There is no place like the Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona and New Mexico. It is a vast wilderness of endless space, filled with large saguaros, many hundreds of years old, Ocotillo’s, mesquite trees, Palo Verde trees and many other types of cacti and plants, not to mention the wonderful desert creatures that scamper and slither across the dry desolate landscape. It is all so beautifully majestic with the backdrop of stunning clear blue skies and the warm dry sunshine. There is no place like it and for this New England city girl it was a shock to behold for the first time at 25. I have since spent many years in the southwest and grown to appreciate and love the uniqueness and beauty of this barren landscape with very large cities in between hundreds and hundreds of miles of empty space. I have since come back to my New England home and the green landscape and trees, lakes and rivers I grew up loving so much. But I still think back to the years I spent out in the desert and all that my Saviour taught me and blessed me with as he called me “out west” as a young woman who had never ventured out of the little state of Rhode Island so many years ago. It has been a long journey since I left home back in January of 1987. God has been so good to me! Now I am back home and likely to stay put, but I reminisce those years with fondness and thankfulness that part of God’s plan for me was to explore and live in this beautiful desert country for a space of time.
Sarah Hopkins Art 