“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
Just catchin' up an' what a gorgeous feast for the eyes an' ears (readin' this, the poetic word-itry!) this is--all these bless'ed children are like Saint-Exupéry's sensitive Little Prince--loving deeply somethin' profound yet fickle, ephemeral yet eternal--childhood! a physical world of innocence an' wonder that cannot possibly last forever (tho' it seems the children you shared time with in the desert had far more've a lush an' peaceful oasis, free from worry--than their peers in the US, in Columbia...to my surprise too! Anywho, it's the memory of the thing that sustains, nourishes the Little Prince in all of us! To travel far to help another or help many others is such a human journey--people have always done thus--it's only recently that travel has become a danger, a risk, politicized... an' that's sad. I hope you didn't catch the last soap bubble of simple wonder... An' what'll happen to those children when they get older? (I think've the song "you've got to be carefully taught" from South Pacific...always gives me a pang 'er 2). For those who dehumanize fellow human travelers (like the leerin' men--ugh!) have lost that sense of embracin' fellow humans (I mean spirit-wize cuz fer durned sure the kind've embracin' these lech's wanted was beyond bein' unwanted). Instead of seein' oneness (each of us unique but seein' a fellow traveler!), they looked thru that glass...darkly. Sure appreciate your sharin' this amazin' journey--an' I DO hope all the children remember you an' the colorful joys you shared no matter what clouds may come.
I also love the desert. I recently moved back to Mn from Ariz and realized I don't belong in Mn. This was an awesome essay. The part that truly hit home was "Americans taking up the cause of children far away". I just had a conversation with my parents about this. They were going on and on about the poor kids in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. (They watch David Muir everynight.) So I said what about our children here, your grandchildren, great grandchildren. My mom says there is nothing she can do. I told my dad many kids here go to bed hungry. He said, I don't believe that because they get free meals at school. They definitely have been manipulated by mainstream media.
Writer Don DeLillo wrote a lot about (or evoked rather) the desert in some of his books the way you do here.
From "Point Omega":
"It's all embedded, the hours and minutes, words and numbers everywhere, he said, train stations, bus routes, taxi meters, surveillance cameras. It's all about time, dimwit time, inferior time, people checking watches and other devices, other reminders. This is time draining out of our lives. Cities were built to measure time, to remove time from nature. There's an endless counting down, he said. When you strip away all the surfaces, when you see into it, what's left is terror. This is the thing that literature was meant to cure. The epic poem, the bedtime story."
Dear Karen. Another beautiful essay that brought tears to my eyes. I hope other people who reacted negatively to your first "Stand with Israel" post have taken the time to read your subsequent writing where you respect for all things human shines through very very clearly.
This post was especially poignant to me, having spent many years living in Northern Africa. The Sahara is a wondrous place, unlike any other desert I’ve been to. Your pictures brought back some wonderful memories. I have to agree with you…in all my travels over 4 continents, I’ve found much more in common with the people I met than differences.
Just catchin' up an' what a gorgeous feast for the eyes an' ears (readin' this, the poetic word-itry!) this is--all these bless'ed children are like Saint-Exupéry's sensitive Little Prince--loving deeply somethin' profound yet fickle, ephemeral yet eternal--childhood! a physical world of innocence an' wonder that cannot possibly last forever (tho' it seems the children you shared time with in the desert had far more've a lush an' peaceful oasis, free from worry--than their peers in the US, in Columbia...to my surprise too! Anywho, it's the memory of the thing that sustains, nourishes the Little Prince in all of us! To travel far to help another or help many others is such a human journey--people have always done thus--it's only recently that travel has become a danger, a risk, politicized... an' that's sad. I hope you didn't catch the last soap bubble of simple wonder... An' what'll happen to those children when they get older? (I think've the song "you've got to be carefully taught" from South Pacific...always gives me a pang 'er 2). For those who dehumanize fellow human travelers (like the leerin' men--ugh!) have lost that sense of embracin' fellow humans (I mean spirit-wize cuz fer durned sure the kind've embracin' these lech's wanted was beyond bein' unwanted). Instead of seein' oneness (each of us unique but seein' a fellow traveler!), they looked thru that glass...darkly. Sure appreciate your sharin' this amazin' journey--an' I DO hope all the children remember you an' the colorful joys you shared no matter what clouds may come.
I also love the desert. I recently moved back to Mn from Ariz and realized I don't belong in Mn. This was an awesome essay. The part that truly hit home was "Americans taking up the cause of children far away". I just had a conversation with my parents about this. They were going on and on about the poor kids in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. (They watch David Muir everynight.) So I said what about our children here, your grandchildren, great grandchildren. My mom says there is nothing she can do. I told my dad many kids here go to bed hungry. He said, I don't believe that because they get free meals at school. They definitely have been manipulated by mainstream media.
Writer Don DeLillo wrote a lot about (or evoked rather) the desert in some of his books the way you do here.
From "Point Omega":
"It's all embedded, the hours and minutes, words and numbers everywhere, he said, train stations, bus routes, taxi meters, surveillance cameras. It's all about time, dimwit time, inferior time, people checking watches and other devices, other reminders. This is time draining out of our lives. Cities were built to measure time, to remove time from nature. There's an endless counting down, he said. When you strip away all the surfaces, when you see into it, what's left is terror. This is the thing that literature was meant to cure. The epic poem, the bedtime story."
Your first sand art picture reminded me of the Hungarian folk tales intro from my childhood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBK3CBK-Ca4
Be well, dear Karen! Keep speaking truth!
Dear Karen. Another beautiful essay that brought tears to my eyes. I hope other people who reacted negatively to your first "Stand with Israel" post have taken the time to read your subsequent writing where you respect for all things human shines through very very clearly.
I enjoyed reading your story, thank you for writing it. : )
Great essay Karen. One of my favorites to date. Really inspiring and hopeful. We all should get out into the “quiet” more often!
This post was especially poignant to me, having spent many years living in Northern Africa. The Sahara is a wondrous place, unlike any other desert I’ve been to. Your pictures brought back some wonderful memories. I have to agree with you…in all my travels over 4 continents, I’ve found much more in common with the people I met than differences.