The tangle of pastel wildflowers at the precipice seem proud to be alone among the rocks. The blooms tower above the desert floor on purple plateaus, becoming one with a succession of cliffs that stretch on into the horizon.

The rock face wakes with the sun, its shade no longer a cool, rich plum but glowing gauzy pinks and fiery golds. It meets the day with its own glory, a band of flat-topped mountains presiding over the soft gray of the desert below, a calm and regal presence.

They stand nearby, reassuring as a hand held or a familiar face in a crowd, a childhood friend old as the Earth. Watching the land and its people change and evolve. Knowing each other. Growing together.