When we first moved to Arizona, I missed trees! Over time, I have learned to love the open landscape and find myself drawn to its bare beauty.
When we first moved to Arizona, I missed trees! Over time, I have learned to love the open landscape and find myself drawn to its bare beauty.
melinda anderson photography 
It’s a lovely image. I could float into it and away… I wanted to tell you that I agree with you: the open landscape is something I never thought I would come to love so much. I have lived in various climates and ecosystems, but the high desert of Eastern Oregon made an impression on my soul and changed me in ways I never expected. The desert there was rough and grey and pungent with sagebrush and juniper. When spring came the snow left the hills and green velvet spread as far as the eye could see. Soon the wildflowers appeared in such abundance as I had never seen before, and the birds followed; so many species that I soon made my Life List. If you drove through the high desert without stopping, it would have seemed a barren, lonely place. But by stopping (and living there) I was overwhelmed and drawn into the abundance of life and beauty. There was one particular place that has always been “my special place.” Crossing the John Day River over its one bridge in that fertile valley, and traveling a winding canyon road that took your truck up into a mountain zone where more snowfall meant soil and grasses, you would be spilled out into a high prairie surrounded by forested peaks, where the wind always blew, just enough to whisper cross your face. There was one ancient barn on the prairie, still strong because nothing rotted in that climate. Pronghorn antelope would always come to investigate and then dash away. My soul opened up in that place and flew free. The vastness… it either frightens people or it frees them. I never felt so part of EVERYTHING as I did when standing on that gravel road on those high plains.
I’m glad you are discovering the beauty and taking it into your heart.
Wow, MaryAnn! I am always blown away by your writing! I am sure I must have driven through eastern Oregon at some point but I know I haven’t BEEN there. My love of open space actually started in Wyoming and Kansas; I love prairie and wheatfields. But it took me awhile to learn to love the high desert. And now I do!