The Dunes of Bahia Santa Maria
What makes an experience unique? It is written and stated by those with a peculiar fastidiousness for the English language that things, experiences, or states of being cannot be “very,” “really,” or “totally” unique. What is being described is either unique or not. So is a walk in the sand dunes of a desert unique? Perhaps it is just uncommon, maybe rare, but unique? Deserts cover about 25% of the earth’s land surface, which means they cover only 7% of the earth’s total surface. That qualifies as an uncommon place to visit. If we then consider that most deserts of the world can only call about 2% of their surface area sand dunes, then it is certainly rare to visit dunes of any kind. Now that we agree a visit to the dunes is rare, what would make it unique? The temperature, the wind, the company, the sightings? The combination of all these factors makes up the experience. Someone may visit the dunes a hundred times or more, and each time the experience would be different. Does that make all visits unique? No, that is too easy.
What made today unique was the cooperative nature of the Lepus Californicus Magadalenae. It would seem easier to just call it a jackrabbit, but the Latin gives this dune mammal a little more respectability, if not notoriety. Almost all memories of a jackrabbit are a flash of light brown or a steak of tan quickly disappearing amongst the pickleweed and sand verbena. Not today though. Today the animal in question decided that the strange visitors to the dunes with their Day-Glo colored fur, funny gait, and noise-making contraptions held to their faces were tolerable. Today, a walk in an uncommon place where the landscape was rare gave us a unique experience.
What makes an experience unique? It is written and stated by those with a peculiar fastidiousness for the English language that things, experiences, or states of being cannot be “very,” “really,” or “totally” unique. What is being described is either unique or not. So is a walk in the sand dunes of a desert unique? Perhaps it is just uncommon, maybe rare, but unique? Deserts cover about 25% of the earth’s land surface, which means they cover only 7% of the earth’s total surface. That qualifies as an uncommon place to visit. If we then consider that most deserts of the world can only call about 2% of their surface area sand dunes, then it is certainly rare to visit dunes of any kind. Now that we agree a visit to the dunes is rare, what would make it unique? The temperature, the wind, the company, the sightings? The combination of all these factors makes up the experience. Someone may visit the dunes a hundred times or more, and each time the experience would be different. Does that make all visits unique? No, that is too easy.
What made today unique was the cooperative nature of the Lepus Californicus Magadalenae. It would seem easier to just call it a jackrabbit, but the Latin gives this dune mammal a little more respectability, if not notoriety. Almost all memories of a jackrabbit are a flash of light brown or a steak of tan quickly disappearing amongst the pickleweed and sand verbena. Not today though. Today the animal in question decided that the strange visitors to the dunes with their Day-Glo colored fur, funny gait, and noise-making contraptions held to their faces were tolerable. Today, a walk in an uncommon place where the landscape was rare gave us a unique experience.
