As I have grown older (and much more evolved, thankfully,) I’ve learned that there is great solace in solitude. As much as community is a gift, so, too, is solitude. Perhaps this was a lesson I always knew on some level, as one would often find me buried in the pages of a book were one to look..

Standing at the Cholla Cactus Garden, there is little sound but the crisp, uneven wind blowing through the cacti. The sun is glaringly hot, ricocheting off rugged hills of stone. A scaly lizard peeks from the fence with some curiosity ..