treasure

smelling the creosote

my roommate, Ruth, one of my best roommates ever, provides our home with a cache of movies, mostly comedies--stuff i don't usually see in the theatre. anyway, i watched The Yes Man (YES MAN, YES MAN, YES MAN!) the other day, and besides really enjoying the movie, Zooey Deschanel, and the idea that we should all be saying YES to living and not just existing!, i found the running/photo group (they run and take photos at the same time) corny but, what-the-heck, interesting.

as i ran yesterday at dusk, when through the peephole at papago park, the sun slipped into something more comfortable for sleep, when at the canal, the water reflected a comic strip version of a cloudy sky, when the majestic desert stood tall and still, ready to shake in the blaze of the sunset, when feet pounded, breath was measured, and eyes widened, when a brave, white-tailed rabbit nibbled as an admirer observed its long hind paws, when the smell of the creosote bush told the air that rain IS possible in this teeming but dry desert, when the rising, iridescent moon invited the departing sun for a slow dance...when all of this glowed around me, i was reminded of the running/photo club and wished that i could capture a snap of such solitary beauty. here, i tried to catch the moon mid-opening dust dance...

today, after conference ended and i picked up speed again, i returned to papago park with camera in hand, ready for magic. the light wouldn't be replicated, though the run was completely fulfilling. again, i rubbed creosote inbetween my fingers, forcing open the fuzzy white pompom to leave its faint perfume on my tips for quick sniffing highs during the run. since i had my camera, i took a few shots (saguaros - the younger and the older). i'll keep doing the running/photo club thing, 'tho not from the treadmill.