This was my second time visiting Joshua Tree National Park, and on my first visit, I fell in love with the flora and fauna and geology, a singular place in the desert that just spoke plain joy. I didn’t see any trees like this the first time around, and frankly was surprised on this visit to find one in my campground, a perfect Bonsai-esque pine nestled amongst the large boulders no more than 30 feet from my camping spot.
As I sat and waited for the right light to get the image, the perfect solitude was only interrupted by the same Black-tailed jackrabbit that would pop his head out from a rock to my left and stare, disappear, then pop out from a different rock a few minutes later, stare, surely hoping for scraps, then disappear only to reemerge every few minutes under the stars. I love the shape of this tree, like it was sculpted for this exact spot on earth just as the rocks were, and the clarity of the skies overhead allowed the heavens to filter flawlessly downward, bathing me and the rabbit in the softest starlight.