March 5, 2006

LEAVING LAS VEGAS

The thing I will miss most about Las Vegas is the drive over and back. Initially, it seemed long and tedious, but it became comfortable and lovely, somewhat like an old friend, with its familiar signposts. I learned to be attentive to the seasonal changes. We watched for the successive mountain ranges in order to establish our progress.

Forested mountains, oceans and beaches present their overwhelming beauty with open arms. It is just all out there, always on display. But the desert is a hidden treasure. You have to determine that you will mine for its beauty. You must watch intently, and �suddenly there it is. A sense of vast beauty that seems to endure in spite of its history. And the wonder of it all is in just �how it all happened�. You can�t imagine what caused the barrenness; �the arroyo with an oasis of Cottonwoods hovering over�what? Layers of strata banding the mountains with brilliant colored minerals, deposited �how - when? Huge rocks in the middle of nowhere. How did they get there? You feel the tenacity of the twisted dwarf juniper struggling to survive�and even perhaps grow�in the drought stricken rocky soil.

The wonder that I felt every time as we came over the crest of the hill and saw that unseemly metropolis in the middle of nowhere. It will always be astonishing to me.

Forested Mt. Charleston; Red Rocks; - Mesquite trees! I have grown to adore Mesquite trees. They have such personalities, and they bring life to total barrenness. Mesquite trees don�t simply stand there. They strike a pose. They dance. They rock to the rhythm of the winds. And now, they are waving goodbye.

But that is Las Vegas in a nutshell. It brought light and life to an empty valley.

Las Vegas means, �the Meadows�. Tucked into the center of that scrambling cacophony of partiers and working people, there is still a small green oasis with a spring. It is the place of the meadows. And that is where it all began.

Never mind the �sin city� and gambling stuff. There was nothing there but a crossroads spring at one time. Now there is an explosion of life. I don�t know how anyone could ever suddenly come upon it without a gasp of disbelief. I mean, what are the odds of this phenomenon existing here? (No pun intended.)

And I will miss the constant amazement of finding goodness and normalcy in the midst of a city that masquerades as every other place in the world and is designed to take you into unreality as quickly as possible.

Las Vegas is the hub of a wheel with spokes directing you to other wonderful places: Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, Boulder Dam, Phoenix, Lake Havasu, Los Angeles/Hollywood, the Pacific, Death Valley, Mt. Charleston, the Sierras and Tahoe, Reno, Salt Lake City, Colorado, Arizona, then full circle to Grand Canyon again.

The thing about the desert is, that it is full of surprises. It is unpredictable. I have grown to love it.

So most of all�I will miss the drive over and back.

Is that not the most unbelievable thing of all? Who knew?

Text � copyright 2003 - 2008 The Homespun Philosopher

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