Ran Into A Word

 When I found this photo yesterday it occurred to me to wonder if there was a word that meant longing for the desert. I did not find precisely that.

I ran into an old friend word, fernweh, longing for far away places. German. Farsickness. That's pretty good.  But it is not specific to the glamorous American southwest. Ah no.

I could not find such a word.  But I did find sehnsucht. Die Sehnsucht. ˈzeːnˌzʊχt

A noun with a meaning which is a combination of ‘longing’, ‘pining’ or ‘yearning’, the idea of Sehnsucht is something which can’t be summed up in one word in English.

Some psychologists use the word to represent thoughts and feelings about all facets of life that are unfinished or imperfect, paired with a yearning for ideal alternative experiences.[2]

 Oddly enough, when we were visiting the southwest we encountered at least a few Germans who seemed to have had that longing and made good on it.  I remember one young man walking around a pueblo literally holding his hat in both hands in a state of wonder.

Well, how could I not long for such a place?