get over the color green.

"There is a process of Westernization of the Perceptions that has to happen before the West is beautiful to us. You have to get over the color green; you have to quit associating beauty with gardens and lawns; you have to get used to an inhuman scale; you have to understand geological time."

—Wallace Stegner, Thoughts in a Dry Land.

Last night I learned something remarkable. I learned what the oldest living organisms on earth are. The funny thing about this is that I've been nurturing one of their cousins for the last 2 weeks, newly embedded in the soil of my entry way—with a 2-stop scrim shading it from the Sun's Summer rays. I place cubes of ice around its base during the days to help the transition to its new home, amidst Totem Poles and Palo Verdes; Saguaros and Agaves; Golden Barrels and Prickly Pears.

What is also significant (and in no way coincidental) is that this organism is my favorite of its type in the whole world; for me, it is the very heart and soul of the greatest region on earth. Its smell evokes the most primitive feelings—deep, ancient feelings—from my core in a way I cannot articulate.

The oldest living things on the earth are not the Olive Trees of Jerusalem; they are not the White Mountain Pines nor the mighty Sequoias. The oldest living things on earth are the quiet, humble Creosote Bushes of the American Southwest.

In Lucerne Valley, California—in the Mojave Desert—stands the King Clone: a circle of Creosote bushes that have stemmed from the same original root system for more than 11,700 years.

Here's a quote from a well-written article by Matt Weiser for the High Country News:

"What have these plants witnessed? They were on the earth when saber-toothed cats gored giant sloths. They survived the retreat of ancient lakes. The creosote was a one-stop pharmacy for the Mojave Indians. Its leaves, stewed into tea, treated the common cold, soothed arthritis, halted diarrhea and eased kidney pain.

Made into a paste, the creosote helps to heal wounds, bruises and skin lesions. Today we’ve learned that creosote contains a powerful cancer-fighting antioxidant. Compounds made from the plant effectively treat AIDS and herpes. The plant can even fight pollution by absorbing chromium from tainted land."

Not bad for a plant that most people would sooner rip from the ground than look at. I have become so fond of the creosote over the past 2 years: next to the Saguaro, there's no single Desert organism I love more. They have a transparent presence:hard to notice at first, then full of subtle grace. Caught between a bush and a tree, they take on somewhat of both's characteristics, each having a very distinctive way about their branches' shapes and forms.

Do you know that smell when it rains in the Desert? That's Creosote. Soft, earthy, clean and herbal—subtle and intoxicating.

And they are everywhere (and may they always be). If you're in undeveloped land in the Desert, you are most likely surrounded by them. Take a moment to greet one, grab a handful of leaves and breathe deeply.

"Hogwash" you say—and you well may. Then again, you're still not over the color green. You need a good bleaching. Come out with me and we'll crack together under the Sonoran Sun.

wes.