Field notes:
We walked for hours from the base
to the tip of the mountain peninsula. I am not
looking for any particular
object, I arrived at the Mojave with an open mind and no
expectations.
I want nature to enter my senses
and learn her ancient lessons.
We decided to go off trail. We
encountered several layers of landscapes, the colors,
and shapes of the rocks and the
plants changing at every elevation.
We walked on a sandy path of what
seemed to be a river thousands of years ago,
beyond a pile of boulders
interrupted by an unnaturally flat granite platform.
Subconsciously, I was hoping to
encounter pictographs or images etched by ancient
Mojave people.
The reserve steward told us that
they usually drew on the north-facing side of the
rocks, but I later figured out
that they would draw in cave-like formations.
I signaled
our tiny group of Asians to an ancient pine tree. Her branches grew into
the rock, making it seem like the
tree and the boulder grew together.
I was awe-struck by the majesty
of the tree but I was a bit disappointed that there
were no traces of human activity
in the tiny nook that looked like a perfect candidate
for an altar.
The rocks are supposed to be very
old, older than America but it feels as if it's only
been recently arranged.
We decided to head east from the
mother tree toward a strangely patterned rock
that has a prominent hole.
While my friends were scanning
and admiring the area I wandered south toward an
enclosure.
I had a hunch that some presence
exists in that unusual space.
Something was drawing me to it.
Some kind of energy.
I squinted my eyes and saw a
drawing of a four-legged creature. My heart jumped and
I felt my hair raise. An electric
tingle was crawling under my skin.
I called all my friends to see
the glyph.
What is this curious four
legged-creature? Is it a desert kit fox? Who are these
anthropomorphic figures around
it?
I searched for more pictures to
make sense of what I saw. Between two huge
boulders, there is a small
crevice where a dark rock nestles.
A pictogram of a man appeared,
but clearer than the ones on the upright rock wall.
I touched the sensuous rocks and
waited for the ancient message to speak.
Through my fingers, I felt the
voices of my trancestors
speaking through time.
Their non-binary energies
reverberated across eons. Kept alive by the magic of
drawing.
