From Tragedy, Beauty has risen in the Atacama Desert

On March 24th 2015 a low-pressure system headed toward Chile from the southwest bringing with it one to two inches of rain in a 24 hour period.
That doesn’t sound like much does it?
Well, for the Atacama Desert that equates with YEARS amount of rainfall in a very short time.
You probably have heard of this particular desert.
It has been claimed to be the driest place on earth. It has also been claimed that there are locations in the desert that have NEVER received ANY rainfall in human recorded history!
The skies are cloudless which make it excellent for star gazing and it is used as a “practice” site for all sorts of Mars tests and equipment.

In 2008, the Phoenix Mars Lander detected perchlorates on the surface of Mars at the same site where water was first discovered. Perchlorates are also found in the Atacama and associated nitrate deposits have contained organics, leading to speculation that signs of life on Mars are not incompatible with perchlorates. The Atacama is also a testing site for the NASA-funded Earth-Mars Cave Detection Program

Wikipedia

It (this desert) is also home to the Very Large Telescope Observatory
VLT

Well, back in March when the rains came, the desert flooded. There was loss of life.



From this devastation, beauty has been born.
Around every 5-10 years, after such destruction, a climatic phenomenon occurs.
It is called “The flowering desert”.

The phenomenon consists of the blossoming of a wide variety of flowers between the months of September and November in years when rainfall is unusually high. Normally the region receives less than 12 mm (0.47 in)] of rain a year

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Also Wikipedia




www.livescience.com...

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Some seeds have been buried in the earth for years, just waiting for this opportunity. Some species of flowers are only found in this desert and only can be viewed during these "times".
So, without seeming to try to be too philosophical, sometimes we must go through tragedy, through the mud, suffer loss to truly enjoy the beauty of this world, this life we’ve been given.
How many of us are like those seeds? We are waiting for our opportunity to blossom and be the beautiful flower we were always meant to be.
We must wait for the storm…we must make it through the storm...and we must grow and thrive on the other side of it.

I hope you found this story of the desert as stunning and remarkable as I did…
I hope you enjoy!

It is so easy, as humans, to feel awe with our own achievements...

Then nature says... "check THIS out, puny humans..."

This just goes to show that even in the most seemingly inhospitable places, life finds a way to thrive. I think this can be equated to the cold and unforgiving universe as well, where the right circumstances lead to life. If it happened on Earth it has happened elsewhere, no doubt about it.

Thanks for this thread my friend. Really beautiful pictures.

a reply to: madmac5150

So true...
we sometimes think we are so...great...
so big and mighty...

We are not!

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

I couldn't agree more and you, my friend, are MORE than welcome!

a reply to: TNMockingbird

I lived in the Sonoran Desert for a decade. I loved it when we had a wetter than average winter, because the spring flowering would be absolutely breathtaking!

Deserts have an understated beauty... and when it shows itself, it can be spectacular.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

That is really incredible! I've always been a desert rat. I love it. As madmac said, it's an understated beauty, but add water and it will amaze your senses! I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Lovely story and parable, it is true that the most beautiful things are rising from the toughest struggles sometimes...

Cheers.