abigail414's diaryland diary
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In the Desert . . .
I haven�t written much about the desert lately. The above map will orient you as to what desert I'm in - the one just east of Los Angeles, and south of the Mojave. The mountain ranges keep the rain from getting out here - sometimes if feels like a big hand rises up from the Coachella Valley floor and says 'NO' and they hover on the mountain tops all day, giving us our perennially blue sky.
This past month it felt too cold to think about here as a desert (cold to desert dwellers is in the 40�s to 60�s). But it is now starting to feel like �season� � low 80�s, that comforting, bone-soothing, muscle-smoothing, skin-tanning, dry heat kind of weather this area is famous for. I can now walk Nelly in shorts, and enjoy the contrast between the damp lushness of the 40 acre complex I live in (filled with trees and shrubs and grass � a good transitional zone for a former Michiganian) and the stark brown just outside the gates. What once were �brown� hills to the east now look beige and rust and chocolate and terracotta with black shadows. And the mountains to the west do indeed have a purple majesty (above the �fruited plain� of gay Palm Springs). When I moved here, for some reason I didn�t consider them �mountains�, even though they�re 10,000 feet high, because they looked so barren. But they aren�t. They are filled with desert life and shrubbery, and are punctuated with huge rocks, deep crevices, shiny slate sections ending in sand piles at the bottom, and on the very top you can see little spiky trees hinting of the forested other side where it rains.
Since it is season, Palm Springs is overrun by Canadians. They walk around in pairs or groups in shorts with black socks and wild print shirts. Many of them are older, but some come in soft multi-generational tribes with screaming children and big dogs. This is in addition to the 'regulars' who come here on weekends from LA or San Francisco to stay in their vacation homes - they tend to look trendy and frazzeled. You can spot the �locals� (or 'townies'?) because we�re still huddled in long sleeves and pants. I find myself yearning for the furnace blast of 100 degrees when I walk out of work � go figure. There are less people around, and less clothes to wear. Remind me of this when I�m whining about the summer heat, OK?
Although I think this summer will be better. I�ll have my own deep pool in my own backyard. I went to my �new� house today (which is completely gutted, btw) and cleaned the leaves out of the pool. It was a sunny warm day and I have a very private backyard so, cleaned the pool in the nude. Anything is better when naked - I think that may be Palm Springs� unofficial motto. And to walk outside right before bed on a hot night and plunge naked into the deep end? That may just be a summer survival ticket for the desert.
That is, if the huge earthquake they are predicting doesn�t come. The papers are talking about the San Andreas fault as if it is �pregnant� and overdue. Thought I would add that to be fair to any readers who are in or expecting an ice storm, or �cloudy with rain and snow� or just 7 days of rain � at least your ground is fairly steady!
8:46 a.m. - 2007-01-11
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