In a former life I'm told I was a cowboy. A wild rustler of sorts, perched stoically atop a roaming stallion that's been broken by the dust covered hands that now pull firmly against a fastened bridle. It's a curious allure I suppose, one in which the promise of independence somehow outweighs both the cost and pleasure of fidelity. To be truly alone in the wilderness has always held a special fascination for me, yet such moments are all but forgotten in a world where the mundane is often mistaken for progress. Just once would I like to experience life out there in the desert. Just once would I like to leave my cares behind and slip away into a world where stallions still roam free and the man atop their backs is both stranger and hero to us all.
And so I packed my bags and headed out west. Did I abandon all of my responsibilities and cares to start anew in a land yet untamed by man's infectious touch? Were my dreams of fame and fortune to follow the path of those who came before me as they steadfastly pushed forward into a land full of promise, yet equally inhospitable? Well, not exactly. In fact, my journey was made not in months or years, but instead just hours as I whisked through the air at hundreds of miles an hour en route from Birmingham to Tucson. For my trip into the great American West was made not out of necessity or longing, but rather for the purpose of business and pleasure. For you see, my company just had their annual employee retreat as a recognition of a job well done and our prize was an all expense paid trip to the luxury hotel Loews Ventana Canyon located in beautiful Tucson, Arizona. So sit back as I take you on a tour of my rugged journey through barren lands filled with unrelenting heat, poisonous rattlesnakes, and the last vestiges of a savage culture that once called these scorched plains home. It was quite an adventure...and I've got the pictures to prove it.
Upon arriving in Tucson I was immediately scheduled to take an off-road Jeep tour through the desert. The gentleman wearing a quite fashionable leather cowboy hat was George, my guide for the tour and an apparent repository of information on all things Tucson related. George regaled me with colorful tales of Cowboys and Indians as we took in the dry desert air. As an interesting aside, the Jeep that we took had neither doors or a roof other than the cloth canopy above our heads. While George's cowboy hat would have undoubtedly sheltered his head in the event of a rollover, I am afraid my lack of appropriate western headgear would offer no such protection.
These horses came right up to the Jeeps and appeared to only show interest when the prospect of food might be forthcoming. If I had an apple or carrots I would have surely given them some...but in return I would demand a customary free ride.
George is attempting to show me how to shoot an arrow. While I appreciated his enthusiasm for bronze age weaponry, I prefer to do my killing like a true man...with my mits!
I also got a little practice with a cowboy's must trusted friend: the lasso. As you can see from this picture, the deranged bull is making a full speed charge that threatens to kill us all. Not to worry though, once that quarter-inch rope is around his neck he will become as docile as George during siesta.
Apparently all of our rustling and cow herding attracted the attention of the Federalis and they sent two Chinook helicopters to monitor us. Our close proximity to the border and obviously suspicious behavior most assuredly sent border patrol into a frenzy. Undoubtedly they thought we must be drug smugglers. After all, if you saw a group of grown men lassoing a bull made out of a 55-gallon drum wouldn't you suspect that drugs were somehow involved?
The desert is full of cacti, some large others small, but this guy is just showing off. I think I saw a horror movie once about a mutant cactus that attacked unwary travelers by hugging them to death with its countless prickly arms. It was called "A Right to Bear Arms" and must have been co-produced by the NRA. The reason you have never heard of it is because this cactus was not cast as the lead.
Ancient people used to call this area home and some of them even left their mark for us to see all these years later in the form of petroglyphs. Here we see a flower carved into the rock that undoubtedly represents beauty, love, or some other such sentiment worthy of preservation.
As I walked through the desert in search of more petroglyphs I came across this piece of broken pottery. Although it is somewhat hard to see in the picture, partial remains of decorative painting are just visible on its surface.
I climbed atop a rock outcropping to survey the land before me. The mountains on the horizon are twenty, forty, and eighty miles away as you look further into the distance. Although I had already traveled over 1,400 miles by plane that morning, those outstretched miles before me seemed as daunting as they did endless.
The desert is home to all sorts of strange wildlife. Someone caught a tarantula and brought it back for everyone to see. You will notice that the spider seems curiously docile, a sure indication that it had just fed on some unfortunate traveler and was no longer interested in making dinner out of us all.
As the day drew to a close it was time for me to saddle up and head back to camp/ Loews Ventana Canyon luxury hotel. I climbed atop my trusty stallion and began to ride stoically into the sunset as the winds whipping through the canyon rustled my frayed duster and freshly grown mustache.
In the last few moments of dusk, the light shone just brightly enough for me to make out a curious petroglyph that was almost hidden from the rest. It was a series of intertwining lines carved on the mountainside that seemed to get larger as they expanded from the center. These lines have special significance to the indigenous people who used to live here. Unlike the other designs that were only meant to convey beauty, these simple lines held within them something much more. These were the lines of two lives shared together. Each line represents a season that these two people spent together as husband and wife and as time passed the design would grow larger. In this case, the design only lasted four seasons...just one year. I wonder what caused the time these two people shared together to be cut short. Was it loss of desire, the death of one partner, perhaps even a betrayal. Whatever the reason, it is one that has long since been covered over by the shifting sands of the Arizona desert and the slow passage of time. But oh how brightly it must have burned in that year as devoted sentimentality overflowed from the heart and burned itself onto the sunbaked rock for all generations to bear witness. Words cannot do such emotion justice as the remembrance of it stirs the imagination even now.
