Deserts

I've been thinking alot about deserts recently. Not a topic I normally ponder since it is pretty green and leafy in Pennsylvania. But I'm not talking solely about the natural environment per se....I have also been contemplating fecundity, and the birth of new things from nothingness.

Deserts conjur thoughts of dryness, sand dunes, extreme heat, vast and empty spaces, harshness, maybe even exile, punishment and death. There is a lack of life, a sense of isolation and even despair. I see it from a different vista....a representation of faith, a redemption or rescue, survival, a concentration of miracles, and a 'possible future oasis.' In literature the desert seems to be the place you put in your dues before you are led to the Promised Land. What if the desert IS the reward.....you just need to transform it into your version of paradise?

Today's MUCH: Stephen Crane said it best

Another MUCH: Hope from despair