A Desert Line Made By Walking

I think my favorite thing to do while I've been in Arizona is simply to go walking... There has been something so magical about coming back to a place that you didn't realize was so much a part of who you are until it was missing. As I've walked, there has been an essence of almost a spirit walk, a gentle guide going before me and speaking to me in the quiet, in the wind and in the rustling of leaves. I can't really even describe the sensation other than spiritual, like coming home and having the rest of the world melt away.

I've often joked with friends about the crazy settlers who saw this desert with its lack of shade, lack of water, and where all the plants and animals are either prickly or poisonous, and thought it was a great place to move here. Growing up here, I suppose I was jaded to its beauty in some way to be able to understand... This trip was the first moment it clicked in my head. The wide open spaces stretching as far as the eye can see off into the horizon seduce me and fill me with a sense of adventure and excitement in a way few other things can.

While I was walking I kept thinking back to Richard Long and couldn't help think how perfectly he must have understood this moment and how perfectly he was able to translate it visually in a way that is so powerful.

I love that simple act of carving your place into this earth and making a claim stating "YES! I was here!"