Last Saturday I joined you all in spirit praying for peace as I single-handedly staffed our clinic all day. I had several clients, some with serious chronic diseases. Since they were on the move I gave them some stop-gap meds and urged them to see a doctor as soon as they arrived. 

My most memorable client was a 70-year-old man who had walked much of the journey. He was having leg pain—surprise!  Actually, he was a healthy elder in the wirey way old people can be: pain overcome with resilience and an undercurrent of unflappable joy. His story must be rich but I will never know it. 

Sunday we three Sisters went with Bob Kee, a Samaritan, to leave food and water at a station in the desert. Much of the land is owned by the US government and leased to ranchers for grazing. The Sonoran Desert is beautiful and the most bio-diverse desert in the world. 

Somewhere along the ”Ruby” road we stopped, loaded up with gallon jugs of water and backpacks of food, socks, and foil blankets, and walked about a half mile in on a trail used by migrants. My mind was filled with images of desperate families, pregnant women, young and old needing to find refuge from drug cartels and violence.  When we reached the water station, we picked up empty food containers and left our supplies with messages of hope.  Luckily we didn’t meet any snakes or scorpions- just a few lizards, ants, and flies.
I love the Sonoran Desert. It is both beautiful and dangerous. The history of its Native Peoples gives it a mythic depth and haunting aura. Fear hangs in the air.
All day long we ran into ranchers and US Border Patrol.

I kept wondering if the Mafia was watching us also.