The Extremophile's Lair

(this post inspired by this series of posts on my Kemetic blog)

So when we're talking about "representation" in books (and movies and...)

I think that one of the most important types of representation in books for me, personally are desert books.  Even more than trans or disabled characters, for example.

No matter where you are in the United States, the "default paradigm" for stories is very northern temperate forest-based.  Like the whole tolkein and D&D and Arthurian mythos.  And a lot of stuff is built off that mythos.

And you can't just substitute some trees for cactus and have things work either, there's a whole different set of understandings underneath.  For example, the whole idea of Light being purely benevolent and Dark being purely malevolent doesn't work here.  It doesn't map onto reality well at all.  And even the idea of any force being purely malevolent or benevolent starts to become iffy.  Also "purity" is less of a central concept because "pure" things are often not condusive to the flourishing of life and life can use all the help it can get.  Mud isn't always something to wash away, it's something to shelter.

And I think that this stuff is why I latched on to Dune so hard, despite the fact that it is "problematic" as hell and sometimes I want to yell at Frank Herbert through the page..  Because it was also the first book that gave the highest honors to the Kangaroo Rat.

And that is precious.

A (incomplete) list of "Desert Books" -

Bless Me Ultima - Rudolfo Anaya
Territory - Emma Bull
Joshua Tree - Emma Bull (actually a short story)
The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley
Dune - Frank Herbert
Song of the Magdalene - Donna Jo Napoli

And I'm coming to think that the Myst series of video games have some of this too.  It's complicated because your adventures take you across many worlds, few of them desert.  But Atrus and Ti'ana both grew up in the desert, more or less.  And a lot of the attitudes and understandings are there.

You can substitute a different biome and think about this for any other biome as well!

Nov 1st is Autistics Speaking Day!

Since I'm not particularly word-based right now and so much of my experience of autism is the world outside of words (and the connections and joys that go with that),  today is going to be a picture day.
This is a celebration in photos:

This is hopefully going to be the start of a series on the diverse and unusual forms of life in this world. 

Extremophies are life forms that can do very well in unusual or "hostile" situations due to unusual physical set-ups.  Sometimes this means they don't do as well in typical circumstances.  Extremophiles inhabit extreme environments, colonize stony, non-living areas first and lead the way for other life, and sometimes inhabit unusual roles in an ecosystem.

Cereus:

Cereus (also called Night-Blooming Cereus, or Queen-of-the-Night) is a tough small cactus (of the Peniocereus family)  that grows in the Sonoran Desert.   It looks about like a bundle of sticks, but instead of being the typical brown or beige, it's a light gray-green.  They usually grow in the middle of a bush like a creosote making it well-nigh invisible and elusive.

Creosote bush in bloom


Cereus plant in foreground

It's one of those plants you can have a fun time keeping your eyes peeled for.

But for 2 or 3 nights of the year - it changes entirely.  It puts out white flowers the size of your palm or larger.  They are night-pollinated so the flowers have a definite scent.  The people in my neighborhood would keep an eye on all the known cereus plants near the road, and would take "cereus walks"  where in the evening we would walk around the neighborhood and congregate at whoever's cereus was blooming.  There is always photigraphy and soft voices, discussing the news but in a way that I can only describe as soft, or maybe quiet.  Although it was as much a tone as a lack of loudness.





These flowers become a important nectar source for sphinx moths and bats.  Symbiosis is incredibly important in the natural world - two organisms each giving something and getting something, but what they are getting is more than what they gave.  In this case nectar (food) for the ability to spread pollen and make the next generation of plants.  The plants and animals have evolved over time to be more suited to eachother.  The cereus bloom is white and strong-smelling to make it easy to spot in the night.  The moths and bats have evolved long tongues to reach down into the flower.  Which in turn, gets longer to make sure they get plenty of pollen on their faces. It's not as pretty or peaceful as it sounds necessarily.

The moths also have a part of their brains that tells them to go to shiny white things which may be why they behave so dangerously around porch lights.

The secret behind all this?  Cereus cacti have a huge tuber underground - about the size of a watermelon where they store water and sugar.  This  is how they make it through the year - waiting for the right season.

(Incidentally,I leaned a lot about managing resources from cereus.  And then promptly dismissed what I learned in order to "pass"/survive.  If you have limited resources or capacity to do certain things, like talk, you don't have to be going at full-capacity all the time, just some of the time really well at the right time.)


Drawing of cereus root

[Error: unknown template qotd]I'll elaborate more later but three things:

1. Conserve water whenever possible (in arid areas).  Water in the evening and water smartly.

2. Treat material items as precious: Reuse/recycle whenever possible. Plastic is made out of fossil fuels, which are going to be rare. Metal is pure awesome!  It can have immense strength without shattering - it just bends! Electrically conductive,makes nice wires and sheets, SHINY....

3.  I'm planting a garden, in part for enjoyment, but also to get more foods locally.  Most imprtantly to start figuring out what ways of growing food are right for our area.  I could just go back to the Native American/Spanish days... but if I want to be more modern I have to figure it out myself. :)

The first kisses of the sun....
The sun is an enemy, a foil, a teacher.  He gives more than we can ever handle, dries puddles, fosters fire.  the lord of the drought and the wildfire.  He is merciless.

The sun is also a font of life.  All energy has it's primal source in his nuclear power.  He gives too much, the light that feeds us all also dries the water from our skin.  He is generous.  When we band together against him he teaches us generosity.   He is the father of all life.

The light, heat and the crackling burn of ultraviolet rays on my skin blend into one golden thing - that washes over my skin, soothing.  It  envelops my body, erases my boundaries - calls forth an answering fire within me.

The first kisses of the Sun.  Burning me, taking me, healing me.