Her post said:
Open your first photo folder,scroll down to the 10th photo, post this photo and the story behind it. Tag 5 people.
OK, I can do that, and I have such a mixed bag of stuff in photographs, anything could pop up.
Like Kass, I'm not tagging people specifically. I'll just issue the invitation ~ join in, if it pleases you.
There is a place where I love to go when I am looking for solace. It lies within Death Valley and it features a small system of smooth, golden sand dunes. It is peppered with the debris of long abandoned mining operations and it features the most beautiful variegated rocks I've ever enjoyed. One goes to this place expecting to experience, and one does experience, a classic desert outing.
Tucked around the far side of a mountain outcropping, however, lies an unlikely setting ~ a marsh! In Death Valley! It isn't a very large area, but it boasts ponds with reeds and cattails, salt flats and waterfowl. While the sand dunes across the valley are a silent cathedral in warm, neutral tones, the marsh is a bustling village plaza with darting birds and flashes of green plants. The juxtaposition of these divergent microcosms pleases me. I purposely plan to hike in both locations on each trip and I end up feeling like I've been to two separate destinations.
The picture is a gaze into the jumbled reeds, mostly dry and brown because it is the winter solstice. Some of them have a little green at the tips, however, a reminder of the autumn past and the spring to come.
In my ears right now: To keep in theme with my picture, I was going to say Fields of Gold. Most who read me probably know this beautiful Sting piece. I went to YouTube and made a discovery. Their name intrigued me: Celtic Woman. Hey! I'm very much into my Welsh-ness. I listened to them. I think they are lovely. Embedding is disabled, but if the song pulls you or if you're simply music curious as I am, this is worth a listen. Try it! If you don't like it, you'll pull the plug.
Something that charmed me: Celtic Woman charmed me.
Beautiful description. I see no photo credit, so I'm wondering if you took the picture.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Las Vegas is like Palm Desert. There is a mystery to the desert that has a depth like no other place, and yet I love my mountains.
My favorite rendition of Fields Of Gold is Eva Cassidy's. Unparalleled.
Thanks for responding.
@ Kass ~ Yes, it's my photo. Although I have files and files of pics that I did not take, I didn't think that would be right in this game. So I counted to the tenth photo of my own making.
ReplyDeleteEva Cassidy's rendition IS wonderful. Celtic Woman just kind of drew me because of the "Celtic" thing.
I don't know Palm Desert, Kass. I like the mountains very much, but the desert does it for me best. There is a lot of emotion surrounding my introduction to it so it is almost like love of a person. I understand the desert. The desert and I are comfortable in one another's company.
This was fun. You know I'll always play the blogging games!
Nevada has a more varied topography or whatever that I've been led to believe.
ReplyDelete@ Kirk ~ Yes, it's not all cookie cutter desert. In the north we have high mountain ranges and the Lake Tahoe area. There are a few different types of desert throughout the state. I'm soon to post about one of my favorite spots which is actually a mix of high mountains AND desert. When we hike there, depending on the route we select, it can seem, once again, as if we went to two different destinations. I would say the common denominator, though, is that there is some form of desert going on nearly everywhere in Nevada.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Kirk, virtually all the places I write about visiting are in California. Within 150 miles of Las Vegas, but on the CA side, to be technical.
Very nice Leslie. I'd like to sometime visit this Oasis in Death Valley. Nice choice of accompaniment as well.
ReplyDelete@ Tag ~ I thank you, Sir. I just had a flash for my next virtual outing. I shall have the pink bus come to collect all the wonderful bloggers we love. We shall proceed to the dunes and set up a huge camp of good folks. I shall cook and lead hikes and teach the finer points of shifting the chair around the fire and out of the smoke. I'll point out the cat tracks and the rocks that I love. At night, I'll lead a happy rendition of Koom-Bai-Ahh. We have a number of fine photographers who follow ~ they can get the good shots of the dunes and of all of us having a fine time. The fact that the bus is not 4-wheel drive does not trouble me, even though the roads are harsh and sandy, as this is a fantasy campout! ;~}
ReplyDeleteThis is nice. We all need some comfort, and a Tag is always a good thing.
ReplyDelete@ The Badger ~ I am TOUCHED that you stepped onto the bus tonight after the day you've had! We DO all need some comfort and isn't it a wonderful thing when we give that to one another freely?
ReplyDeleteArt from dragon cave is featuring winter photos at the moment of Death Valley (presumably the same) and they are so different from your fields of gold, Leslie. This is a wonderful image and a wonderful story and music that accompanies it. Thanks.
ReplyDelete@ Elisabeth ~ It is so good to hear from you, as you've been quiet for a short while! Thank you for stopping by. I will go look at dragon cave, but I predict that Death Valley is one and the same. The irony of the small marsh is that it is so out of place! I've been to many places where marshes and waterfowl abound, but NOT in the middle of the desert. There are signs posted to say there are certain species located ONLY there, and nowhere else in the world . . . and need I repeat how fortunate a woman I am?
ReplyDelete