I love using adjectives - I love painting pictures with words for my readers to claim. I have the imagination of a child, and it usually works to my benefit :) I started the below piece as an exercise to use my creativity - there are so many places I can take this idea. Please enjoy what I have created so far, but know there is much more to come.
I look to the east, and catch the first rays of sunlight exploding from the horizon. The desert is beautiful when blanketed under the brilliance of the sun. Saguaros rise and scatter the earth, standing tall against the blue backdrop of morning. Their presence is breath taking; enormous, yet statuesque and magnificent. It is the kind of beauty that only residents of the desert have learned to appreciate. The valley is quiet, tranquil. The skies are bright, and painted with the orange hue of sunshine - cloudless, and clear. Night has slipped away, allowing this radiance of color to rent its space. The morning is crisp, and resonates through me. It is the start of a perfect day.
Further south, the city is waking. This morning is alive long before the first patron begins his dance with the snooze button. The occasional runner awakens the streets as he takes advantage of the early morning dew - it will be mid morning before the infamous 100 degree heat sets in. For now, the emptiness is comforting. Soon, the bustle of Monday morning traffic and crowded drive-thru coffee joints will consume the peacefulness of this day. From now until the last time card is punched, the blurred commotion of life in the city will dominate the attention of Arizona residents. It is in the hush of a late evening sunset, or stillness of the an early morning run that her beauty is found. It is here that the quirks of nature find solice and display the fruits of their charasmatic beauty.
The patchwork beauty of desert living is just that: individual and unique. And when sewn together these pieces create a larger scale elegance - clay infused earth meets a clear azure sky onset with the bursting brilliance of the sun. These elements of nature are separate, and defined, yet their distinct qualities collate into a beauty unmatched by any of creation of man. In her finest, and most desolate form, Arizona is beautiful and unique from any of the surrounding Southwestern states. The skies are bluer here; close your eyes, open your minds, and breathe.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
butterflies.
I have spent my life chasing dreams. I build my life from fantasy; from childhood fairy tales to frivolous teenage years spent wishing on stars - imagination has become my business. It is the strongest aspect of my character.
When I was a little girl, I ran the alfalfa fields of my father's farm - chasing butterflies. Armed with a makeshift net I captured my beloved creatures and secured their captivity in a mason jars beside my bed. Over the course of the evening their wings would wilt and become powder at the base of these jars and though I understood death, I was never heartbroken over the demise of my beloved creatures. Their failure to survive in captivity only fed my understanding that the following day would bring more fluttering flies for me to chase. So I would wake up each morning and set off on another adventure to catch butterflies. After an afternoon under the running beneath the sun, I would place my new friends in clean mason jars and set them on the ground outside of our Tack shed. It was beneath this shaded building that I would bury the deceased from the previous day. Looking back, I see this practice as almost sacrificial. I was showing the living a flash of their awaiting future. I always wished that one, just one, would make it through the night; but even if one did, just one, I wouldn’t have stopped my hunt. One victory would not have ceased any of my future attempts at success, not then and certainly not now.
This imagination of mine runs rampant – I have built queens upon kings and constructed the success of my future from the fruit of my dreams. Though impulsive at times, and not necessarily known for making the best decisions, I have spent the last 24 years chasing butterflies. My fearlessness of the unknown, coupled with my unshakable optimism, has created a shield of invincibility between myself and failure. Though always an option, and sometimes an unavoidable outcome, I have never allowed the possibility of defeat to dampen my desire to succeed. There will always be another afternoon to chase ambition under the summer sun – dreaming doesn’t stop after a single success - it continues. What stops is the desire to dream, and the motivation to run.
When I was a little girl, I ran the alfalfa fields of my father's farm - chasing butterflies. Armed with a makeshift net I captured my beloved creatures and secured their captivity in a mason jars beside my bed. Over the course of the evening their wings would wilt and become powder at the base of these jars and though I understood death, I was never heartbroken over the demise of my beloved creatures. Their failure to survive in captivity only fed my understanding that the following day would bring more fluttering flies for me to chase. So I would wake up each morning and set off on another adventure to catch butterflies. After an afternoon under the running beneath the sun, I would place my new friends in clean mason jars and set them on the ground outside of our Tack shed. It was beneath this shaded building that I would bury the deceased from the previous day. Looking back, I see this practice as almost sacrificial. I was showing the living a flash of their awaiting future. I always wished that one, just one, would make it through the night; but even if one did, just one, I wouldn’t have stopped my hunt. One victory would not have ceased any of my future attempts at success, not then and certainly not now.
This imagination of mine runs rampant – I have built queens upon kings and constructed the success of my future from the fruit of my dreams. Though impulsive at times, and not necessarily known for making the best decisions, I have spent the last 24 years chasing butterflies. My fearlessness of the unknown, coupled with my unshakable optimism, has created a shield of invincibility between myself and failure. Though always an option, and sometimes an unavoidable outcome, I have never allowed the possibility of defeat to dampen my desire to succeed. There will always be another afternoon to chase ambition under the summer sun – dreaming doesn’t stop after a single success - it continues. What stops is the desire to dream, and the motivation to run.
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