This is a cottonwood tree buried in the sand dunes of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Here, there are 250 square miles of gypsum dunes. Yet in the midst of this arid locale, there are trees and yucca plants and all sorts of small shrubs and plants. This tree can live as long as its leaves can see the sun and breathe the air. The gypsum shell protects the trunk. Inside the shell you can find little colonies of desert bugs and animals. During the late afternoon the sun seemed to favour the tree over the people.