Desert Oasis is inspired by time spent with friends in Muscat, Oman. We travelled in a hired car, and our destination was half a day’s drive to a remote area where we stayed in grass-thatched huts on the expansive desert. On our way, we wound around the mountains down into an area that was a surprise and an unexpected delight. We had found a Wadi (Oasis) - an area of water that was surrounded by tropical tree ferns and date palms. It was a cool setting, tucked at the base of the hills. There, I was invited to share a meal with a large extended family. We had seen them carrying and balancing on their heads large silver trays and bowls from their vehicle. The aromatic scents of cooked food was wafting my way. My friends had veered walking in another direction while I decided to sit on the ground and do some drawing. The family beckoned me to join them. They were wearing full-length pearly white dishdashas. The young adults and their father could speak English and told me their father was a politician. Two of the children I spoke with were studying at the university. The experience was memorable. They shared mouthwatering bowls of their home cooked cuisine. I sat with them cross-legged on a blanket on the ground under the overhanging shady trees. I remember eating the plumpest of dates soaked in a smooth syrup.