Leaving Las Vegas…
Driving through the northern Arizona desert…
To the Cactus League…
In the Shadow of Jean Baudrillard and America…
Midnight at the oasis
Send your camel to bed
Shadows paintin’ our faces
Traces of romance in our heads
Heaven’s holdin’ a half-moon
Shinin’ just for us
Let’s slip off to a sand dune, real soon
And kick up a little dust
Come on, Cactus is our friend
He’ll point out the way
— Renee Olstead, “Midnight at the Oasis”
Son, today at 18:00 hours, your sentence is up and you will be released from jail to the outside world. “Your five years in solitary confinement are at an end. You’ve paid part of your debt to France.” (Warden Barrot to Steve McQueen in Papillon, 1973)
To arrive at nighttime March baseball in southern Arizona! The New York-San Francisco Giants vs. the Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers. Someone got us seats right behind home plate!
From the spider’s web of imminent death to the intricate protective netting of a new Spring!