Cholla's Legacy

A diverse array of flora and fauna reign majestic in vivid tawny imagery of shifting sand dunes and barren rocks-- sixteen miles from the golden rays of western tomorrow. Time is played out in crucial moments of emptiness lying in solitude and intimate loneliness. Sun-kissed miles of unshaded secrets seeping from her maternal caramel eyes deep-rooted in morns muted sage oasis. And to all who venture here slow your manic footing and let time stand still—briefly. Her slow-paced allure awaits your clouded vision and your desperate need for her sepia wonders. Mother Cholla proudly stands vertically amid the towering Saguaros. Nestled in Quartzsite and the thick aridness of the Sonoran Desert. Prominent in rustic charm and glorious plentiful cacti. She defies the harsh climate with buoyant biodiversity. Her stripped perennial companions nestled between the parched tumbleweeds and the course granite stones guarding her in desiccated glory. Ceaseless water doesn’t need to flow over her barbed surface to support her vital independence. She will grow at her own pace and quench the fleeting thirst whenever the isolated drops may fall. Her forked tongue sheathed in womanly wonder withstanding sandstorms, her head held high as the gritty dust dances in the empty space between the cobalt blue and the torrid beige below. Sol provides her the warmth and tenderness she has grown accustomed to. An unspoken love affair of prickly passion and dry midsummer fever. They embrace at mornings earliest breath until he tucks her in lovingly in Luna’s lullaby. Rain and wind have left her lonely again once nurturing her toasted ground babies covering them in Gaea’s adoring mud blanket. And while her motherly essence invites you in reaching out to hug you in her dense, fluffy arms beware of her ruthless gypsy soul as it ignites in a bronzed torch when lit by evening’s sigh. Her legacy is laid out in all four directions biding as far as the eye can see knowing no end and preferring it that way. A once resounding voice that echoed far and true in Plomosa’s soaring presence—more subdued but powerful all the same—naturally. The hidden world within and upon us. Every Ironwood, Creosote Bush and White Bursage has a place in her xeric soil. Every Black-throated Sparrow, Verdin, and Gila Woodpecker finds solitude in her great vastness. You belong here too—wild spirit find your place and be free.