I’ve got a hunch that it’s possible that society might return to its senses. Leadership has brought about a drought of kindness and compassion.  I can’t think of one positive result from this drought, other than a likely reflowering of this desert void of heart. Recently during a late afternoon walk in a region where nature can be harsh and cruel, the Sonoran Desert, a dried pond of flaked mud cracks and curls, the final steps toward total

desiccation, caught my eye. This rather ugly dry pond with separated mud flakes seemed a metaphor for the day. It wasn’t the separated mud flakes that crafted nature’s trope, but the magnificent and seemingly determined cluster of wildflowers in late January growing with abandon along the edges of desiccation, as it were.

Bold and vociferous colors attracted pollinators to keep the blossoms alive, and fed the hungry insects buzzing and flying about the display as if it were a chef’s tasting table. Each ray of sun urged this floral array to release natural pheromones so exotic to my sense of smell, that my best definition became, “It smells somewhere between pungent and sweet.”

Perhaps this is a pattern that our society could model as opposed to falling prey to divisive rhetoric that brings about nothing but desert-dry ponds.

I realize that my ideals are laughable to those persons caught in the vortex of crafting divisiveness. Few, if any, will even bother to read or contemplate the alternatives that I try to express because fear and demagoguery are powerful tools — as powerful as a Komatsu D575A super bulldozer ripping through the desert floor or Amazon jungle.

But what nature insists on showing us, just like the flowers I captured during my January walk through the desert, is how nature keeps giving sensual delights despite the constant assault that you and I place upon it. These are simple things that unite us. These are pleasures that we can easily have in common. These are treats that come for free. These leave permanent moments while the effort to divide us is impermanent on every level.

The average person, just like me, prefers savoring our commonalities, like gardening, football, walks in the park, or whatever small pleasure brings comfort to our hearts and well being. This is why I believe that we will and are returning to our senses. Truth always has and always will prevail.