IN 2019, White Sands National Monument in Southern New Mexico became The United States' newest national park.  I visited the monument in February 2019, just before the new designation, and discovered a landscape of mystical light, animal tracks, and white gypsum sand dunes that migrate like large mammals (up to 30 feet per year) through the Tularosa Basin in the Chihuahuan Desert at the base of the San Cristobal

Great waves of sand rise from the Tularosa Basin in the Chihuahuan desert of New Mexico.  

The ancient scripts of animals, birds, and plants tell the story of transient life on the dunes.  Plants must grow quickly to get a foothold in the shifting environment.  

There are several types of dunes within the park: transverse dunes can be several hundred feet wide and without vegetation; barchan dunes are shaped like the crescent moon; and parabolic dunes which may have plants are rounder, smaller and look like bodies in repose. 

In the photograph below, in the right (light) side, the parallel lines in the sand are the dune's footprints, literally marks were the dune has been.   For a photographer, the strong contrast of light and shadow at dusk provides a unique opportunity to create startling compositions like the two photos above and the one below. 

Just before sunset blues and pinks overwhelm the senses.  I was overwhelmed by a hunger to capture, through my camera, every moving inch of this alive environment.  

In the end--having filled a memory card with images--I sat on a dune, opened the shutter of my eyes, and let the delicious light into the room of my mind and body.  

Then I was filled, full.    

The San Andrea Mountains form a dramatic backdrop to the dunes.  

White Sands National Park consists of 275 square miles of otherworldly dune-scape.  At times, wandering between the dunes as the sun set, I felt lost on the moon.  The temperature dropped quickly and it was easy to lose sight of the tall poles set atop dunes serving as markers for those who wandered off the main road and trail.  

Dune footprints going into the distance.  Dunes are most active in spring.  There is a correlation between high daytime temperatures and freezing night temperatures which bring winds that propel the dunes.    

The shadows, curves, light and movement of the dunes is sensual.  It was otherworldly.  At times, I sensed the sand breathing, massive bodies turning over, slowly waking for their naps.