冬游Joshua Tree National Park (w English)

一提起沙漠，人们常常会把它与荒芜两个字等同起来，这也是我们一直没有去Joshua Tree National Park的主要原因之一。

十二月21号是个周末，一家三口十点钟从家里出发，一路向东直奔大沙漠。冬日里的大漠萧瑟空旷，天地也因此变得更加辽阔。当下午的太阳终于冲破云层直射过来时，无处躲避无处藏身的我对着明晃晃刺眼的阳光竟然有几分恍惚。那日的云层太厚，没有见到夕阳，否则浩渺无垠中的落日一定有种别样的美，会不会有"大漠孤烟直"的意境呢？

沙漠中的这种约书亚树，其实不是第一次见。但是这么集中的一大片一大片，或密集或零星地分布在平地上还是头一回见到。它们与不远处一座座连绵不绝的石头山、一堆堆碎石相依相守相望，在这块比Rhode Island州 (近80万英亩) 还要大的沙漠公园中，日侵月蚀，一起经风霜，耐干旱，见证着世间百年甚至千年的变化 (约书亚树能存活上网百年，有些树种甚至上千年)。 约书亚树是一种Yucca灌木树，有生命之树之称，在西班牙语里又有一种叫法有"沙漠匕首"(desert dagger)的意思。 据说约书亚树这个带着宗教色彩的名字是当年摩门教徒穿行沙漠时命名的。当我行走其中，看到一棵棵顶上展开着枝叉的树，想象着当年摩门教徒跋涉在一望无际大荒漠里看到这种带着绿色生命之树时的激动和兴奋，在他们眼里，这些伸展向上的树犹如约书亚仰天伸着双手引领着他们，像曾经引领摩西行走旷野进迦南美地一样，给了他们希冀和信心。

除去约书亚树，公园的另一大风景便是石头，满目的碎石和石头山，它们的形状有圆的、方的、平的、各种几何图形、大大小小，应有尽有。这些成堆的石头据说是从地底下经过地质碰撞拱上来的。冬天的耶和华公园游客并不少，有不少攀岩爱好者搭着绳索，在看似光滑的陡峭悬崖上缓慢移动着，他们的动与石头的静，他们的渺小与石山的高大磅礴形成了鲜明的对比，成为沙漠中的一道风景。
                                                                    
12/21/2019是冬至，一年中最短的一天，五点不到天就黑了。暮色中，我们离开了沙漠公园, 本来计划在那里看星星的，也因为那日云层太厚，星辰寥寥而作罢。当一个小时后车辆驶出黑夜笼罩的大漠，只见山下城市万家灯火，车水马龙。其实旷野与文明相距并不遥远，荒寂和繁华它们是共存于天地间、星河下，世界因着它们的存在而多彩、各异。

一直在想，Joshua Tree能在1994年升级国家公园，体现的是美国对自然的重视和尊重，这些看似荒芜、类似月球火星地貌的沙漠，连同地下可能埋藏的丰富矿床一起受到国家法律的保护，同时也是为不同物种的生殖繁衍提供了优越环境，使这个本来就地大物博的国家，资源愈加丰厚，源源不竭。

相比较，我们曾经崇尚"与天斗，与地斗", "人定胜天，"改天换地"，"把沙漠变良田"，忽视大自然的自身法则。约书亚树国家公园之行给我们上了一课，让我们了解到那些生存于恶劣环境下的动物植物，它们是如何饮朝露，躲烈日，储备珍贵的水分食物，懂得了谦卑臣服于大自然面前的重要性。所谓适者生存，是学会适应、 变通，而非与大自然抗争，因为事实证明人类是斗不过天的。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua Tree National Park is only about three hours’ drive. But the fact it is a desert puts it off our must-see list, and for the last twenty years or so we have never been there.

 

On a usual Saturday of late December (12/21/2019), we set out to the park. By the time we arrived at the destination, it is high noon. The winter desert under the gloomy sky looks bleak and parched. What come to our views are hills after hills of bare rocks, and piles and piles of broken rocks scattering underneath. Between the hills is the flatland, forested with Joshua trees.  Densely or sparsely they cluster, the dry gray trunks branching into multiple green spears at the top.  The Joshua tree, a tree of life, has a name of “desert dagger” in Spanish.  The biblical name Joshua is said to be given by early Mormon settlers crossing the desert in the 19th century. The unique shapes resembled Joshua extending his hand into the air, guiding the Mormons through the endless harsh wilderness.

 

In our hours’ drive into the depths of the desert, we stopped here and there for a desert view; for a closer look at the Joshua Tree and the geometric formations of smooth, bare rocks; for a hike across meandering arid desert road to Baker Dam; for a few photographs of the climbers braving against towering rocks; for an attempt to climb the rocky hills ourselves. For once or twice, we see a rabbit, a rat and a bird, running to the bushes or flying from branch to branch. More than once, we noticed some succulent plants and flowers, withered or still blooming, in the cold desert wind. We complete our trip by returning to Joshua tree the next day to Cholla Cactus Garden, a garden singularly full of Cholla cacti defying the harsh winter with its silvery thorny needles and budding flowers. 

 

Compared with other national parks, Joshua Tree does not offer as much varied scenery. But the immensity of its land, barren but bountiful, a bit larger than Rhode Island, is a habitat of plants and animals whose survival is not just a miracle, but a valued lesson for us human beings. It is their humbleness and adaptions to the severe conditions that make these seemingly high desert outcasts winners in the world, living seclusively and luxuriously without fighting for space and resources in the crowds.