Raven (Corvus corax) on Entrada Sandstone
Reaching Elder
Did you know? Joshua Trees are imperiled and thanks to climate change, will likely not be around for your grandchildren’s grandchildren to admire. California recently passed a law that will work to defend this species’ decline yet the federal government continues to deny Endangered Species protection for the iconic Joshua Tree.
Kinship
Into the eyes of dusk, I looked, one breath away from sunset. You had me pinned with that stare, which conveyed the crepuscular wonders of the South Mountains. Later, when you trotted away to join the rest of your pack, I heard you and your mate wing out yips to the moon.
Jupiter
Male Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
Pluto
Male Western Screech Owl (Megascops kennicottii)
Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)
Baboquivari
I want to speak of our kin and the permissions of place. We are indebted to place. All lands require permission; permission to witness, hold, admire, honor. Some lands require physical permission of admittance from those that are original protectors, ensuring that such sacred sites are safeguarded for all that live here and for all those to come.
This mountain is centered around the cosmology of the Tohono O’odham. I’itoi presides within this range, and is known as the elder brother and Creator of the desert people. Here, if one listens very carefully, can hear the echoing steps of thousands make their pilgrimage into this sacred range as the whispering wind curls around one’s shell-shaped ear.
With deep humility, I bow to the flanks of Baboquivari. It is a mountain whose songs sing in my veins and whose red earth still coats my skin, though I am many, many miles away. Turkey vultures encircle rock art steeples, Caracara nests’ are cradled in forests of saguaro, and dusty mountain lion tracks are enshrined in the caked layers of dry stratum. Here, you wade into the pastel colors of sunset, following the trail of a roadrunner. In the golden light, you catch the deep brown eyes of a jack rabbit, foraging upon mesquite. Thick in the brush, you meet cryptically colored ornate tree lizards and admire the way four o’clock blooms open and close to the waning and waxing of desert light.
Striated Badlands
Painted Desert Pilgrimage
The Painted Desert
Preening Mourning Doves
Reaching, Reaching, Breathlessly
Queen of the desert lands, your bones are showing. Light weaves through your ribs, patterning the sand in desert mosaic, as your little girl sahuaro arms splinter towards equinox.
You're the friend of birds, bearing gifts of sweet fruit, fleshy homes, and respite from heat. I stand in your shadow, momentarily seeking solace in the inky depths of your silent stature. My fingers smooth across your hardened cylindrical frame, searching divets of weathered skeleton, touching the many stories of your rising. I thank all of the moments that have aided you in growing to such great height. As "nonsoons," buffelgrass kindling, and climate change threaten more of your kin, I pray for your resiliency; for the rain to swell your sister's ribs into longstanding fullness.
Orange-crowned warbler (Leiothlypis celata)
An Orange-crowned warbler getting their nom on (feeding on aphids).
Desert King: Western Diamondback (Crotalus atrox)
Wash walking in the early evening, the light approaching the infamous golden hour, I met you against a backdrop of blue sky and rugged mountains. Little did I know that I had strolled right past you minutes before, only to return the way I had come, and discover your crossing. You didn't rattle, you didn't coil, you didn't feel threatened by me. I kneeled down in that soft sweet earth, long lens in hand, and watched you through that third eye, admiring the way your sinuous body lifted itself over detritus, each lithesome pull of your ribs muscling over the substrate with a grace and ease unfamiliar to me. Rectilinear locomotion is an energy efficient form of travel and it is not fast. I had plenty of time to seek the golden pools of your eyes, and admire your vertical slit pupils, designed for nocturnal use. Your light coloration suits you well here and helps to hide you in plain sight. Your diamonded back commands reverence; it is the robe of a desert king.
Javelina Rocks
Peek-a-boo
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
Equinox Lion
I came to meet a lion. A shape-shifting mountain lion whose birthday is the vernal equinox. This rare wonder appears for less than an hour and then slowly morphs back into the rock from which it came. They are said to be chasing prey down the range of the Superstition Mountains. At sunset, shadows merge in just the right way to create their face, shoulders, back, and paws.
Lil' hybrid momma Anna's x Costa's Hummingbird (Calypteannaxcostae)
Broad-billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris)
I went to the verdant flood plain valley of Sonoita Creek, which is some of the last remaining riparian habitat in Arizona. Numerous species nest along creek corridors and hummingbirds are no exception. Walking winding trails shaded by 130 year old Freemont Cottonwoods and Goodding Willows, an avian orchestra plays from the canopy of these magnificent trees. In the streams, wild turkeys stealthily cross and disappear into thick vegetation, thinking they’ve gone unnoticed. And here is where I met the Broad-billed, Broad-tailed and Violet-Crowned Hummingbird.
Round-tailed ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus)
Marine Blue (Leptotes marina)