Desert Gems

The canvas of a single color spreads vastly out before the eyes of the beholder. Mountains, high as 600 feet tall stretch to the heavens as they move with the gentle winds that can turn savage in a minute, sending all the mountains to nothing, burying all that ever was before it had started to flourish. Or as the skies are clear as crystal suddenly they part, sending stretches of deep-hued clouds that pour icy rain, thundering, and floods to its victims below. In a desolate place where the cacti thrive, mountains move and thunderstorms strike, there is a small beauty that people can call home, that will not uproot and give up. Like tiny glimmering eyes of hope, within these folds of sand there lie things of pure beauty that seem to come from nowhere, like a plant that keeps growing no matter how many times chopped down. Oasis’s, big and small in length and width can stretch for miles or a few yards. Cities have been built around them, depending on the water source buried half a mile deep like a rare treasure. Here in these sparkles of beauty, plants flourish tall and green, healthy to provide shade. A camel leans low to sip at some of the water human kind takes so for granted. A desert cat has made shelter here, digging for morsels and chasing mice that thrive near the water’s edge. Swift winds barely sting the face. Even in a bare, harsh place as this, the desert has its hidden beauties.