El Romanticismo

 

I recently had to travel to Mexico for some personal business.  I drove through the states of Coahuila and San Luis Potosi, and for the first time I took great notice of the desert landscape.  I have traveled through this area many times but never really found much interest or appreciation.  Cactuses have never been a favorite.  Yet, these last few days I managed to look at the desert terrain in a different form.  It seemed beautiful to me.  As I watched endless hills and mountains of prickly and palm style shapes of cactuses over and over again, I recognized their importance. 

As I continued my trip further south the images of an arid landscape never went away.  I realized that I was only a small speck in this immense landscape, as all other inhabitants of this area, and yet organisms have learned to adapt and survive without much water.  This year from what I could tell had produced a higher level of rain, so what little grass is available is green.  I also recognized that my concept of a desert was lifeless, and that did not fit what I was seeing. 

While in class yesterday, the discussion of romanticism and the high value that is placed on nature reminded me of my recent road trip.  The paintings Dr. Conway showed us in class were an accurate portrayal of how I viewed this immense desert.   I could see endless miles of land full of cactuses, and yet I was this tiny person in a corner looking at the horizon.  What I realized from this experience is beauty does not always have to be nicely packaged; it can also be in the form of something that would at first glance seem lifeless.