It was an unfortunate coincidence that I went to the desert when I was feeling abandoned and  empty, as the roots of the word “desert” indicate. In some Indigenous languages, “desert” means bright, shining place, but also a place of thirst. I thirsted for something and did not find it. The plants and mammals, the birds and insects, seemed barbed for self-defense. The sun was relentless. The property where I was staying was at a remove from other lives and other liveliness. Th