Death Valley National Park, CA
February 2023
I’ve been camping here for a few days. I was in Southern California on business and wanted to take the geographic opportunity afterwards to try to catch some desert flowers here and on down to Anza-Borrego. Bad timing with unusually extreme weather here and across the state. The bitter wind severely limited my ability to be out of the warm car (medical condition.) Another snow storm was coming in that threatened to close the roads out of the park. Time for me to go. On my way out, the weather calmed enough for me to walk the Golden Canyon to the Red Cathedral. These names seemed a bit loftier than the place looked to me. But hey it’s fun to name things that way!
I entered with intention. Asking permission. Looking for surprises, the unfamiliar, things to disturb my perception and break open the mind. Large scenes, tiny details, patterns, decay, processes, sounds. Also I needed exercise!! I brought my Koshi chime and let it come out to play. A fairy was visiting!
I talked to the sentinels. I scrambled up a side slot until I got to a spot that looked fine to climb up but not to get back down. I had to pee 5 times during this 3 mile walk. Very annoying.
This is where I found the wildflowers I was after. 😊
I got to be lightly rained on in one of the driest places on Earth. How cool is that??!! I soaked up the symbolism. The water evaporated instantly so I didn’t get wet (medical concern again.) The full rain came as I was driving out the park exit, just in time!
At one point I remembered a song the Flaming Lips did with the Chemical Brothers called The Golden Path. “As I walked along
The supposed golden path…” Very powerful song that still makes me cry and I had forgotten it for years until that moment. It’s about death and forgiveness and calling bullshit on beliefs.
As I walked this Golden Canyon, I kept asking myself what draws me to extreme places so often?
I made it to the Red Cathedral. I was tired and not feeling well from the caffeine. But I did manage to be quiet and listen for an answer.
I walked out with the love of cutting gorgeous gorges in my soul. Tears are the water and songs are the wind that erode to expose the ancient layers and processes. Stories, colors, adventures. Cracks and boulders and crystal deposits. So much beauty to wander in. Crags to explore, cubbies to take shelter in. High views, low views. Safe or vulnerable? Neither!
I thought about my death, how I don’t want to die in the grips of western medicine because, because… why? What is it I want to experience? Can I be more specific than I’ve been so far? It always comes back around to inform me how to live in the mean time. I need to make my next set of plans. I just really really love being on a planet. And in places like this it is easier to see how the stuff made in stars and volcanoes made this precious whizzing speck of living rock we live on.
And oh ya, Stephen Hawking made a proof that the universe is holographic. As in every tiny bit of me has all the info to create the projection of the entire universe? I like that feeling. What can I do with that?
I passed a family with a young girl on a rock and a grandpa with green hair. I thought they might be kin and appreciate the chime? So I let it tinkle. Grandpa yelled at the girl to get down. Hmmm not so much my kin lol.
An elder couple noticed my chime and we got to talking. They asked me many questions about the chime, most of which I could not answer. The woman said she sees an Om on my head. Ok she’s clairvoyant… I wonder what it means in my case. Then we got to talking about countries and languages. Then singing! They tried for an echo effect in the canyon, but instead the sound was dampened. They sang me a goodbye song and headed toward the cathedral. So cool.
Later that day in the bathroom I notice my head scarf has Oms drawn all over it. 😂
Hopefully one of these photos will twist your vision a bit.
