What I Like About the Earth: Part 10, Desolate Places

I know it may be strange to like desolate places but there is just something about them that invites contemplation and thought. I remember an experience I had with a friend of mine who had grown up in New Hampshire but went to college in the West. We were standing outside a house near the edge of a city and a light but silent breeze was blowing. He made the comment that everything felt weird, the breeze, the grass, the air itself, just felt weird and that it was something he had never felt before in his life. I told him that it was the feeling of desolation, and it can be very common in the West. It tends to happen more at high altitudes but this may be because there are less plants, and also when there is a very light almost imperceptible breeze. Anyone who has experienced the feeling knows what I am talking about.

These are pictures of desolate places. The pictures cannot fully convey the feeling, but those who have felt it will know.

This one I call Desolation.
This one I call And I Was Alone.
I was playing around with Photoshop and this one turned out nicely:
This one I call A Desert Place.