I don’t see the desert as barren at all; I see it as full and ripe. It doesn’t need to be flattered with rain. It certainly needs rain, but it does with what it has, and creates amazing beauty. ~ Joy Harjo

Happy Holiday in the Desert

So what has become a bit of an annual tradition, I headed again this year out to the Mojave Desert for Christmas. I spent three days in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. The park is about an hour east of Las Vegas and is absolutely spectacular. I love the Mojave in the winter, the days are typically in the 50s or 60s, the nights from the 20s to 40s. This year the nights were a bit on the colder side, so after the first night I bought myself a Christmas present a fleece blanket, because I’d forgotten my fleece sleeping bag insert.

I love camping here for a couple of reasons, great weather, amazing scenery, clear amazing skies and the fact that on occasion I’ve had bighorn sheep come walking through my camp. This year, I was woken up on Christmas morning by the sound of hoof beats. I woke up and went for the zipper on the tent, which stopped the hooves, only to hear deep breathing next to the tent. By time I got the zipper open, they had moved off across the campground but it was a great way to start the day.

I spent the day hiking and returned to for lunch and then to take a little snooze in my hammock. While laying there listening to music I had a small songbird land on my shoulder. I’ve spent a lot of time in nature and this is the first time I’ve ever had a bird land on me, it was pretty cool.

Back at camp for dinner, as I was cooking I turned to go to my car and there stood a 250 pound Bighorn Ram. He stared at me, I stared at him, both of us wondering what the other would do. After our little stare off, he went back to munching on a bush on the site. A minute later I noticed another ram on the rocks above my picnic table, he moved down in front of me and finally a yew was standing there as well. I was basically surrounded by huge bighorn sheep while I ate dinner, it was really special.

Finally, a little Pagan fire magic helped turned my campfire a bit festive.

I then slid into Vegas for three days, some time to meet up with friends for an amazing dinner, to lose some money in the casinos although I had one fantastic run on the craps table at the Stratosphere. It was a great Christmas vacation, I came back relaxed and happy, I hope yours was equally as good.Below I’ve included some shots from Valley of Fire State Park. ~ Rev Kane