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not disagreeing with the gist of that post, but....

the desert, at least the high sagebrush desert of northern new mexico, is anything BUT "sensory deprivation", if your senses aren't completely dulled by the continuous sensory bombardment of urban life. all kinds of natural sounds, often dominated by the sounds of wind, are abundant. many kinds of birds, snakes, frogs, crickets, grasshoppers, cicadas, elk, mountain lions, ...

and that is just the sense of sound. the sense of sight is presented with - to my taste - even more spectacular gifts. the skies alone are the most astounding visual "art" i have ever experienced. cloud formations over the mountains, creating color palettes during sunrise and sunset that make dayglo posters look grey and faded. lightning storms dancing in those same clouds over the mountains make for hours of stunning and captivating "entertainment'. snow covered miles of sagebrush, making a sunny day almost too bright to bear, and making nights with even a quarter moon more than bright enough to hike without artificial light.

then there is the smell of the sage after a summer rain, which permeates the entire outdoors. quite possibly my favorite non-sexual smell.

city folk that visited me out there could not seem to relax with just the sounds of nature; they actually felt anxious trying to sleep without the noise of the city to lull them. so interesting, how differently people choose to live.