Agelessness, What it Means

Agelessness, What it Means
Being by your self is a game in a sense. I have talked about becoming ageless, a kind of floating within yourself. As you learn of the plants and critters, you will come to find even rocks are alive in a timeless sense of things. Plants we can identify with, because the life spans are not as overwhelming. However, as one learns the plants, we seldom give a thought to how long they live. Most have heard of the Bristle Cone pine that live up to about 7500 years, but you might be amazed at the life spans of other plant life. Most of these plants are found in the deserts.

The Joshua tree looks like it is 100s of years old, what with the gnarled and twisted look of them. In fact, about the longest they live is up to 300 years, on the outside, not bad in the human scheme of things. In many parts of the desert, we have the creosote bush. It has many medicinal properties, and is used in a variety of ways. What comes as a shock is they form in a rough circle with a common root system and these plants can be up to 11,000 thousand years old. What they call King Clone is found on the old woman springs ranch, in California, on the road by the same name. It was identified from the air and some scientists insist they go to 25,000 years old

In parts of the deserts, we have what is called the Mojave Yucca. These plants attain an old age of up to fifteen hundred years old. The larger the circle the plant makes determines the age. I have one on my property that must be in the upper range of that mark, along with several others that must be hundreds of years old. The plant provides many uses. The leaves are thicker than the common yucca and much tougher. They are the preferred plant for making Indian sandals. They also give us a harvest of great tasting fruit once a year. The look resembles a stunted Joshua tree,but is clearly different. After about a century, they start sending out side shoots and when the first adult shoot hits a certain age it dies out. But, they all have the old root in common.

Another common plant that is a surprise is California Buck Wheat, a staple of many tribes. It lives up to 1500 years and is a plant we take for granted. They are found through out the Mojave and beyond.

Big Galleta is a bunch grass lives up to 100 years,impressive for a grass.

The ever impressive Buckhorn Cholla can reach ten feet high, though most only reach 3 feet. If you have tried to walk through these plants you will swear they jumped at you just to stick to your sorry self.I know places where it is a jungle of Chollas. Impossible to penetrate, they live to several hundred years.

Mormon Tea is an odd plant, some call it a living fossil.It is used as a beverage by the Indians and the Mormons used it as well. It has some medicinal qualities. It is hard to determine its age, but is known as a forever plant.

Turpentine Bloom has a deep purple flower and is sometimes confused with Mormon tea. It lives up to 1500 years.

Then we have Black Bush, found all over the deserts. This plant can take up to 15,00 years to develop. Once you’ve seen it, it is not confused with anything else.

One of he things found in common with the long lived plants is they are all slow to grow, a few inches a year, in most cases.

What has this to do with attaining the being of ageless? As you tramp through the wilds, I hope this will spur you on for your own wild places to investigate the age of plants in your favorite areas. Once you have an idea of the ages, your age suddenly has little meaning to these living age old plants. It puts you in perspective to the wild and your being able to join with the agelessness you are surrounded by.

May you get lost in the life around you and what has been witnessed as humans go rushing by. Slow down, has been my mantra, and pay your respects to lives well lived. And, as you gain the freedom of being alone and float in the ageless nature of things, you will find a life of the great wilderness to be ageless. Being alone can bring a peace to one and all. Just be in the moment at all times, at least in the wild… it can be ageless.
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