La Gobernadora,Larrea tridentata

Larrea tridentata,

so it is with the plants, matthew 10:31 "But many that are first shall be last: and the last, first", La Gobernadora, the Governess, The queen, Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios. She's there with you whether you want her or not. She's the first and the last. You can't escape or run from her because she calls you, she knows your name.

She smells like rain. She is rain. she is soft rain, the hard rain and rain that falls from the sky and rain that goes back-and-forth side ways,  across the sky. Sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, sometimes like honey or vinegar dripping into your mouth, she could heal any illness or bring you 1 million good things. She's everywhere. She's everything.

She can be young and green, twisting and flexible, or dry,  old and brown and wise. You think you know her and understand her, and then she throws you a curve ball and leaves you flattened on the ground. She can plead with you and draw you in with her smile. She's like the blue sky and the clouds, because she is the blue sky. She is the clouds. She is the white cloud. She's the great White cloud that knows the turquoise sky. She is the turquoise sky. She can lift you with her arms if she wants to or make you smile and laugh and dance like you were a child. You think you're strong?  she is much stronger than you are. She is stronger than you ever could be. Your muscles are nothing compared to what she can do. She can do anything. She can be everyone,  everywhere, everything. She doesn't need anyone, she's completely comfortable being alone. She rules the desert. You think there are pretty flowers in the spring time? She's more pretty than anyone,  she's more pretty than any flower. She's an old wise woman. She's a young girl in disguise that can lead you around like a dog on a leash. She's the first plant that you'll ever see. And when you're dying,  freezing, waiting for the Saints and the Virgin Mary, feeling your last breath, she will be there again to welcome you.

She's just like that. She doesn't care if the whole world hates you,  despises you, ignores you,  she will love you just the same. You could be the mayor of the city or a homeless idiot starving on the street corner yelling and screaming in the night, she doesn't care about shit like that. You could be wearing pants one day and a dress the next, you could be wearing high heels or no shoes at all with blisters and cracked dry skin on your feet, doesn't matter. She accepts everyone. That's why they call the governess. La Gobernadora.

br /> -Paul Manski