You got yerselves a heap o' meanderin' discussion, pardners.

It happens I just returned from visiting the high desert, my former home.

I like the idea of a mom talking to her son. I see a young man trying to separate from civilization and human influence while mom points out the contradictions of such an ideal. Perhaps she is trying to clear misconceptions about her life "here".

....no people, no trivia,
only hills, creeks, cattle.

Well right there we're stuck with a dilemma. If there are cattle there are people.

Then there's those prairie dogs. Without people they aren't irritating, they aren't protected by any Environmental Protection Urgency (sounds like an authentic rancher's pun), or interesting, or comic, and who says they're wrecking the place? Only if those holes don't suit your purpose. If you mean to live in such a place you'd better find room for purpose.

If you mean to live in such a place you must take charge of it. You do not disappear into the landscape, as you might imagine, but be so much yourself you could take charge.

One thing's for sure, in that full, empty place, nothing is trivial.

She asks: Would you really be happy here?

Here there are places remarkable
for how no one ever comes—no asphalt,
no people, no trivia:

only hills, creeks, cattle.

Some irritating prairie dogs protected
by environmental urgency,
who are interesting,
even comic, even as they
wreck the place.

I hope you get to live somewhere like this,
so much yourself you could take charge
of such a solid stand of hills,
you could receive this holy light,
keen and fleeting.

At every moment the valley brimming,
the valley empty.

—Though you are nearly always happy,
and this place does not seem happy.

Happiness is for
******************—what? whom?

The one wish, it is my one wish.

Oh, you're such a ham, who would you amuse—

the horse, the white horse on his hill?

One thing's for sure, in that full, empty place, nothing is trivial.

Hi falcon,

Basically, I agree with your take on the poem (I posted my comments under Bottomfish's toppost this week) although I think Oscar is a big city friend, not a son.

As for your above comment, I agree. The problem is that instead of "trivial," Ball used the word "trivia," which unfortunately has too many distracting connotations, as does "white horse."

And having read a few of Ball's other poems online, I do think she's one of those postmodern poets who are interested in words almost for their own sake, so her missteps in word choice are particularly problematic.

By the way, what does "high" desert mean? How is it different from "low" desert? I guess Death Valley is low desert, so perhaps high desert is cooler? What are some examples of high desert?

signed
a curious East Coast person

MA,

My oldest son lives in SE Colorado, much of which is high mountain desert. High elevation, low rainfall, extreme fluctuations of temp, very beautiful but austere terrain. Elevation can cause dizziness, shortness of breath, headaches. I was there in May. Didn't experience any of that but when I tried to make prairie dog pizza, I couldn't get the dough to rise.

waltz

Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Colorado and Utah, are all above 5,000 feet. Another expression I'd use is "up on the plateau." It gets very cold and very hot. The sun is bright because the air is thin. In California you'll find very distinct ecosystems: the high desert with Joshua Trees; the Sonoran desert with cactus heading off into southern Arizona - Saguaro cactus is Sonoran; pinon and chamisa, as in northern New Mexico, are typical of high desert. I'd say living in the high desert requires a certain ability to adapt to a changing environment. There are seasons.

I used to live in Tucson, AZ., so I can back up falcon's remarks about southern Arizona (and clarify waltz's). That is indeed the Sonoran Desert. Tucson itself is in a valley which is basically "low desert" in its flora (dominated by mesquite and sagebrush) and fauna. But in the rocky foothills of the mountains and of the hills going east on I-10, one encounters "high desert" -- characterized by a different flora especially (such as the famous saguaro cactus).

In that area high desert, or even Tucson's relatively low valley (I don't think Tucson is at or over 5,000 feet), is only marginally cooler than the low desert characteristic of the valley of Phoenix. When Tucson is at 105, Phoenix is typically at 115. Hila Bend, usually the hottest place in Arizona, tops even that, as can the very low Yuma. (I passed through Yuma one noon hour when it was 120 degrees and relatively humid. "How can you live in a place like this?" I asked a local. "Air conditioning," she replied.)

Tucson does have more seasonal variation than Phoenix does. It can actually snow once in a while in the valley itself, as it normally does in the mountains.

wr ()()

Thanks to everyone for helping out an Easterner. Come to think of it, I have been to Taos, NM; parts of NV, Utah, and northern AZ. (And I've seen the movie Sierra Nevada.) But although I've seen pictures of snow on desert, I've never to those places except in summer.

I think Russia must have some high desert land as well. Siberia?

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Taos is a great example of high desert. Dry and high (7,000 ft.) and situated at the base of 13,000 foot peaks which still had snow in June. As the desert of southern AZ is called Sonoran, the desert of southern NM and far west TX is called Chihuahuan; both named for their respective neighboring states in Mexico. The saguaro cactus is a Sonoran plant while the yucca and the cholla are more common in NM, where the saguaro will not grow.

This part of the country is frequently referred to as "basin and range" country. Large basins, as opposed to valleys, lie between rugged and often dry mountain ranges. This feature is most distinct on a topo map of Nevada. From the tops of these ranges one can see for a hundred miles on a clear day. When I buy a bag of potato chips at my grocer in the basin and transport it 4,000 feet up to my "home on the range," it arrives inflated like a foil party balloon. My yogurt cups are pressurized and squirt when opened.

So who says there is no trivia on the Real Ranch?

Great post, PV, especially your concluding sentence.

I don't know Spanish, but does your nic mean "old redhead"? And are the endings of both words pronounced "HO"?

Also, can't you find a grocery store on the range/plateau?

MA

The name does mean old redhead, but at least I'm young enough to still have hair and for most of it to still be red. Pelo = hair, but instead of pelo rojo the language has a special word just for those of us with the rare recessive gene.

Yes re the pronunciation, and my Spanish must not be great either, because now that I look at it I realize it should be spelled pelirrojo with a double r's. Que verguenza! How embarrassing!

Regarding the grocery store, another fact of life in the west is the low density of population. I live in a small small town with a small expensive grocery, but visiting the real grocery store involves a drive 4,000 feet and 16 miles down in the basin. The land in between me and the groceries is most interesting for its lack of...you know the rest. I actually live in a "town." For the folks out on the Real Ranch, you can imagine how that $4 gas must hurt.