This spring California saw the largest desert superbloom in many, many years. It was as if the flowers blooming was the land sighing, released from the tight grip of drought. We traveled to the superbloom in Anza Borrego to share in that collective sigh.
The night before, we stayed at Key’s Creek Lavender Farm. It was gorgeous and we were treated with utmost hospitality. We went for a dip in the icey fresh pool and were spoiled with lavender infused-popcorn and a lawn-side film showing. They two people who ran the farm chatted with us as the Jungle Book began to skip later into the film. We talked about wealth, land, spirituality, aging. They also let us all pick out a crystal from their stash of beautiful rocks. We laughed a lot.
Also while in Center Valley, we met some of the locals. There’s a spiritual community nearby who runs an eatery serving food made from the farm’s fresh produce. They had gone to the superbloom the week before. When we spoke with them about it, one person said, “You have to have eyes to see.” This caught me off guard, and I took some time to decipher his words.
And when we arrived, I understood. It was beautiful, bright. But it wasn’t a thick blanket of brightly colored flowers coating the land. I think he was saying, you have to realize that it was all desert before. It was nothing, a wasteland. And now, it is dotted with flowers, who have pushed themselves out of the sand. There is no soil here. It is more than the flowers, it is a feat of nature that they thrive.
And isn’t that life. Against all odds in the universe, against the dark galaxies beyond, the harsh conditions of space, against something as simple as gravity, life has found a way. And so we live.
All photos by Jennifer Bobe.
Ooey Gooey 