The end of August 2013 is here. I am in Tucson, Arizona. I have been here since 1999. This is the third summer that I have spent here. The 10 summers before that, I migrated around the western United States for 3-5 months over the summer months. My partner and I (and three dogs over the years) lived out of a van, staying on public lands and being very, very simple. These same ten years were the years of technological advancement for all of us common people, so while we began our migrations without cell phones or internet, we watched web access and phone service expand to having good coverage in most small towns, even in some national forests and parks.
These migrations were long and beautiful. Miracles continued to happen so that I could do it for these summers, and it was essential that everything was kept as simple as possible. Directly due to the simplicity, my experiences were vast and deep. Teachings from the land and the quiet mind were profound. To give myself a project of love, I documented much of what I experienced. Three books. Thousands of photographs of sacred places, often just off the side of the blue highway we happened to be on. Hundreds of hours of video. Telling the stories that came into my head, and what I saw in the land around me.
As it continues to be 100 degrees in Tucson, and knowing that it will be so for a while still, I find myself thinking of the many beautiful places that are now in my memories, and hopefully, I will be with them again. Each photograph makes me happy. :) As you look at them, know that each place belongs to the commons, protected by all of us. Enjoy.
