Joshua Tree national park

I decided to start off my photo blog for the day with an image I captured a short while ago when I visited Joshua Tree National park in California with my sister.

This image has special meaning to me because I don't get to see my sister very often. We live pretty much on opposite ends of the country. She's in Minnesota with her family, and I'm out in California. But, she's the kind of person who makes a lot of effort to make sure we stay close.

We had a couple great days together with her and her husband, hiking in the beautiful desert landscape. I caught this particular image on the first night. The Santa Ana winds were roaring through and the temperature was way below average, close to freezing. They were dressed right, having come from the frigid midwest, and I luckily had retained enough of my midwest blood to bring a good number of layers...just in case.

There were a couple spots at the overlook out of the wind. My sisters husband was a bit under the weather so he hid in the car, but me and my sister found a spot and watched the landscape go through it's dramatic golden hour changes. The chill wind was our ever-present friend, creeping into every unsecured zipper, forcing us to huddle behind a low wall. I think those are how the best memories are made...when there's a good bit of adversity. I mean, if it was too easy it wouldn't be memorable. Or am I just crazy? Maybe a bit of both.

You can't compete with the beauty of nature. It's always there, and it's always beautiful, if you look at it right.

I hope everyone is having an awesome Friday!

Michael