The Peaceful Desert

Most, if not all, of the great and profound religions of the earth were born in the desert. Mountain men, apparently in olden times, were too busy with their corporeal bodies to be bothered with their immortal souls. It isn't that life in the desert is an easy life, conducive to the philosophical ponderings of the meaning of existence. Far from it. The desert can be cruel, harsh, ugly, imperious, ungenerous and unkind, depending, of course, upon the approach of the beholder. But one knowing its way can find it both generous and kind, and learning its lessons can find life therein beautiful and fulfilling.

To discover the desert is to discover a new way of life. Geographically speaking, the desert regions of this country are small. Yet each year finds thousands of newcomers moving in, leaving more familiar haunts elsewhere, discovering for themselves almost with a sense of adventure the delights of desert living and desert life. And what is this magic spell the desert casts over its dwellers? Old Omar Khayyam had part of the answer with his “jug, bough and thou,” although times have changed in the past thousand years since he was spouting poetry all over the landscape. If he were about today he would be grabbed by the nearest constable and tossed into the clink for being a chronic alcoholic. There is more to the desert, also, than sleek suburbia with its expensive homes fully equipped with airconditioning, ceiling-to-floor windows, swimming

"After A Desert Shower" "In Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument" JOSEF MUENCH

pool, and hot and cold running martinis. The lure or spell of the desert is hard to define. What might be its greatest attraction for one person might be a distraction for another. Many things are woven into the charm of the desert. There are always above you the clear, blue skies. It must be very stifling, indeed, to live for months at a time where the sky is nothing but gray monotony, whose tiring drabness weighs heavily on the mind and soul. There are the eternal mountains, not too close to hem you in, but far enough away to please the eye as one is pleased when viewing a work of art. The color of the mountains change as the day changes; so mountain-gazing is one of the joyous desert pastimes. How tedius it must be to live in a flat land which rolls endlessly and endlessly to nowhere! There is always the clear, light air and the feeling of airy spaciousness, an important component of the desert's charm. You are not shut in or crowded. The elusive horizon is a veil of shimmering elasticity which will always elude you, but whose quest is a delightful adventure. A desert night was surely tailored for the philosopher. The stars are probably no brighter than stars elsewhere; they only appear so. The lazy, old moon, yawning over the mountain, is probably just as far away as it is anyplace else on earth only it seems closer and more friendly and its whispered secrets more easily understood. Sun and sky, spaciousness and time without end, the wild and lonely beauty of the terrain, nights of haunting stillness, the stars and the moon all give something to the lure of the desert. Here in the desert the harassed can find peace and a place to contemplate the mysteries of life and eternity.

"A Pattern Of Desert And Foothills"

Notes For Photographers

July; sunset after a storm; Taken across the road from Art Greene's old Dweller's Lodge on U. S. 89 a few miles west of the Navajo Bridge.

"EVENING COMES TO CANOA RANCH"-4x5 Graphic View camera; Ektachrome; bet. f. 16 and f. 22 at 1/10th sec.; 84" Comm. Ektar lens; Canoa Ranch is 27 miles south of Tucson on Nogales Highway.

"HIGH MOUNTAIN EVENING"-8x10 Ansco View camera with reducing back; Ektachrome, f. 16 at 1 second; Schneider-Symmar 7" lens; August; late sunset; Taken at Rainbow Lake near Lakeside in White Mountains.

"THE PAINTED SKY"-4x5 Graflex camera; Ektachrome; f. 6 at 1/5th sec.; Lomb Tessar lens; January; Taken near Pascua Indian Village on West Grant Road in Tucson.

"MAJESTIC PALMS IN SUNSET SILHOUETTE"-25x24 Hasselblad camera; Ektachrome; Taken on Camelback Road at 32nd Street in Phoenix. Eucalyptus and palms in area lend lustre to a valley sunset.

"WHEN A DESERT DAY IS DONE"-4x5 Linhof Super Technica camera; bet. f. 11 & f. 16 at 1/50th sec.; Xenar 150mm lens; flash at night-two 2B bulbs. Photo shows mule deer of the Southwestern desert. Taken from blind near Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson.

"PORTRAIT OF A GROUND SQUIRREL" 4x5 Speed Graphic camera; Ektachrome; f. 8 at dual electronic flash; Ektar 4.7 lens; Taken near Mormon Lake. Photo of Brown Mantled Ground Squirrel (Citellus lateralis). The ground squirrel is a small striped animal characterized by having cheek pouches, short ears, long front claws and generally a short tail.

"WILDLIFE SANCTUARY"-5x7 Sinar View camera; Ektachrome; f. 20 at 1/10th sec.; Schneider-Kreuznach-Symmar 1.5-5-6/210 lens; May; moderately clear day. Taken one quarter mile south of U. S. 66 on the Colorado River, one half mile east of bridge crossing at Topock. Looking east from a bend in the Colorado River over tules toward the Needles. These tules are infested with wild life and fish.

"A WISE OLD OWL"-4x5 Speed Graphic camera; Ektachrome; f. 8 with dual electronic flashes; Ektar 4.7 lens; April. Taken on the Verde River near Phoenix. Photograph of Screech Owl (Otus asto naevius). Screech owls are found throughout most of the United States and southern Canada. Contrary to their name, this owl does not screech but wails plaintively. During the night he goes about the business of hunting mice, other rodents and large insects. During the day he usually rests in a hollow tree.

"JOSHUA DWELLERS" 4x5 Crown Graphlex camera; Ektachrome; f5.6 to f6.3 at 100th sec.; Ektar lens; late afternoon. Taken in Mohave Desert. Group of birds rest on Joshua tree in journey through desert.

"WHEN THE HEDGEHOGS ARE IN BLOOM"-4x5 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f. 32 at 1/10th sec.; 5" Schneider Xenar lens; April; sunny with clouds. Taken along the Bush Highway, approaching the Mazatzal Mountains in Maricopa County. On this spring day the desert was dotted with the color of the bright flowers of the Hedgehog (Echinocereus engelmanii) and one particularly splendid plant seemed appropriate for foreground.

"IN A DESERT BOX CANYON" 5x7 Deardorff View camera; Ektachrome; f. 22 at 1/5th sec.; Goerz Dogmar lens; spring; bright sun, early A.M.; This location is in the Mineral Mountain area east of Florence. A little known or traveled area, what traffic may come along on the unmarked dirt road would be bound for one of the few mines still operating back in the mountains.

"AFTER A DESERT SHOWER"-4x5 Linhof Super Technica camera; Anscochrome; f. 16 at 1/10th sec.; Xenar 150mm lens; late afternoon sunlight. Photo taken on dirt road in Saguaro National Monument near Tucson. A short rain earlier in the day left everything fresh.

"IN ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT"-4x5 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f. 16 at 1/10th sec.; 5" Schneider Xenar lens; April; sunny with clouds. Taken in Bull Pasture in Organ Pipe National Monument, south of Ajo. From a slope overlooking an expanse of the Arboreal Desert, Saguaros and Organ Pipes stand in open formations. Shadows in the middle distance add depth to the scene and mountain peaks show blue in the far distance. Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) adds a touch of yellow in the foreground.

"A PATTERN OF DESERT AND FOOTHILLS"-4x5 Speed Graphic camera; Ektachrome; f. 14 at 1/30th sec.; 610mm B. & L. Tessar lens. This desert winter vista was photographed from the northwest shore of Bartlett Lake. The lake can be reached by driving some 50 miles on Cave Creek Road from Phoenix. Bartlett is one of the Verde River lakes.

"THE DESERT'S FRIENDLY INVITATION" 25x25 Rolleiflex camera; Ektachrome; f. 8 at 1/125th sec.; 3.5 Tessar lens; October; bright and clear. Taken on desert just off of the Pinnacle Peak Road about five miles east of Curry's Corner, north of Scottsdale. This is a group of riders nearing the end of an eighteen mile ride from the Verde River to the Rancho Vista Bonita, about two miles east of Curry's Corner.

"INTERIOR-SAN XAVIER MISSION" BY PETE BALESTRERO. 4x5 Graphic View camera; Ektachrome; f. 8 with 9-50B flash; 88mm wide angle lens; June. Photo of interior of San Xavier Mission seven miles southwest of Tucson. This mission dates from Spanish conquest.

"WHITE CHRISTMAS IN THE RED CLIFFS." 4x5 Linhof Technika camera; Ektachrome; f. 22 at 1/10th sec.; Schneider-Kreuznach 240mm lens; January; late afternoon light; ASA rating 12. This picture was taken about two miles south of Sedona on the road to Cottonwood. A stormy sky, a waning sun highlighting red cliffs attracted the photographer.