Squirrel Seeks Sunshine

A gentle snow has begun to fall in Chicago and as I look out of my window onto the deck there is a little red squirrel eating the nuts that I put out for him earlier and a puffed up sparrow is waiting to the side for scraps. It is that time of the year again. As the winter casts its shadow over the city and tightens its icy grip, I find that a brief retreat to desert sunshine is just the thing to help rejuvenate and refresh the new year. More than just a luxury this break in the fast paced, multi tasking society of our time is a necessity.

As I have said before, there is sometime very special about the desert southwest and Palm Springs in particular for me. I don't know if it is the silence of the drifting sands or perhaps the magnetic energy of the surrounding mountains, but either way the effect is one of serene and total relaxation.

I have been coming to the desert now for over 25 years and each time I find it awe inspiring in its majesty. A place like no other I have found, it is a refuge and a revitalizing respite as well. What better way to spend the day than to sit in the shadow of a palm tree and nap by an azure pool or to read a book beside a cactus plant with hummingbirds buzzing around, busy collecting nectar from fragrant blooms. To some it is the ocean that brings them the inner calm they desire but for me it must be the desert for in its vastness I have come to realize true serenity and inner peace.

In another month as the spring draws near and the snows of winter disappear the squirrel and I will meet again. The blossoms on the cherry tree will cautiously start to open and the rhododendron will follow in kind. We will bask again in the Chicago sun and forget that the winter had in fact ever visited - that is until next year ...