Couldn’t resist using this, some sculptor’s creative efforts, encountered on a past DID on the drive out. (Any resemblance with me and Mike is strictly coincidental.)
Tomorrow I’ll be in the desert with my friend, Mike. It’s something we’ve done every spring for 20 years now and is one of the things that keeps our friendship alive.
Another is to meet for coffee every week for conversation. It can be any topic, at any depth, sometimes very deep, and sometimes with so much laugher people start to stare. If there’s pain, it’s shared; if there are triumphs, each of us is the other’s greatest fan; if some exhortation is in order, some challenge, these are welcome too.
Then our day in the desert is all that, extended, so there’s plenty of time.
Abbreviated, it’s the DID, as in “Tomorrow we’ll do the DID” and “We’ve done the DID now nineteen times running.”
Actually we walk. Sometimes for long treks, sometimes shorter. The Anza Borrego Desert is a place of wonder and quiet, amazing in so many ways, not the least because it’s just a couple hours from some five million people. We rarely see another soul.
Mike’s a naturalist, a sometimes collector of seeds for his native plants nursery,* knows the names of all growing things, about the legendary stage coach stops, and has an eye for any petroglyphs or Indian grinding rocks. We always pack a lunch, bring cameras, maybe a sketchbook, a dog-eared Bible for a mid-day bite of the better food. There are periods of talk, periods of non-talk, sometimes even a brief nap on a hard rock if that’s the need.
Mike has a topographic map, detailed with all the trails and peaks and washes. Every year he marks where we are; and it’s well marked now where we’ve been.
In 20 years, with one long conversation, continued every week for an hour and a half, and every year for a full day, we’ve been a lot of places.
And the destination, of course, is in the going.
__________
*Tree Of Life Nursery, Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
5:15 pm
Sounds nice, hope you enjoy your day.
6:14 pm
The desert is indeed a wonderful place. Last time I was there was to take all day to go through Joshua Tree National Park and wish I had more time (like a week) and take my art supplies.
Have been to that nursery many times and find interesting things there.
For lunch can read about the Israelites wondering in that desert for 40 years without their shoes wearing out and food every day without asking!
6:29 pm
Wonderful!!!! What a gift you give one another. Thank you for sharing!!!
6:35 pm
Looking forward to it, as always! Should be hot. Still thinking about which canyon, peak, hill, or plain we might look into. DID XX – memorable already! Thanks for the Blank Slate on it… maybe a report to follow? Great summary of I thru XIX. These are very special times for both of us.
7:35 pm
What a beautiful friendship!
7:53 pm
You two model friendship well. I absolutely love the desert and its stillness, just the opposite of OC, it seems. Good medicine, especially when shared with a true soul-searcher. Have a great day!
8:27 pm
how exactly do you mark it? are there snakes? just wondering…
8:33 pm
Sue, Only once did we encounter a snake, a long rattle-less rattlesnake, the worst kind. We gave it wide berth and moved on. Another time we saw bighorn sheep, traversing sheer rock, both up and down, like butterflies on flowers. But most of the time it’s just wind, incredible flora, and us.
10:23 pm
Was recounting David and Jonathon’s friendship over Skype to my young nephew yesterday. So many reasons to let their friendship fizzle, but they chose to stay fast friends. Yours is an encouraging example too–Praise God!
11:28 am
Mike is a very soulful dude. I admire his knowledge of the natural world. The long term comradery goes beyond friendship… it is brotherhood.