The nature of desert nature / Meditations on the Nature of Deserts

In this refreshing collection, one of our best writers on desert places, Gary Paul Nabhan, challenges traditional notions of the desert. Beautiful, reflective, and at times humorous, Nabhan's extended essay also called "The Nature of Desert Nature" reveals the complexity of what a desert is and can be. He passionately writes about what it is like to visit a desert and what living in a desert looks like when viewed through a new frame, turning age-old notions of the desert on their heads. Nabhan invites a prism of voices--friends, colleagues, and advisors from his more than four decades of study of deserts--to bring their own perspectives. Scientists, artists, desert contemplatives, poets, and writers bring the desert into view and investigate why these places compel us to walk through their sands and beneath their cacti and acacia. We observe the spines and spears, stings and songs of the desert anew. Unexpected. Surprising. Enchanting. Like the desert itself, each essay offers renewed vocabulary and thoughtful perceptions. The desert inspires wonder. Attending to history, culture, science, and spirit, The Nature of Desert Nature celebrates the bounty and the significance of desert places. Contributors Thomas M. Antonio Homero Aridjis James Aronson Tessa Bielecki Alberto Búrquez Montijo Francisco Cantú Douglas Christie Paul Dayton Alison Hawthorne Deming Father David Denny Exequiel Ezcurra Thomas Lowe Fleischner Jack Loeffler Ellen McMahon Rubén Martínez Curt Meine Alberto Mellado Moreno Paul Mirocha Gary Paul Nabhan Ray Perotti Larry Stevens Stephen Trimble Octaviana V. Trujillo Benjamin T. Wilder Andy Wilkinson Ofelia Zepeda Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 10 The Nature of Desert Nature: A Deep History of Everything that Sticks, Stinks, Stings, Sings, Swings, Springs, or Clings in Arid Landscapes // Gary Paul Nabhan 12 NATIVE WAYS OF ENVISIONING DESERTS 60 Where Wilderness Begins // Ofelia Zepeda 62 Heeno // Alberto Mellado Moreno 68 I Commit to Memory the Desert Village, My Family, and My Home // Octaviana V. Trujillo 74 GROWING UP DESERTED 78 A Sense of Place and a Sense of Self: The Acquisition of Compassion from the Desert // Paul Dayton 80 My Childhood Desert // Alberto Búrquez 83 Reconciling Cooperation vs. Competition Among Desert Creatures // Ray Pierotti 87 At the Desert’s Edge // Benjamin T. Wilder 90 DESERT CONTEMPLATIVES 94 The Insurmountable Darkness of Love // Douglas Christie 96 Falling in Love // Tessa Bielecki 100 Encountering Openness // Thomas Lowe Fleischner 103 A Hoosier’s Desert // Father David Denny 106 Listening to Our Sibling Deserts: Restoring Indigenous Mindfulness // Jack Loeffler 109 DESERT AS ATZLÁN AND DIVIDED TURF 114 Clearly Marked Ghosts // Francisco Cantú 116 A White Body Out in the Desert // Homero Aridjis 127 The Desert Dark // Rubén Martínez 128 DESERTS SEEN FROM OTHER PLACES 134 Desert Epiphany // Larry Stevens 136 Longing for el Monte // Exequiel Ezcurra 139 Oriented Southwest // Curt Meine 141 A Thousand Miles from Inhabited Land // James Aronson 148 Desert City / Ocean Home: Five Offerings of Gratitude // Alison Hawthorne Deming 152 DESERT AS ART / ECOLOGY NEXUS 158 On the Edge: Listen to Your Plants // Thomas M. Antonio 160 Empty and Full | Far and Near | Alone and Together // Ellen McMahon 163 A Bright and Shining Place // Stephen Trimble 166 Desert Sonnet // Andy Wilkinson 169 Color Plates 170 Postscript. Staring at the Walls: Views of the Desert in Southern Arizona Public Art // Paul Mirocha 186 Contributors 200 Series Information 208 In this refreshing collection, one of our best writers on desert places, Gary Paul Nabhan, challenges traditional notions of the desert. Beautiful, reflective, and at times humorous, Nabhans extended essay The Nature of Desert Nature reveals the complexity of what a desert is and can be. He passionately writes about what it is like to visit a desert and what living in a desert looks like when viewed through a new frame, turning age-old notions of the desert on their heads. Nabhan invites a prism of voicesfriends, colleagues, and advisors from his more than four decades of study of desertsto bring their own perspectives. Scientists, artists, desert contemplatives, poets, and writers bring the desert into view and investigate why these places compel us to walk through their sands and beneath their cacti and acacia. We observe the spines and spears, stings and songs of the desert anew. Unexpected. Surprising. Enchanting. Like the desert itself, each essay offers renewed vocabulary and thoughtful perceptions. The desert inspires wonder. Attending to history, culture, science, and spirit, Everything That Stings, Clings, or Sing s celebrates the bounty and the significance of desert places. Contributors Thomas M. Antonio Homero Aridjis James Aronson Tessa Bielecki Alberto Brquez Montijo Francisco Cant Douglas Christie Paul Dayton Alison Hawthorne Deming Father David Denny Exequiel Ezcurra Thomas Lowe Fleischner Jack Loeffler Ellen MacMahon Rubn Martnez Curt Meine Alberto Mellado Moreno Paul Mirocha Gary Paul Nabhan Ray Perotti Larry Stevens Stephen Trimble Octaviana V. Trujillo Benjamin T. Wilder Andy Wilkinson Ofelia Zepeda "The desert inspires wonder. Attending to history, culture, science, and spirit, Everything That Stings, Clings, or Sings celebrates the bounty and the significance of desert places"-- Provided by publisher