Desert Roaming Sister


today is my sister adrienne's birthday. you all probably know how ade loves and craves the desert lands, so in honor of her birthday we just took a little trip for few days down south on 395 on the east side of the sierras to the desert.




in the desert it is like someone left the light on too long. so bright your eyes hurt, there is a roaring beneath the surface and in the sky. in Death Valley the surface of the earth can reach 200 degrees fahrenheit. sometimes fighter jets scream by down out of nowhere and dive straight into the canyons and you are aware of inauspicious mechanical powers that still have no match for these eerie desolate lands.



everything seems more rickety, more rustic, more dusty. there is a shimmering pallor over life and death alike, dry creekbed and bone, sunflower, dune, tavern. 
like nothing is quite real...or is too real.






when i say desolate i surely do not mean abandoned. i mean forsaken and sometimes forgotten by humans. life is abundant in the desert. the sun shines, the wind blows, seeds scatter, birds and animals learn to eat and sleep and fly and crawl protectively.

 



ghost town, lonely fortress of strange guards and rusty relics.
 



weird guardians of a borderworld between living and dead, ghost and flesh, wood and bone....





later...tiny frogs hide out in a decaying log of a desert oasis.



we took a dip in a cold and mossy pool, the only year round waterfall in death valley.


the hike to darwin falls is half dust and beating sun, then half jungle and shadowy depths right in the middle of death valley: the hottest, lowest, driest place in north america. here suddenly, a riparian zone where flora and fauna luxuriate along riverbanks in a tangle of growth and rebirth. death seeping back into the earth, we saw a dead bird, a dead bat, and a giant dead grasshopper all falling into mud.

 

the world is a magical place my friends. i quote sera cahoone, recommended by milla, and listened to abundantly on this trip (she might be from the pnw, but the songs sure sound like desert to me):
"you might as well just sing."







  and happiest birthday to the one and only most unique and wild-hearted, undaunted and free and strong-minded and lively, dust and wind and sun-loving sister of my heart and soul.

 to a thousand more adventures!

Comments

ashley said…
I love hearing/reading about your desert travels! So ghostly beautiful- your words paint an amazing scene to imagine, having never been to the desert myself. Im glad the black widows didnt wreck the trip!

And that first photo of Adie is unreal!! What a babe.
Andrea said…
what a beautiful tribute (and trip) for your sister :) you guys surely know how to roadtrip it! I love it!
anne said…
happy b-day to adie!
what a beautiful post heather!
Missa said…
Happy Birthday to Adie! That first pic is STUNNING and I love the one of you holding the skull too. What magical mystical creatures of the dessert you ladies are!
Kara McKenzie said…
I've never been to the desert, although I'd love to go. My dad's V broke down in Death Valley sometime in the early 70s. By the time they walked and found help, they couldn't find the car again. It's probably still there somewhere...

Cheers,
Kara of Fancy That Vintage
Cel said…
What a great way to celebrate a birthday. And I have no idea where you guys were, but that room filled with all the animal bones and framed spiders? That looks like heaven to me right there. I LOVE that sort of stuff.

I do hope I get to see the desert someday. It seems like another world compared to these forested hills and pond-filled valleys.
AdieSpringB said…
Bun thank you! I'm such a dork cause I just now read this... What loveliness. And to think, the summer is ending, boohoo. I am not quite ready for my favorite holiday yet. Oh well.....
Amy Beatty said…
What beautiful haunting pictures to see right before bed. You girls are just so stunning!!! Glad ade got to go on her birthday trip with her favorite people to such a lovely lonely land. Happy birthday dearest Addie!! I want to hear more about this trip. I had no idea you guys were going as far as death valley. I love that place. So crazy you found a swimming hole there! Who would have thought? Love you xo
Milla said…
Fanny Pack and all! Hooray for this adventure and its gorgeous heroines and pools of moonlight! Hooray for the birth of beautiful Adie!

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