Escapees July-August 2023

camping chair chat

TheDesert in the Human I didn’t plan to end up in the desert. I work full-time from my RV, and I am always teth ered in my search for connectivity. It is always a balance between how far I can get from the traditional world to a world of my own making. Y ou think because you plan your stay, maybe even do extensive preparations to build your escape, this will be an adventure like any other. But when you arrive, it can be an entirely differ ent outcome. I thought I was just going to be another human in the desert. I’m between responsibilities and thought this would be a good time to push my RV to the limit. I have boon docked overnight many times. I have boondocked for several months with friends or family. But this was the fi rst time I would do an extended stay without ‘backup’. Everything would depend on what our rig could do and how well we planned our endeavor. I’m a foodie and would normally be hunting hole-in the wall joints to absorb the local food and drink as well as the customs. And, although I’m an introvert, I still enjoy entertainment from the outside looking in. But here, I don’t anticipate my free hours being fi lledwith activity overload. So, what am I going to explore for a month in the desert? As far as I can see, the scenery is the same, mile after mile. I was wrong. When I step out of the RV, I can walk in any direction toward mountains on the far horizon. I watch as RVs in different shapes and sizes appear and disappear across the desert landscape. I don’t know

where everyone is coming from, why they are here, or if they accidentally stayed here like me. The saguaro cactus lets insigni fi cant me pass, like they have overseen hundreds of others pass this way. Did you know the Saguaro doesn’t even grow its fi rst arm until they are 75 to 100 years old? They live 150 to 200 years and are the largest cacti in the United States. Nothing is in a rush in the desert except the lizard that wants to be hidden on your approach. I hobble across sand and rock. (I’m not an athletic hiker or climber.) What looks to be a spread of dark brown chunky peanut butter across the landscape is a tasty visual. For a hue that looks totally brown across the span of space, there are more colors up close. The land bursts with oranges, reds, whites, blacks and tans. Each rock has its own character with lines, shapes, cracks and sparkles. I can’t help but bend down and turn them over in my palm. Sometimes I look at throngs of people and they become a blur in everyday life like the sands of the desert. I forget I should slow down, look closer and appreciate the wealth of stories and experiences each individual has to share. If the Saguaros and rocks could only communicate. But, then I guess they have been. I just needed to listen. Maybe working from my RV keeps me chained to semi-regular hours. But, the freedom of my RV creates opportunities to dig deeper into the sand and soil. You cannot walk away from the desert without taking some of it with you, internally. Although if you RV a lot, you always take some in your shoes! I know I will be storing those long idle walks, picking up rocks and scanning the vistas. I know saguaros made me hold still and acknowledge time. I don’t have 150–200 years, but I can live like I do. Each rock I picked up was to examine its unique beauty. I can admire this beauty in the traditional world, too, with the people around me. For a place I did not originally plan to visit, the desert ardor will remain embedded in this human. Lucinda Belden #159950

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July/August 2023 ESCAPEES Magazine