Shiprock, New Mexico: Sleeping Wonder of the Desert

Approaching Shiprock from the highway, one is immediately struck by the paradox it conveys, far enough to feel ethereal while also appearing close and accessible. Beyond the contours it casts against the sky--the peaks that resemble weapons from antiquity, the surrounding slopes that seem to hover above the land--is the atmosphere it creates, the desolate elegance of something forgotten. It seems almost like a giant preparing to rise, a sleeping wonder of the desert.

And the journey continues.

At a Speedway gas station, I watched a thin but large dog without a collar trot amid customers, lowering its head each time someone passed. I had decided to feed it some ground beef after filling my motorhome, feeling wary of its presence but sympathetic, nonetheless. However, when I replaced the gas pump and scanned the area, hoping to see it nearby, I found nothing. Then, suddenly, it emerged in the distance, moving surreptitiously in the company of another dog and two humans. I quickly made my way back to the driver's side as one of the men began to approach. He was likely seeking pocket change for beer and, I could only hope, planning to purchase food for the dogs.

Desert life is filled with sorrow, each story of heartbreak its own fractured mirage.

I pulled away, glancing at rock formations that towered with disquieting beauty. So many things come to mind as one explores strange landscapes.

Prior to leaving Gallup, I had watched a news segment about Prince Alwaleed bin Khalid bin Talal Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family with a compelling story. At the age of fifteen, he survived a car accident in London but lingered in a coma for the next twenty years, reaching manhood as the Sleeping Prince, his beard growing under the dim lights of a hospital room. His father had refused to end life support. However, nature had recently prevailed, peacefully gathering the young man from his twilight existence.

The theme of repose came to mind quite often that day; I wondered about the travelers who had likewise beheld the Shiprock of New Mexico, many of them doing so from the safety of cars and RVs, others having traversed the desert on horseback under a merciless sun. How many perished along the way hoping to find rest?

It's the finality of the desert that intrigues me, knowing that even the most mundane journey might end one's life. More than anything, however, the natural wonders of New Mexico feel like metaphors depicted by the elements; each one expresses something different.

An outcropping of rocks--resembling a vessel alone on the ocean, or the ruins of a castle on shifting sands--is ominous yet somehow peaceful, like a sleeping prince who simply drifts away.