Welcome back to my blog. I have started a new project. It's called "Things I Found In The Desert". There are so many things one can find lurking in the desert, and behind each unique object there is a story. So here is the plan. I am going to write a short (or sometimes long) story about what my imagination tells me the history and story of the object is. In this case, it was an old light bulb I found on the desert floor. There was nothing around it and it was intact, unbroken, a survivor. Quite a story. If you are interested in hearing the story of this light bulb as I see it, leave a comment with your e-mail address. If not, just enjoy the photos. This is the first of my collection. Later I will include a link to all the photos as the collections grows.
-----OK, here is the story added on March 8, 2007
I walked through the desert with a slow stroll, enjoying the hint of a breeze that helped sweep away the afternoon heat. I often scan the desert floor finding little parts and pieces of what was. On this day I spotted an old light bulb. It was empty of filament and and the usual interior technology of its kind. It was old and faded. It was lying defiantly amongst tangled lifeless weeds and the sun bleached gravel of the desert floor. It was an enigma. I stopped. I looked and I took a photo.
It lies there, alone in the desert. It is fragile, like life. It is transparent, like most of us. It has survived, like we who are still here to read this. It no longer shines in the darkness as it once did, yet it endures. It is intact. It is stubborn and refuses to collapse beneath the harsh elements that surround it. It has a history. Could it talk, it might tell us a story of its life. It would certainly tell us a story of other lives that it touched. As I looked at it I felt its energy and its history.
It was probably once part of the life of a hard working desert family. It hung in a solitary fashion, by a single wire with no wall switch or high-tech wiring. It stood alone, a bare bulb in a lone socket, it’s only source to its lifeblood electric current was the twist of a human hand in its housing. It worked well and sent the darkness fleeing when called upon. When its usefulness was done, it was cast away like an old steelworker set off to wither away on a meager pension. Though lost, alone and abandoned it still fights on, unable to shine but refusing to give in. May God bless the old light bulbs of this world.
While most of the country is still looking forward to the cold being gone, and much of the country still enjoying an occasional snow-storm, we here in the desert are enjoying colorful blooms and great 95 degree weather. It's always beautiful in the desert.
Just outside of Palm Springs California where we are currently staying, there is wind-turbine farm that is just beyond belief. Last night we were there at sunset and the sights and sounds were awesome. Watching the turbines turn in the breeze with only the sound of the wind in the blades was truly remarkable.
Well, well, well. Doesn't that just give you a little touch of the "warm fuzzies" when you are out hiking in the California desert in search of that classic wonderful photograph or special story idea for a great magazine article. Wait, you mean this is dangerous? Ya think?
Welcome to winter in the desert. The mountains you see here are the very mountains that make this place a desert. The storms and the yuck wack into them from the west and merrily distribute their storm-drenchings before they have a chance to reach us. As you can see here the only thing that was left of this major storm was a big fat rainbow. This eye-candy could be seen directly over the mountains just west of Desert Hot Springs, very near where we are staying. Trixi went out to walk Roger this morning and ran in shouting, "quick get the cameras". We ran out and caught several great rainbow shots. Hers, of course, were the best but then she's the pro. You can get the idea from mine here. And yes, it is REALLY windy and not expected to quit until sometime tomorrow.
We have some pretty nice sunsets here in Sky Valley. Here is a photo of one. It was windy today, and I mean WINDY.... try this link and you'll see. It is a video we shot here.
Now just who would-a thunk you'd catch a scene like this giraff in the sunset in Palm Springs. It felt more like Africa
Well here we are at what they call "The Living Desert". It is a sort of zoo in the desert. It appears to be part zoo and part animal rehab facility. It was just wonderful. The terrain and the facilities were really terrific. It was a great trip and we joined as members. For the price of about two visits we can go there as often as we like. What a great deal. Here you see a few shots we took there. Trixi and I both had a great time and plan on many return trips. The owl photo is the endangered burrowing owl. This little guy inhabits burrows of other critters and pops up to eat some unsuspecting passer-by. They stay in their burrows so they don't become somebody's meal. The tree is actually right in the facility sitting on a little ridge line. It was just beautiful. The goat you see took a real liking to Trixi (note the smile). Another great day in the desert!!
in this make-believe, created for the movies town.
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