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| Sunset on the desert |
Ruth and I bolted out to the desert for the weekend, one night spent in the reputedly therapeutic mineral baths of Desert Hot Springs (DHS is where we met, 13 years ago. Yup, first time I laid eyes on my wife she was in a bikini. [insert shit-eating grin]) and a second night up the road in Joshua Tree, a place we know well.
Amniotic weather. Barking ravens, hushed owl tones. The schizoid yipping of coyotes at dusk. Dr Seuss trees twisting in hi-contrast silhouettes against hard pastels . Bitter tea honeyed. Scents of chamisa and mesquite, creosote. Flickering firelight cast on warped boulders. Diamond shards ripple and flash across the northern sky. Amorphous rock blobs respire, silver in the pale moon light.
Then a silence so pure it must be a dream.
JTree. Used to be a card carrying resident, but then I grew up.
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| The textures of the desert. |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch. This is a year round spring. |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch, main house. |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Bill Keys left his mark on this land. |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Desert Queen Ranch |
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| Sunset in the Hi-Desert |
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| The remains of this old stone cabin lie above the Silver Queen Mine. |
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| Heavy monsoon rains the previous week had awakened millions of tiny yellow desert flowers. |
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Spiny. Venomous. Disastrous to pets and humans alike.
The North American Jumping Cholla (pronounced "Choya").
You haven't lived until you've spent most of a night, beer in one hand and pliers in the other, sucking on a cigarette under the lantern light while pulling a passel of cholla needles out of your friend's leg,
your very inebriated and unlucky friend. |
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| Ocotillo on the desert. |
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| Hi-Desert Empty |
I love the photo of the three old cars. The colors look unreal.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, wonderful photos. Really enjoyed this one. I like the less wordy, "let the pictures do the talking" style. Sometimes less is more... just like the desert.
ReplyDeleteOnly made it out that way a handful of times; need to correct that one of these days.