My first impression driving through Joshua Tree on Park Boulevard was amazement and awe at the thousands of rock formations and boulders strewn across the landscape seemingly by some angry god of the universe. This too was the image my aunt, the poet Betty Benner, had when she wrote the poem Rock Formation, Joshua Tree National Park, but instead of some angry god, her view of the landscape of Joshua Tree was more benevolent, a place where “the universe plays with stones.” Each visit to Joshua Tree brings new insight and new ways of seeing the rock formations and boulders depending on the time of year or the time of day. Even a man-made structure such as Barker Dam and the surrounding area appears more inviting with water behind it instead of a more desolate desert image when there is no water. But the overwhelming impression of Joshua Tree is one of sheer beauty, from the delicate red flowers of the Indian Paintbrush to the immense panorama of the sunset from Keys View, and everything in between, including the Joshua Tree for which the park is named.