal park ranger in the Arches National Monument and the subject of his book. But, Desert Solitaire is more than about Moab, it’s about the desert.
In recording his impressions of the desert, he tells the reader that he endeavored to be accurate,
“. . . since I believe that there is a kind of poetry, even a kind of truth, in simple fact.”
With that position, Abbey went on to convey what he called a “modest pretension” that the desert is a vast and complex world, making it very difficult for language to gather the simple facts when the facts are infinite. Since he could not get the desert into a book, he tried something different,
“. . . I tried to create a world of words in which the desert figures more as a medium than as material. Not imitation but evocation has been the goal.”
I share his goal in my photography, not to provide a copy of the original, but to create anew through the power of the observer’s imagination. It is hoped that you may find the images of my most beautiful place on earth, the Sonoran desert, pleasing to the eye. However, as Abbey cautioned, do not travel to the desert and expect to see what I have captured —
“When traces of blood begin to mark your trail you’ll see something, maybe.”
kenne
Images by kenne
“The desert, when the sun comes up…I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the Earth began.”
― Tom Hanks
The Aspen Loop trail starts and ends in Marshall Gulch on Mount Lemmon. Part of this trail contains recovering forest from the Aspen Wildfire, which burned parts of Mount Lemmon ten years ago.
Before the fire, much of Mount Lemmon was a thick forest.
After the fire, aspen and New Mexico locust were quick to take over the forest.
When removing a fallen pine from the trail, one creative volunteer cut a seat for resting in the shade.
As the burned forest ages, each year the tall pines succumb to nature.
Volunteers are busy removing trail obstructions, which will include trees like this one
Hiking up the Aspen Trail.
Plenty of room to shelter.
Now ten years out, the slow-growing pines are becoming more established.
The signs of recovery are all around.
Images by kenne
“In climbing a mountain,
if we persevere, we reach the summit;
we get, you might say, to the point. Once on the mountaintop
there is nothing to do but come down again. . .
Descending the mountain
we enter by degrees into a friendlier,
more comfortable, more human environment —
forest, rushing streams, sunny meadows —
and soon hear the cowbells,
see the villages and the roads,
all that is familiar and reassuring.”
— Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season In The Wilderness
Views along the lower third of Bug Springs Trail Near Catalina Highway. — Images by kenne
This area experience a wildfire several years ago. Signs still stand as grass and other desert plants slowly take hold. This time of year everything is dry and windy. There will probably not be any rain between now and the summer monsoon, which normally begins in July. Hopeful, this area will not experience another wildfire.
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into
and above the clouds.
— Edward Abbey
Bug Springs Trail Panoramic View Toward The Higher Elevation Segment Of Catalina Highway — Image by kenne
Brown Pelican Diving For Fish In The Gulf of California — Images by kenne
“It is not enough to understand the natural world; the point is to defend and preserve it.” –Edward Abbey
Brown pelicans are the only pelican species that strictly inhabits marine habitats;
they are never found more than 20 miles out to sea or inland on fresh water.
They prefer shallow inshore waters such as estuaries and bays.
Desert Path — Image by kenne
Desert Solitude — Image by kenne
Bee In Flight Over Western Sneezeweed — Image by kenne
Edward Abbey begins his 1968 book, Desert Solitaire – A Season In The Wilderness with the sentence;
The Aspen Loop trail starts and ends in Marshall Gulch on Mount Lemmon. Part of this trail contains recovering forest from the Aspen Wildfire, which burned parts of Mount Lemmon ten years ago.
Before the fire, much of Mount Lemmon was a thick forest.
After the fire, aspen and New Mexico locust were quick to take over the forest.
When removing a fallen pine from the trail, one creative volunteer cut a seat for resting in the shade.
As the burned forest ages, each year the tall pines succumb to nature.
Volunteers are busy removing trail obstructions, which will include trees like this one
Hiking up the Aspen Trail.
Plenty of room to shelter.
The signs of recovery are all around.
Images by kenne
“If a man can’t piss in his own front yard, he’s livin’ too close to town.”
— Edward Abbey, re Tom Russell
“Ed died one day at sundown, in his Tucson writing shack
They wrapped him in a sleeping bag, and drove him way out back
Beneath the wild Saguaro, the coyotes chewed Ed’s bones
And on the hidden marker, was “No comment” carved in.”
— from “The Ballad of Edward Abbey” by Tom Russell
Benediction: Edward Abbey, by Tom Russell
Be loyal to what you love, be true to the earth, fight your enemies with passion and laughter. ~Edward Abbey
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