Haibun: My Sonoran Desert
Growing up in the hills and mountains of Upstate New York, as the month of May found itself, the leaves would explode on each tree. Suddenly everything was so green and would be till the middle of September. Everyone, yes absolutely everyone, would comment about how green it was, how beautiful it was, I was no different.
Moving to the Sonoran Desert, the brown and sun muted colors were endless. There are green cacti, but the green was muted and pulled into the yellows and browns around each one. This year, with all the extra rain we received, so much of the East Valley Floor had grass, the palo verde trees had leaves, and it was full of green. I didn’t care for it so much, I wanted my Sonoran Desert back.
Living out here it is the brown, muted yellow and green desert being what it was supposed to be that drew me in, the desert in its “truth” that made it all feel so beautiful. So the desert grass as green is fine, but when it turns the mountain browns and gold, my eyes drink in the delight.
