The Old Man in the Desert and the Desert Emerald

In this installment of Stories, Tangled Yarns, & Tall Tales from the Briarpatch, I tell the story of a wanderer, a green desert, and an old man named Elias who may, or may not, have been exactly who he claimed to be. While living out of my van in Arizona, I set out for a morning walk and stumbled upon a strange hermitage built from mud, bottles, branches, and whatever the desert was willing to spare. There I met an old man whose stories wandered between Scripture, memory, regret, wisdom, and mystery. Some stories are true. Some are mostly true. Some travel farther than facts alone can carry them. Like all good Briarpatch tales, this one asks more questions than it answers. Was Elias simply a desert hermit? Was he a storyteller? Was he a prophet? Or was he something else entirely? Fact-checkers will be disappointed; everyone else will be entertained. Pull up a chair and enjoy the story.