Apr 21: The Tenacity of Life

Sandstone Bluffs edition

There are days when life appears to be so fragile that the fact any of us make it to adulthood seems nothing less than miraculous. Yet at the same time, there’s an abundance of evidence that life is also incredibly sturdy and tenacious.

That evidence is seldom more dramatic than when entire trees grow out of rock, as at Sandstone Bluffs, in El Malpais National Monument. Both of these trees are near the top of the bluffs, where it’s been even windier than the rest of New Mexico this month; I believe both are ponderosas. While it’s true that most ponderosas grow much larger than either of these, it’s also clear that both are holding their own in an extreme environment.¹

The Sandstone Bluffs also play host to another amazingly tenacious life-form, lichens. Lichens are endlessly fascinating and beautiful to me, and the various colors of rock on which they’ve colonized at El Malpais make them even more visually compelling.

I’ve been obsessed with lichens lately.² I’ve also been somewhat obsessed with the pasqueflowers growing wild in the East Mountains, the fabulous rock formations in El Malpais, and (as always) butterflies. It’s quite likely that some or all will show up in your inbox in the near future.

1. I like the shadows they’re casting too.

2. “Lately” means for the last decade or so.