• Death Valley Resurrection

 

Setting: Early spring day in Death Valley National Park.

 

Death Valley has been so dry for so long

    that the landscape stands in stark relief.

    Salt flats shimmer from here to the horizon.

    The bare bones of the mountains

    and seemingly the skeletons of earth itself

        have long since been exposed

        by millennia of erosion

            from rare flash floods and nearly constant wind.

That wind and water erosion,

    plus cracking cold in winter

    and scorching sun in summer,

        kills off most vegetation

        before it can clothe the ground.

Beneath the sandy, rocky soil

    insulated bulbs and armored seeds lie dormant

    awaiting the precise combination of rain and sun.

        Sufficient November rains are essential

                to start the softening process.

            Enough winter rain completes it.

                    Cold and clouds inhibit growth;

                    too much heat or wind dry the plants

                        before they can bloom.

More than double the average annual rainfall

of less than two inches total

    during the 2009-2010 “rainy” season in Death Valley

        gave promise of bountiful spring blooms.

    Cold weather delayed the usual peak blooming time

        by several weeks.

Our visit March 29 and 30 preceded the peak

        by one or two weeks,

    but blessed us with a beautiful taste of what is to come.

 

Brown-eyed Evening-Primroses line the canyon roads with cream.

    Blooms begin in the evening and last all through the night.

    Often by late morning the petals have withered and dropped;

    the cycle will repeat with the next set of buds when evening falls.

 

Golden Evening-Primroses grow taller than their cousins

    and dot the desert floor with golden cups

        filled with fragrant perfume.

Purple Notch-Leaf Phacelia standing beside them

and lavender Caltha-Leaf Phacelia sitting at their feet

    combine to make the scene worthy of royal robes and crowns.

 

Lesser Mohavea is a giant among the belly flowers,

    so named from the position one must assume

        in order to photograph them.

Many flowers in this category grow only about one inch high.

 

Gravel Ghost comes camouflaged

    with broad gray leaves splotched with maroon

        that hug tight to the gray gravel

            with its maroon grains of sand.

    Its bright-white flowers bloom from naked stalks,

        often branched at the top.

 

Broad-leaved Gilia are topped with tiny pink flowers.

    The leaves, almost round

    and juicy dark green with spiked red edges,

        grow in a rosette at the base.

 

Desert Holly blossoms are both minute and hidden.

    The plant is really a saltbush,

    and the leaves exude protective chemicals

        that reflect the blazing sun.

 

South of the Badlands we find fields

stretching for miles filled with Desert Gold,

    a small desert sunflower that turns

    those acres upon acres to gold.

        Their lanceolate, fuzzy gray-green leaves

        add interest for their own sake.

 

Scattered here and there in the Desert Gold fields

is the rare Desert Five-Spot with its delicate globe-shaped blossoms.

    Each petal is rose with darker veins,

        a ruby dot at the curve, and creamy yellow at the base.

    Stickers protect the buds and stems.

 

Creosote bush is the most common shrub in the California deserts.

    Its waxy green leaves are tough drought-protectors,

    while the bright yellow flowers develop seeds with fluffy wings

        that winds carry across the sands to start new plants.

 

Truly we have seen resurrection in Death Valley.

It comes to mind that because Christ rose from the ground

        as our resurrected Lord,

        and rains the Spirit into our lives,

    we too can experience resurrection now

    and revel in the Sun of righteousness.

 

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