As my parting words about the commentaries on the issues raised in our desert anthology, I just wanted to mention I’m happy to organize a zoom reading of 2-3 contributors and myself to benefit any nonprofit doing the hard work of conserving and restoring desert lands.
Non profits like the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Desert Botanical Garden, International Sonoran Desert Alliance, Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute, Tumamoc Hill Desert Lab, and the Natural History Institute have had a huge impact on my own life, so Id like to give back and help raise their missions up to more people who can potentially help support them.
I’d like to end these reflections with a quote from Reyner Banham written thirty years ago. He proposed that, “In a landscape where nothing of value officially exists (otherwise it would not be called a desert), absolutely anything becomes thinkable and may consequently happen.”
Deserts attract imaginative individuals who love to live on the edges of civilization and explore horizons not necessarily seen from the institutions sequestered in cities that spend much of their time simply self-perpetuating rather than exploring new possibilities.
Those hidden possibilities emerge from our quiet time sauntering across arid landscapes, crawling into their caves, burying ourselves in their sands, or sitting like a Sonoran Buddha under an 800 year old ironwood tree patiently waiting for sartori.
Happy winter solstice to all of you – I love what each of you offers to this increasingly arid world.
BLESSINGS FROM YOUR DESERT RAT FRIENDS who contributed to our University of Arizona Press anthology.
