Desert Lady Diaries: Recent Episodes
Dawn Davis Voiceover and Podcaster
Desert Lady Diaries: 30-minute conversations with women who live in the desert. Find out why they came, what they do here and why they stay.
In this final episode of the Desert Lady Diaries podcast, Susan Henry (Ep 146) steps in as host and queries Dawn about her first experience with desert, the inspiration for Desert Lady Diaries and her shoppe, Soul Connection. Born & raised in New Jersey, Dawn Davis was drawn to the desert after lengthy careers in banking, project management and media. After 14 years in the corporate scene, she spent more than 20 years as an actor, voiceover and producer. Dawn moved to the Mojave in the summer of 2016. Dawn is an award-winning actor and for the last four years has hosted and produced the 'Desert Lady Diaries' podcast. This month she will celebrate two years as the owner of Soul Connection, a gift shop in Joshua Tree.
Raised on the east coast, Kathy didn’t see a desert until she’d moved to San Francisco in her college years. Taking bus trips down to beaches in Mexico, the desert felt like something to ‘get through’ in order to get to the beach. Back-packing in the Sierras brought Kathy closer to the Mojave. One day, driving through Darwin in search of a friend's place, she felt ‘eyes were on her’ from behind curtains as she drove through the town. Kathy passed broken down shacks and cars and wondered how anyone could live in such a place. The town was so unnerving, she decided not to even get out of her car to walk around. Over time she came back to Darwin to visit those friends and began a serious quest for a vacation home there. With such a small population, property for sale was not easy to come by. Through a series of events – some tragic and some disappointing – Kathy finally got a lead a few Darwin properties and purchased one. When the work/live space she was hoping for in San Francisco did not materialize, Kathy decided to make Darwin home. In this episode Kathy describes what it’s like to live in a desert town with no stores or government, with the nearest gas or grocery 50 miles away. The only real social scene is the daily 11:30 a.m. trip to the Post Office for mail – the Postmaster has the only job in town. We also talk about life in the desert as one ages; Kathy calls Darwin ‘a great place to die’. These days, Kathy splits time between Darwin and Taos, New Mexico. She describes the property in Taos as even more primitive and off grid than Darwin. It’s at an elevation of 7200 feet where she hauls water and handles other manual living activities daily. Find Kathy’s writing, music and art at: kathygoss.com
Anne Lear’s first experience with desert was a a young girl. Growing up in Los Angeles, Anne and her family made many trips to 29 Palms to visit her uncle, Bob Lear, a homesteader in the 1930’s. If Lear Avenue rings a bell, that road was named after Uncle Bob. This photo shows Anne, left, with Uncle Bob. In this episode we’ll first learn how it was that Anne’s uncle came to be living in 29 Palms, which resulted in Anne coming to retire in the desert. Anne says as a child, there was nothing really interesting to do on these trips other than looking for rocks with one of the neighbor boys. Anne credits two ladies for inspiring her to be an artist. Her mother – a teacher and artist herself – who would bribe Anne to finish homework or house chores with the reward of some kind of art-making equipment. Another inspiration was the Catholic school teacher who held up the students artwork for the entire class to see. Anne shares the background of her teaching education, her learning the art of collage and serving as a chaperone for one her students on a trip to NYC. In 1993, after 43 years of teaching – it was time to decide where she would retire. Having access to property with a prepared art studio, Anne decided she would retire in 29 Palms, on her uncle’s property. Anne participated in two of the very first Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours and has also participated in the last three most recent tours. It wasn’t until she went on the tours herself that she realized how many artists are in the Morongo Basin. She notes desert artists are very quiet about their work and the lack of criticism leads to enhanced freedom and experimentation in their work. Anne feels there is no reason to be isolated in the desert. If folks are feeling lonely, Anne recommends volunteering, stating, “Everyone needs a volunteer”. Not long after moving to the desert, Anne began volunteering at the 29 Palms Art Gallery and has been a member for over 26 years. You can see Anne’s work at her website: http://www.annelearartist.com/
Jenny was 10-years old when she first experienced the desert. Jenny's best friends mother was a Girl Scout leader who brought the girls out to Joshua Tree National Park to camp. Jennifer says, “I remember the wind – it was like a person, taking up space.” As an adult, Jennifer would visit the park to climb. In 2017 she wrote a dispatch about the history of the Joshua Tree National Park climbing community as part of The Mojave Project, a documentary and curatorial project led by artist Kim Stringfellow. After spending two and half years with the Peace Corps in Southern Thailand, Jennifer returned to Joshua Tree and began leading hikes and kids camping groups. She became part of JT Lab and worked on developing what is now known as the 'Artists Tea' program. A student of art, Jenny initially worked in acrylics, sculpture and recycled materials. Before leaving for the Peace Corps, Jennifer received a watercolor set from a friend. With only six months left out of country, Jennifer brought the set out and began to experiment. Watercolor is now her medium of choice and she finds it a bit ironic to be painting desert landscapes with water. Her paintings are held in private collections around the world. While continuing to work as a guide and outdoor educator, Jennifer also serves as the Executive Director of Arts Connection, The Arts Council of San Bernardino County. In this role, Jennifer's multidisciplinary practice approaches community engagement as a dynamic form of art: creating space and opportunities for people to gather in unexpected environments through diverse methods and mediums to promote broader understanding and connection to self, others, and place. Full Episode Find Jenny's art on Instagram: @jennykan Donate, join or find out more about Arts Connection here: www.artsconnectionnetwork.org
Barbara Gothard, artist and educator, was born and raised in the landlocked agricultural community of Springfield, Illinois. Growing up in the middle of lush, green farmland, Barbara says she first experienced the desert while turning the pages of National Geographic. Barbara’s first visit to a desert came through a cultural exchange program. Barbara recalls flying from the UK to Israel and the image of the blue green waters of the Mediterranean Sea giving way to the oranges and yellows of the sand. Through corporate travels, Barbara often visited the west coast of Africa – Namibia - where she experienced some of the largest sand dunes in the world, as well as the turbulence of flying over the Sahara. Barbara’s experiences with a stateside desert were on work trips to Palm Springs. Being work trips, there wasn’t much opportunity to be ‘in’ the desert and really experience it. Barbara was in second grade when her artistic abilities surfaced. The teacher invited Barbara’s mother in for a conversation about Barbara's artwork and a few weeks later, Barbara was enrolled in a Saturday art class. Barbara continued developing her art through high school and college, majoring in art, as well as earning a master’s in art and a PhD in Educational Administration. As Barbara became a wife and mother, she decided to set aside the exhibiting side of her art to focus on her family, while continuing to draw or paint in her spare time – or on plane rides. A chance introduction at a conference in Florida found Barbara interviewing for a corporate job, for which she was hired. Barbara left the world of education behind and had an amazing corporate career which has taken her around the world. After the global whirlwind came to an end, Barbara landed in Southern California and found herself visiting her two best friends in Palm Springs - often. They convinced her to move closer – she’s been in Palm Springs since 2012. As Barbara was finding her way in her new community, she met Peggy Vermeer , the first employee of the Palm Springs Art Museum. Peggy immediately invited Barbara to join the museum and the Artists Council. Barbara’s involvement in these organizations found her wondering about other African American artists – or other African American female artists - living and working in the desert. Three years of research will culminate with a residency at BOXOHouse in Joshua Tree in October. Barbara will use her time and research to create interpretive works of the African American homesteader experience in ‘African American Homesteaders of Lanfair Valley'. Upcoming events (2021-2022) featuring Barbara’s work and discussions are as follows: October 8, at the Old Schoolhouse Lecture Series, presented by the Desert Institute at Joshua Tree National Park October 16, at Copper Mountain College October 23, 24 at BOXOHouse January 10 to April 10, 2022 at San Bernardino County Museum More about Barbara and her work: On the web: Barbaragothard.com Instagram: @barbaragothardart and #barbaragothard Blog: Mojave Contradictions
Laurel Seidl’s first experience with desert was hitch hiking from Carson City to Las Vegas in 1966. In this episode we learn Laurel has quite a bit of hitch hiking experience. Laurel moved to the desert in 1982. Her parents lived in a homestead cabin on property at the edge of Twentynine Palms, near Wonder Valley. Laurel and her future husband at the time decided they would purchase a piece of desert property in the same area – ten acres off Amboy Road - as a wedding gift to themselves. It wasn’t until they came to Twentynine Palms for their wedding that Laurel learned her parents’ property was up for sale. She and her new husband bought it. The property has been a farm, where Laurel and her husband raised rabbits commercially, as well as housing goats, livestock, chickens, geese, ducks, cats and dogs. After a few years, a rabbit disease made its way through the rabbit sheds, then an earthquake came and Laurel decided the animals weren’t doing well, so her husband picked up gun smithing for the local Sheriffs and California Highway Patrol officers. Laurel held a number of jobs in the area: as a cook on the base and local nursing home, school bus driver, and bartender. After a few years of this, Laurel found her health was declining and she was no longer able to work. This is when she decided to return to her art. Laurel painted saw blades, feathers, rocks, spoons… none of which had a desert theme. She felt there were plenty of other artists in the desert that were doing that well. She says, “They could even paint the air pink.” Laurel became a member of a local gallery, but because her work did not depict desert scenes for tourists, her work was not shown. Looking starting thinking about the buildings on her own property and hired a cowboy who was renting a trailer on her property to start making the buildings into art galleries and after 18 months, Laurel had her first gallery room. Laurel suggested a gentlemen who’d helped with the construction – and created art – be the first show at the gallery. Eventually, Laurel started asking artists if they’d like to have a show and many were surprised to learn there would be no gallery fee or commission on their work. Laurel had only three requirements of the artists: advertise the show, furnish food for the opening reception and gallery sit on the weekends. These days, there are only two requirements: the artist’s do their own advertisement and furnish the food – Laurel sits the gallery, welcoming visitors and talking with them about the artists and their work. The gallery has also had its share of mentions as ‘odd’ places to visit in California – most of the time Laurel discovers this by word of mouth or by talking with visitors, as she does not have a computer or cell phone. We also learn the inspiration behind the actual glass outhouses – there are now two. In addition to showing the work of artists from the Morongo Basin, work has been shown from artists as far away as Chicago and Kentucky. Prior to beginning the renovation and creation of the new gallery rooms, the list of artists booked to show in the space ran all the way to 2024. After a messy encounter with someone she’d hired to do the concrete work for the new galleries, Laurel found herself deep in a financial pit and ended up taking a loan and using a credit card to get the galleries completed. Laurel makes it clear, "The gallery is not a non-profit, nor is it 'for profit'. If after hearing Laurel’s story, you are so moved, please go to the fundraiser on Go Fund me and make a donation. Here is the link: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/keep-the-arts-alive-in-wonder-valley Join eight artists alongside Laurel and Frank as the new galleries open on Saturday, September 11, 2021 from 5 to 9 p.m.
Sandy Smith of West Allis, Wisconsin arrived to 29 Palms as a young Marine wife and mother in December 1987. Knowing they had orders to Camp Pendleton soon, Sandy didn’t concern herself with setting up household here in the desert. – she didn’t think she’d be staying that long. Sandy found herself back in 29 Palms in June 1994 for about nine months. On Valentines Day 1995, Sandy received a call that her Marine husband would be shipping out to Okinawa, but the family wouldn’t be joining him- for a year. Sandy was pretty devastated. She hadn’t yet made peace with the desert and would now be here for a year, alone, raising two young children. Rather than sit home, complain and feel sorry for herself, Sandy got out and started volunteering again for Navy Marine Corps Relief Society. Her daughter was also now of school age and Sandy got involved in all the ‘parent’ things. As Sandy got out in the community, her attitude began to change. Shortly after that, her husband called to say his orders had been amended to include Sandy and the kids. Sandy wasn’t ready to leave, but, packed her bags and the kids and off to Okinawa they went - for six years. As the Okinawa tour wound down, the family realized they would only be in one more duty station – they chose to return to 29 Palms in 2001 – and it’s been home ever since. Sandy enjoys her community involvement – first with Reach Out Morongo where she started as a part time Executive Director and grew the organization in the ten years she was with them. Now, as the Executive Director of Copper Mountain College Foundation since 2011 – Sandy's main focus is fundraising to support the scholarships and other programming the Foundation provides for the students. In this episode, Sandy shares the history behind Copper Mountain College and how it became an accredited, stand-alone college. Sandy is also a proud Rotarian, a member of 29 Palm Rotary and she serves on the Board of the Basin Wide Foundation In her spare time, Sandy enjoys bingo, bowling and spending time with her grandchildren.
Born and raised near the Catskills in NY State, Mary Helen Tuttle fell in love with a guy who had started building a place in the desert. When Steve took a job on the west coast, they moved to Fontana. Thinking the desert home would just be a weekend retreat, the couple would make trips out on weekends to work on the dome home. They started working on their desert place in 1990 and made the move full-time in October of 2000. Mary Helen believes when you move somewhere new, you need to reach out to find your people, "no one is going to come knocking on your door". Moving to California, Mary Helen learned, "You need to bloom where you're planted." With that in mind, Mary Helen joined the JT Rotary. She likes the idea that her little bit of time and money, mixed with little bits of time and money from other Rotarians, makes a larger difference in the world. The JT Rotary team coordinates projects like restocking the shelves of local food pantries, providing new shoes to kids for the new school year and coordinating a summer camp for 275 local kids. If JT Rotary sounds like an organization you can get behind, send an email to jtrotary@yahoo.com or check out their Facebook page to join. In this episode, Mary Helen shares the rich history of Copper Mountain Mesa (North JT) and how the residents came to have electricity, water and a community center. The Center is locally famous for their 1st Saturday of the month pancake breakfast and is hoping to be able to serve everyone again Labor Day weekend (2021). Mary Helen explains that prior to being closed for Covid, the Community Center came up against some difficulties with the County citing the Community Center kitchen with infractions. While some grants have been secured to pay for the materials, the labor is all volunteer. If you can help, with labor, materials or financially, head to the Center’s website and get in touch or make a donation. The website is: cmmcommunitycenter.org .
Born in in Kingston Ontario Canada, near Syracuse NY, Robyn Lewis made her way to California with her first husband – he was moving back to family and Robyn was excited to be near LA to continue her acting career. Robyn describes herself as a shy kid who took some acting classes in Canada to try it out, which lead to doing extra work on films when she moved to Los Angeles. On set, she enjoyed the camaraderie of the other actors and talks about some of the pitfalls of being a newbie in Hollywood. While living in the Los Angeles area, Robyn had a friend with a place in Pioneertown. Robyn, and her then husband, would come up to visit for a change of scenery, wandering around Mane Street, which at the time was mostly residential. They’d wander into Pappy & Harriett’s - with no reservations - and were wowed by a young lady who would stand near the jukebox and ‘rocked the place’ with her amazing voice. Robyn and her then husband decided to purchase a place in Johnson Valley and moved to the desert. Robyn quickly realized this location was too remote for a young mother with two young children. To meet people and give the kids some social time, Robyn found the parks in Yucca Valley, picnicking with the kids several times a week, meeting other moms and kids. She also discovered a Mommy and Me group where she found herself teaching several classes. Eventually, Robyn rented out the Johnson Valley house and moved to Yucca Valley. Robyn says at that time the Morongo Basin was a pretty quiet place. There was no Starbucks, no Applebee’s. Just a Kmart and two grocery stores. Robyn confesses to not spending much time in the National Park until meeting her current partner. If you’ve been to Crossroads Café in Joshua Tree, Robyn may have taken your order. She recently made the difficult decision to leave the Cafe after working there for over ten years. In this episode, Robyn says the crew she worked with was truly like a family and she met so many wonderful people, visitors and locals alike. In all her years here in the Morongo Basin, she feels this is the largest and longest influx of people that she remembers moving to the desert. She’s asks new residents and visitors respect the place, the silence and clean up after yourself.
Born and raised in Philly, Kate McCabe made her way to California to study under former Disney animator Jules Engle (Fantasia), at CalArts. Looking for a California sound for a film she was creating, Kate approached Brant Bjork from the southern California desert music scene. Once he saw her completed project, ‘Milk and Honey’, he asked her to come to the desert and make a visual album for him. Besides cross-country road trips, this would be Kate’s first real experience with the desert. Just prior to coming out to work on Brant’s project (‘Sabbia’), Kate was looking to purchase a home in her native Philadelphia. While she was here, Kate experienced a desert snow – and the Milky Way. Now she would be looking for a home in the desert – that was 2005. Not long after settling into her new desert home, Kate took a financial hit from an employer who did not honor her contract. Needing to keep money coming in, she got jobs, started painting and created ‘Kidnap Yourself’ as an artist’s collective at her home, providing space for other artists to flex their creativity in a desert setting. In this episode, Kate talks about the ways she found to be creative during this time. With no funding for film making and limited supplies to create other art, Kate picked up a pen and began writing her observations of the desert and the weather, which lead to her create and publish ‘Mojave Weather Diaries’, a collection of desert observations and sketches. Then she stumbled on a book by a female homesteader who lived in Yucca Valley in the 1930’s. June LeMert Paxton’s book, ‘My Life on the Mojave’ chronicles her life in the hi-desert. Reading the book, Kate felt a kinship with this woman who, for health reasons, left her family in Pasadena to make a life in the desert for her well-being. In her book, June describes the balance of self-reliance and required relationships with other homesteaders for survival. Kate compares the walkable communities of the east coast with the driving requirements of the desert and how that changes one’s ability to connect with their neighbors. Kate earned her MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts. She teaches film at UC San Diego and CalArts. Her current work includes painting, photography and diaries. During the pandemic, Kate worked on a sunrise/sunset time lapse film that will be shown at the July 17, 2021, benefit concert for The Desert Institute. The film will open the evening, which features local desert rockers Yawning Man. Connect with Kate and watch her films: https://vimeo.com/katemccabekny/videos https://www.kidnapyourself.com/
Jillian has lived in the desert since 1992. Her experiences have included family trips for hiking, camping and off-roading. With little development in the desert at that time, it was easy to see big horn sheep, desert foxes and a plethora of bird species – Jillian’s continued love for the desert sprung from these experiences in nature. A self-described ‘outdoor kid’, Jillian shares remedies to the oft repeated refrain of ‘there’s nothing for kids to do in the desert’. She believes going to nature for activities instead of staying indoors opens kids up to new experiences and instills in them a greater appreciation of nature. Jillian shares her recollections of life in the Morongo Basin from the early 90’s, including unpaved roads, minimal stop lights and a lot less people. With the influx of tourists and visitors, Jillian and her family have witnessed an increase in trash in the park and illegal dumping. In this episode, Jillian shares the reasons she believes the illegal dumping has become such an issue and what individuals can do to prevent it. She also explains the use of ‘dump cards’ and why that cheap dump run isn’t always the best option. She also shares some of the work Desert Cleanse Project does and invites individuals and groups to come out to a clean-up when they start happening again. When Jillian isn’t out enjoying nature or helping to beautify the desert, she is a mental health professional in Joshua Tree. Make donations to Desert Cleanse Project via Venmo: desertcleanseproject DM Desert Cleanse Project via social to arrange a donation or Donate at JT Country Kitchen, Joshua Tree Blanket Company, Cliffhanger Guides, and Soul Connection. Desert Cleanse Project on Facebook Desert Cleanse Project on Instagram
Alisha Moreno was nine years old when she experienced the desert for the first time. Her family moved from Orange County, CA, to a condominium in the hi-desert, owned by Alisha’s grandmother. Alisha’s father, a single dad to three children, was looking for a change and moving to the desert felt like the right move. Alisha says driving up the Yucca grade was like taking a step back in time. The town of Yucca Valley was basically just Highway 62 (Twentynine Palms Highway). But there was a big difference from how we know the highway today. There were no street signs, no traffic lights, no stop signs, no movie theatre, no Starbucks. There was a Walmart on the west end of town, as the super one hadn’t yet been built. Alisha has lived in the Morongo Basin for over 25 years and says it’s been quite something to watch the small quiet, sleepy town expand so tremendously. Alisha described the transition to a new school and meeting new friends as ‘easy’. With her siblings close in age, they shared friends in common. And Alisha immediately found a great friend who lived two doors down – they are still friends today. With a lack of formal activities, Alisha describes what she and her friends and siblings did to entertain themselves in the desert. In this episode, she also shares a story about her first extremely memorable experience in the Monument, now know as Joshua Tree National Park. As Alisha approached her high school graduation, her thoughts turned to attending college back in Orange County. Having grown up in the desert, she found herself feeling a bit of culture shock at college. She worked two jobs to pay for school and rent and found it wasn’t just the economics that were unreasonable, but she missed her friends, her family and the stars. After a year, Alisha returned to the desert. Currently, Alisha is wrapping up her senior year at the University of Redlands and applying to PA (Physician’s assistant) programs. Alisha’s interest in the medical field began at age 16, with a part time job as a receptionist for an oral surgeon. She also has a keen interest in helping people. Even with the demands of being a mom to a teenager, working, schooling, volunteering, Alisha has time to run her business, Soy Good Candles. What started as a little hobby kit to make candles for herself has turned into a full-blown business. You’ll find Alisha’s candles and air fresheners in a number of shops in the Morongo Basin – including Soul Connection. Or look for them on her social channels: Soy Good Candles on Facebook Soy Good Candles on Instagram
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Rose first experienced the desert on a camping trip w/friends. They tent camped in the Black Rock Campground in Joshua Tree National Park and she found it enchanting, beautiful, wild and fun. It was the first time she’d seen a coyote in the wild. Later, while living in Los Angeles, Rose would come out to the desert to produce photo shoots. She says of that first time back, "The wide open spaces really grabbed me". We talk about the harshness of mother nature with respect to weather and humans bumping up against the natural environment and witnessing the the circle of life happening up close and in person. Rose says her decision to move to the desert was two-fold, part of it was the enchantment with the desert and the other part was a personal challenge to see if she could live here. In this episode, Rose admits second guessing herself after the making the move. Ultimately, she ended up becoming inspired to pick up her camera again and make prints. Rose got her first camera at the age of seven and her first ‘shoot’ was at a zoo, capturing all the wild animals. The appeal was immediate and Rose found herself taking photography classes as electives in junior high and high school, along with graphic design. After attempting traditional junior college classes - with all the math, history and English - Rose left and attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco to study photography. A class project turned Rose on to the development of magazines, which she found very satisfying. Upon finishing school she took an internship at Detour Magazine and was eventually hired on full time. Rose continues to work in entertainment magazines - it's been 27 years. Prior to moving to the desert, Rose had begun to reacquaint herself with some photographic printing techniques and her medium of choice became the cyanotype (or some might know it as sun printing). Rose explains the process and if you’re interested in learning, you can sign up for her classes from her website. The first summer here Rose's skin was so affected by the dry heat she wanted to find something natural to sooth and replenish her skin. Rose discovered how Native Americans used the beloved creosote plant to create healing balms and she began making her own hand balm. You can find the hand salve, body butter, candles and other treats created by Rose at her Etsy shop: Joshua Tree Desert Rose.
Born and raised in the East Coachella Valley, Lorraine Salas has a lifetime of experience in the desert. "When most folks hear ‘Coachella’, they think of the annual music festival, but Coachella has a rich history in the United Farm Workers Union." Lorraine is a special education teacher and like her grandmother and her father before her, she is also an environmental and social justice advocate. Her spirit for environmentalism started while spending time on her grandmothers ranch in Coachella. Lorraine remembers finding seashells, adoring the plant life, the coyotes, which left her with a feeling of amazement that still fills her today. Though her grandmother passed when Lorraine was only eight years old, Lorraine has heard about the work her grandmother did for the community. An initiator of one of the first Voter Leagues in the City of Coachella. grandmother was also a farm worker and a carpenter, participating in group builds, constructing homes for fellow farm workers in the East Valley. Grandmother was also involved with the United Farm Workers. In this episode, Lorraine talks about the changing economic and demographic landscape of the East Coachella Valley with it’s new million dollar homes and ‘beach clubs’. Lorraine’s time in the hi-desert has mostly been for her advocate and activist work, attending rallies and protests for the environment and racial justice. Lorraine enjoys going to these type of events to see what’s happening, pick up any literature and listen to the speakers. Lorraine feels the rally experiences are also educational and will sometimes change ones perspective on issues. One of her most memorable experiences has been attending meals and meetings of Food Not Bombs . Lorraine was one of twelve delegates elected to represent the 42nd District of the California Democratic Party and was a national delegate, voting for Bernie Sanders to receive the national endorsement at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 and 2020.
Blanca S. Villalobos is a freelance cultural worker living in the San Gorgonio Pass with ancestral roots in Mexico. Blanca is the eighth of nine children. Their parents and half of their siblings migrated to the United States in the 1970’s, while the final four children of the family, including Blanca, were born here in the U.S. Blanca describes their family and culture as that of migrators, not so different from many living organisms on the earth. Blanca’s first desert experiences were with immediate family, traveling through the Sonoran and Colorado deserts to visit relatives in Mexico. Blanca's experiences with the Mojave desert began with their siblings in Joshua Tree National Park to stargaze. Blanca explains they would typically enter the park after hours though, because the entry fee was a barrier to entry for their family and still is a barrier to a number of folks today. Like many others who have come to this area, economics was part of the decision. Blanca was able to find a home to rent that was within their means, but it wasn’t easy. What was lucky was that the home is rented through a family friend who didn’t require Blanca pay for credit checks or put down a large deposit. Blanca describes other discrimination that can happen when one just announces their name or explains their line of work. Blanca was also familiar with the Morongo Basin, having been employed in roles as an outdoor educator at some of the local desert preserves, but was not acquainted with any other BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) before moving here. Blanca says, “That was a whole journey for me – is trying to find my people when I moved here.” Having moved to the desert just before the pandemic, even though there aren’t many live events happening, Blanca shares they were able to tap into their community by having access to the internet and to spaces there created by BIPOC for BIPOC. However, they note, many BIPOC still do not have access to the internet. In this episode Blanca explains what services they offer to organizations as a cultural worker. They also share what inspires them to do this work and the difficulties their family sometimes has understanding the work Blanca does and why. Dream work is also very close to Blanca's heart. Blanca believes we receive a great deal of wisdom from our ancestors and it is important for us to consider these messages and we make life choices. Blanca's Website Patreon.com/bsvillalobos
With a dad who was a Marine, Darlene Morris' family drove to and from many duty stations. The family would always make a stop in their home state of Nebraska to visit with friends and family if they could. Sometimes the drives took them through deserts and the only stops Darlene remembers making were for gas, food and Native American gift shops. Darlene’s first true desert experience was moving to 29 Palms with her first husband, a Marine in 1967. They stayed for 18 months, leaving the area so he could go back to school to obtain a degree. Darlene found work locally as a bank teller. When her first husband got out of the Corps, they moved to Kansas for two years for him to finish his degree, moving back to San Diego to find work. The marriage dissolved shortly after that. About a year later, Darlene met her current husband, who was in the Navy – Darlene admits, “I just love those guys in uniform”. Shortly after meeting, her new husband left the Navy, went back to college obtaining a degree in marriage, family and child counseling, becoming a civilian Marine counselor at Camp Pendleton. In 2005, Darlene's husband received an offer to work at the Marine Base in 29 Palms and Darlene was back ing the hi-desert. Darlene remembers it taking some time to get accustomed to the desert again - night time walks and star-filled skies became appealing. She recalls leaving windows and doors open all night in summer, letting the cool air in to let in with no concerns about windows and doors being unlocked – Darlene says, “It was just lovely”. On her second round with this desert, Darlene got involved with the 29Palms art gallery – which keeps her very busy. Darlene knew art was going to be part of her life, but never thought she’d be a professional artist. Darlene says it was the art that kept her going through high school. She still has some of her early work, one of them a hand drawn map of Russia, made with India ink and watercolors. She remembers her teacher wanting to keep it, but Darlene says she couldn’t leave it. In banking for 19 years, art was always a part of her life. She continued attending classes or workshops to learn new mediums and techniques. Even taking community college classes for banking, then for graphic design, which changed things career-wise. Darlene started in watercolors, but her favorite has become acrylics and her work has been selected to be in a number of juried shows. Darlene's Website Donate to the 29 Palms Art Gallery
ShaWanda's first experience with the desert was as a third-grader, moving with her military family to 29 Palms, after having already moved from Mississippi to Bridgeport, CA and Camp Lejune, NC. She had all of her 'firsts' in the desert, it was her foundation. ShaWanda and her family were active in church and their community came from church and school. ShaWanda says her family found they had everything they needed her in the desert in the 80's and reminisces about Foster Freeze, the Alamo Market and their holiday coloring contests. ShaWanda feels the desert was a good place to grow up and she has many fond memories of those times. In this episode, ShaWanda shares what downtown 29 Palms was like growing up and says that between the shops downtown and the ability to shop on base as a military family, they had everything the needed. Being a teen in the desert, ShaWanda says, "you see things on television and you want to see more." For ShaWanda, more was Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, the complete opposite of the desert. After graduating, ShaWanda returned to the desert to start her family and begin work at Copper Mountain College. ShaWanda has made many moves in and out of the desert - for many reasons - and says 29 Palms feels different to her this time around. With military families being given more options than just traveling together from assignment to assignment, perhaps the city has less military families. ShaWanda is grateful for her leaves and returns to the desert, feeling they seem perfectly timed, allowing her to get quiet and she says, ‘hear myself’. It's been a place of great growth - as has yoga. After her divorce, ShaWanda needed to something else in her life and she found yoga. This is where she can be completely herself and push and challenge herself to her personal edge. It is also where she found new members of her soul tribe. Yoga led to becoming the managing editor for the online publication, Untamed Voices, created by desert resident and podcaster, Emily Silver. The publication has been created to amplify the voices of marginalized communities. ShaWanda is also teaching at the Institute of Inquiry – a local enrichment program founded by desert resident Kimberly Sikora (Desert Lady Diaries EP 5) as an enhancement to home school, charter school or public school programs. ShaWanda lives in Yucca Valley with her son, Mateo and their miniature schnauzer, Dutchess. Find more about ShaWanda at her website.
Lauren Kane first experienced the desert as a kid, with family trips to the Pioneertown ranch of family friends. Growing up only an hour away from Joshua Tree there were also frequent family day trips to Joshua Tree Natioanl Park. Though there were also family trips to Los Angeles and Palm Springs, the hi – desert became home, a place Lauren felt drawn to. Lauren continued those trips with her then boyfriend/now husband, taking their first camping trip together in the national park almost 12 years ago. When they started looking for a place to make their own home, they knew the only way they'd be able to move to the hi-desert hinged on Lauren’s husband finding a job in the low desert. As is sometimes does, desert magic took over and as soon as they began looking for a house a job opened up for him, making the move possible. Lauren’s business, Precious Creature, involves a gentle, loving practice of preserving the memory of a beloved pet through the process of taxidermy. Lauren is no stranger to working in the death business. Just after high school, thinking she wanted to be an embalmer or funeral director, Lauren had an opportunity to work in a funeral home, While there she found herself subjected to some stodgy ideas and misogynistic attitudes which got her thinking, ‘maybe this isn’t what I want to do'. While volunteering at the San Bernardino County Natural History museum, Lauren became interested in taxidermy. A museum co-worker intimated she had preserved one of the owls on display. Lauren became completely entranced. She picked up a book to study taxidermy and began collecting the supplies required to get started. While the rest of her family wasn't so sure about the taxidermy route, Lauren is grateful to her grandfather for not only supporting her in this journey, but for offering his garage as a workshop and his freezer to store Lauren's first attempt: a bird. Through this process, Lauren remembered her favorite part of the funeral home job was helping the grieving families. With a sense that she wanted to work in death care, she had the idea that she could offer taxidermy as a service to grieving pet owners. In this episode, Lauren opens up about her anxiety around the mortality and the death experience and believes her lifelong fascination and interest in what comes after life has inspired her to do this work. If you’re interested in taxidermy for your pet, Lauren offers information about how to prepare your pet for this process. And some comforting was to make the preparation easier on yourself. Lauren also walks us through a high-level description of the process that happens once a pet is delivered to Lauren through completed taxidermy. Visit Lauren's website for more information: http://www.preciouscreaturetaxidermy.com/ Or follow her on Instagram: @preciouscreature
Valcine Brown remembers trips to Las Vegas with her Aunt, Uncle and cousins as her first experience with desert. Valcine describes a recent drive through the Mojave Preserve and what it was like to witness the destruction of the 2020 summer wildfires up close and personal. Valcine moved to the lower desert in the 90’s. While thinking about leaving Los Angeles county, her husband at the time received a timely promotion that brought them to the low desert. Some time after moving, the couple divorced and eventually Valcine came up to the hi-desert looking to purchase her next home, Having lived in both the low and hi-deserts, Valcine shares her perspective on the differences between the two places. Valcine didn’t really know anyone when she moved here, but when you love to sing karaoke, it’s easy to find friends in a place filled with musical talent. One night at karaoke, a woman who enjoyed Valcine singing approached her, gave Valcine her phone number and introduced her to Lisa Rae Black (Ep 95) who invited Valcine to join hi-desert band, The LP’s. Valcine grew up singing, starting in her church choir at the age of 15 and participating in the opera theatre in college. Valcine says her perfect life would be teaching during the week and singing on the weekends. 6:22 Saloon – karaoke In this episode, Valcine talks about transitioning to teaching online during the pandemic and the challenges around building a rapport with new students when the school year began in the fall of 2020. A self-proclaimed nerd, Valcine has earned two MFA’s, and is currently working toward her Doctorate. Valcine discusses her independent publishing company, La CrisaAnd Productions, and her inspiration for starting it.
Born and raised in Corvallis, Oregon, Susan headed for the Bay Area right after high school, picking up music gigs in clubs and hotel lounges and even going on the road alone doing solo gigs in places like Esconaba, Michigan. Eventually, Susan tired of playing alone and craved the company and camaraderie of playing with other musicians - She joined a band and began taking work as a musician on cruise ships. Her favorite port? Venice, Italy. During free time on the cruise ships, Susan started making jewelry for herself to wear on stage. When women in the audience approached her to inquire about where she got it, she realized she was onto something. To this day, she still creates commissioned pieces. After meeting her husband, Jesse - also a musician - they headed down to Lukeville, AZ - near the Mexico border - living in their road bus and recording their first record. Susan says of this first desert encounter, "What I definitely noticed was the serene, silence – which was scary and comforting." With their home in the lower desert feeling uncomfortable, Susan and her husband chose Joshua Tree to build their home, as they found the land reasonably priced and purchased a 'kit' home. They lived in their road bus for two years while they completed the house. In this episode we also talk about the how different downtown Joshua Tree was when Susan arrived 16 years ago. In addition to making jewelry, Susan also makes sculptures from kiln fired glass, rebar, recycled wine/beer bottles under her business, Earthloving Art. All of Susan's creations are available at her downtown Joshua Tree shop, Zannedelions Boutique and Gallery. Susan's Glass Scuptures - Earthloving Art Zannedelions Boutique - downtown Joshua Tree LeJazzane - Susan's Current Band
Born and raised in Minnesota, Cindy Daigneault says a high school radio station job shadowing experience inspired her to seek out a career the radio business. After high school, Cindy attended the Brown Institute of Broadcasting, one of few women entering the industry at that time. She was immediately hired from the Institute by the owner of a new radio station in Wisconsin. One particularly bitter winter, Cindy decided she'd had enough cold and snow and contacted a radio consultant to help her find work in a warmer climate and was offered work at a station near Ventura, CA. Cindy packed her new Monte Carlo and her Siamese cat and headed west. Not long after arriving, Cindy met her husband, who also in radio and they were married a short time later. An offer to lead and create sales team at a radio station in Joshua Tree came Cindy's way and she and her husband decided to check it out. As they drove up the Yucca grade, Cindy remembers looking around at the landscape thinking, "What is this place?" Ultimately, Cindy and her husband were both offered jobs at the Joshua Tree station and they accepted. At that time, Cindy says the monument wasn’t as big a deal as it is today Making friends and finding their way into the community wasn't difficult - it was keeping friends, who were from military families, that was rough - particularly on her kids. In this episode, Cindy shares the series of circumstances that led to she and her husband applying for a license for what is now Community Radio Z107.7, KCDZ in Joshua Tree. Cindy also has an interest in cruising and travel. She became the owner of a travel business in early 2020, but has been taking groups of travelers to Paris, Barcelona, the Caribbean and many other destinations for years. On those trips, Cindy would flex her photography muscles. Her office is filled with photos from her travels and she has exhibited her work in galleries in the desert and in Los Angeles. KCDZ 107.7 FM on the web - where you can listen live Follow KCDZ on Instagram
Jessica Bennett's first desert experience was a program in her Washington State high school called ‘desert school’. Growing up in lush Seattle presented allergy challenges for Jessica and she immediately took notice of a change while visiting the eastern Washington desert climate. A series of bachelorette parties brought Jessica to Palm Springs and some of those trips found her coming up to the hi-desert to experience Joshua Tree National Park. The more time she spent in this part of the desert, the more she found to appreciate. The landscape, the ‘hippie vibe’, the people inspired her to continue exploring. After continuing to visit and spending money on vacation rentals, Jessica suggested to her husband they just get a place of their own here in the desert. Like many, the house was purchased site unseen, with a friend from Los Angeles riding out to perform due diligence. After the purchase, Jessica and her husband experienced some of the challenges new property owners in the desert inevitably face. Break ins, theft and contractors who misrepresent themselves or fail to show up. As an aspiring journalist, Jessica left Seattle, attending college in Boston -interning at the Boston Globe - then heading to NYC to pursue work in journalism. While interning in NYC, she also 'did time' waiting tables. Having grown up on the west coast, raised by a father who was raised in NYC, Jessica didn’t realize how much of his ‘city attitude’ was embedded in her until arriving in NYC and feeling like she’d found her people. Jessica landed a staff job at Newsweek and she’s been there ever since. Jessica explains her role as gender editor with the NY Times and why the role is necessary in today's journalism landscape. In this episode, we touch on the toxicity of the new ‘cancel culture’, the future of analog magazines and newspapers and the vital role of local newspapers. Jessica also shares the inspiration for her two books, 'Feminist Fight Club' and ‘This is 18: Girls' Lives Through Girls' Eyes'. We also talk about her inspiration for championing women and how her role as a journalist gives her a platform to speak out. Learn more: * Jessicabennett.com * Twitter: @jessicabennett * Instagram: @jessicabennett
Elena Yu started making trips to the desert with her pre-school classmates and their climbing dads. She recalls loving their regular trip to Coyote Corner to pick out rocks. Placing them in a little velvet back made it seem like rocks were something important to collect. A competitive swimmer in her youth (discussed in the Diary Unlocked portion of the interview), Elena studied various mediums of studio art at UCLA from 2012 to 2016. After graduating in the spring of 2016 with her summer internship in the arts ending, Elena came across a job listing to work for Joshua Tree non-profit High Desert Test Sites (HDTS) and artist Andrea Zittel in Joshua Tree. As a one year paid internship with housing, Elena felt this would be the perfect way continue her work in the art world and to re-connect with Joshua Tree and explore it in a deeper way. All of the sudden, she was in a house in 29 Palms w/out any neighbors and a mountain for a backyard. At that moment, she never expected she would have stayed for four years - and has no current plans to leave. In this episode, Elena gives us a brief overview of HDTS (a non-profit formed by artist Andrea Zittel and others), A-Z West, Andrea Zittel’s personal practice and the roles Elena continues to play in the various organizations. Early on in her first year, Elena recognized that though she had a great deal of interaction with the HDTS resident artists, she hadn’t really inserted herself in the local community. After about a year, Elena said she started to feel a bit lonely and began to make a conscious effort to reach out to folks in the community who were pursuing similar interests to form deeper connections. One of those activities was rock-climbing. Elena recently had the opportunity to go out and climb again with some folks she hadn’t connected with in a long time. The art and climber community doesn’t typically intersect in the desert. This recent experience has motivated her to reach out to a few folks she knows in the arts community that do climb and perhaps tag along with them to renew her skills and make more intimate friendships. We also talk about the economic advantage of living here, particularly for folks in her age group who also work in the arts.
Turiya Autry grew up on the west coast in Monterey Bay, eventually traveling up the coast to Portland where she lived for 20 years and raised her children. She now finds herself on a different west coast - in Florida. Turiya's first experience with the desert was on the third anniversary of her mother's death. Turiya's mom loved going to Vegas and Turiya decided taking a trip to Sin City would be a good way to honor her mother. Wanting to further explore the desert in more raw form, Turiya booked a three-day bus tour that included visits to the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. It was on subsequent trip to Las Vegas that she met her current love partner, who was a Marine at the time. Eventually, he got orders to Twentynine Palms and Turiya started doing research into what she might find in this desert. In this episode, Turiya shares some of her favorite things about desert living as well as how she found her artistic desert community. In January of 2020, Turyia participated in 'Live from Joshua Tree', a popular spoken word fund-raiser for a local non-profit, Mil-tree. We wrap up the discussion expanding on a quote on Turiya's website which serves as a lead-in to a conversation about how wanting for others what we want for ourselves could make the world a much better place for all of us. Turiya is a poet, playwright, youth engagement specialist, mixed media artist and public speaker. As adjunct faculty, at two universities, she's taught 20 unique courses across various departments. She’s provided performances, workshops, classes and residencies to over fifty K-12 schools, over two dozen colleges, and hundreds of venues nationwide. More than two decades as a teaching artist has provided the opportunity for Turiya to inspire, support and showcase tens of thousands of students' creative expression and laid groundwork for the citywide high school slam competitions in Portland as well as a regional middle school slam in Oregon. Her poetry collection, Roots, Reality & Rhyme, bridges the personal and political, the mythic and the real and set the stage for her theatrical, multi-media, one-woman show. She’s produced and hosted radio shows, worked as a reporter/photographer for a SoCal newspaper, stage managed as well as acted in various theater productions. A fierce advocate of independent publishing, she has produced several collections of her own poetry, including Poetic License in 2020. Over the years, she's also produced over 50 unique chapbooks showcasing others’ writing. www.TuriyaAutry.com
Born and raised in South Orange, NJ - in the shadow of NYC - Merilee Kuchon’s early life was very suburban and urban. Merilee was about five or six when she had her first desert experience. Aunt Franny and Uncle Pete, who lived in Encinitas, put Merilee in the VW Bus and drove down to Anza Borrego. Merilee says, “It blew my mind.” In 2004 Merilee was working at High Times Magazine in NYC. Though the job had some perks, Merilee was tired of sitting behind a desk. Having experienced 9/11 up close and personal, she realized that experience had not only changed NYC, but also changed her. Merilee convinced her then boyfriend to quit his job and go with her on a year long road trip of the Southwest and Mexico. Before heading out on that trip, a former punk-rock friend from Jersey wrote Merilee, inviting her to come visit him in Joshua Tree while she was traveling. Merilee stayed in JT for about a month – back and forth to Mexico, playing music, eating and playing poker. She made her way back to NJ, continuing to make trips back out to Joshua Tree in the four years that followed. While back in NJ she met her love, Doug. They lived in Texas for five years, playing in a band and operating a co-op deli before making the move to Joshua Tree. Life in Austin was not fulfilling. In making the decision to move to Joshua Tree the first time, Merilee knew she needed to work and decided it would be cooking. Years earlier, while still working at High Times, Merilee went to French Culinary Institute on the weekends just for fun and to learn. After getting settled in Joshua Tree, Merilee put a 'private chef' resume up on craigslist and immediately got a response from a drug and alcohol rehab facility down the hill in Indian Wells. While in Texas, she had a job as a deli manager for a food co-op, adding management skills to her culinary training. This all worked together to help Merilee – and her business partner Rosa Ficara (Ep 128) - to open Roadrunner Grab + Go deli in Joshua Tree. In this episode Merilee shares the experience of applying for the deli space- adjacent to the Joshua Tree National Park Visitors Center - preparing to open, the menu, the staff and the good feeling of being able to employ local folks. Follow Roadrunner Grab + Go on Instagram: @roadrunner.grabandgo
Growing up in the Coachella Valley, Adriana recalls feeling completely alien spending summers in mountainous Columbia with extended family. One of Adriana's favorite places in Columbia is the Museo del Oro. Each visit to the museum brought her closer to her culture and eventually inspired the art she creates today as Pura. In this episode, Adriana shares memories celebrating holidays together with other Columbia families in the valley and the joy and comfort of enjoying their traditional foods together. Adriana left the Coachella Valley for college, seeing there weren’t many opportunities for those who stayed. She attended St. Louis University, where she received a full dose of winter - and is still not over it. After graduating, Adriana was working in sculpture and metal work and was looking to set up her studio. The equipment was pretty expensive, steel was going up in price and after looking at all the costs involved, Adriana decided to take her art in a different direction. She began to reflect on her attraction to metals which found her diving deep into researching gold and it’s connection to her roots. Adriana continues studying her deep ties to Columbia, incorporating gold into her work as the artist, Pura. Adriana loves to create street art but has yet to find a mentor to take her out to create it. She explains why the experience can be intimidating for female artists to do on their own. Adriana was recently stepped into a leadership role with the Wyld Womxn organization – an artist feminist collective in the Coachella Valley. Website- https://www.speakinsmoke.com/ Instagram & Twitter @puraprojects
Michelle Castillo is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, educator, and community organizer living on Cahuilla Land, also known as Coachella Valley, CA. Michelle founded the feminist creative collective, Wyld Womxn and socially engaged food + art + memory project, Lola's Kusina, and is one of the co-founders of Bayanihan (buy-uh-nee-hahn) Desert. Through social practice, alternative spaces, and meaningful exchanges, she uses the arts as a tool to cultivate, bridge, and create more inclusive communities. Michelle uses her leadership and voice to serve and uplift marginalized communities. In 2018 Michelle was honored as one of six female community leaders by Palm Spring Life’s ‘Women Who Lead’, women who benefit the community and serve as role models in business and life. In this episode, Michelle talks about growing up close to extended in an inter-generational household and how that inspired her Lola's Kusina project. We also talk about the inspiration for Wyld Womxn, which began when Michelle returned to the desert, having left to grow and find an arts and culture community, as well as a community where the leadership was more diverse. On returning to the desert Michelle found many of her peers, who had also left for similar reasons, seemed to also be finding their way back to the desert, to give back to the community and make the spaces they'd experienced that weren't yet available in Coachella Valley. We discuss the importance of honoring those who came before us in this desert, the indigenous peoples whose land this was before the white man came and colonized it and taking time to understand who those people were and educating ourselves about their culture and customs. Michelle shares her experience with micro-aggressions, macro-aggressions and provides some guidance around what white people can and should do to encourage and lift up marginalized minority voices. Michelle also provides some advice for folks who are multi-passionate and shares suggestions on getting all those projects in their heads and hearts up and running and out into the world. Engage with Michelle: www.instagram.com/lolas.kusina www.instagram.com/wyldwomxn www.wyldwomxn.com www.instagram.com/bayanihandesert
Rosa Ficara was born in Scafati, Italy- one of nine children. In 1973, despite a bit of a language barrier, Rosa began a long-distance, letter-writing romance with the love of her life, Gioacchino, who brought her first to Connecticut, then to Yucca Valley, CA in the early 80’s. At the age of seven, Rosa and two of her sisters were taken to a convent to live with nuns because it was difficult for her mother to take care of all the children. Rosa's mother visited weekly and once Rosa turned 17, she was able to re-join the family. At 18, Rosa's sister-in-law had family friends living in Connecticut who were friends with Gioacchino Ficara, a single Sicilian man. Her sister-in-law sent him a picture of Rosa and they began talking and writing letters. In March of 1973, Gioacchino went to Scafati to meet Rosa with papers in hand with intentions to marry. Rosa's family had a hard time understanding him because he spoke Sicilian dialect but Rosa somehow understood him. On April 27, 1973 they were married in Scafati and had their wedding photos in the ruins of Pompei. Gioacchino left to the U.S. to have immigration papers in order. On August 15, 1973 Rosa flew to Connecticut to start her American life with Gioacchino. In 1980, Rosa and Gioacchino left Connecticut with their two daughters Rosa and Carmela to start a new life in the desert - Yucca Valley. Rosa and Gioacchino came to join family Paolo (Gioacchino's brother), Pina his wife, and Rosa (Gioacchino's mother). Eventually Ignazio (Gioacchino's yonger brother) and his wife Roberta would move to Yucca Valley as well. Gioacchino and his brother Paolo started Ficara Paving. Rosa and Gioacchino had two more daughters, Maria Anna & Jacqueline. Life in the desert was all about family, food and hard work. The first few years were difficult because of the language. It got easier as Rosa adapted and learned the language. It was different being in the desert - so different from Connecticut and Italy. It took a while to get used to it. In this episode, Rosa tells us when she arrived in Yucca Valley there was one grocery store, a Safeway, that didn't even carry baby food or diapers. Gioacchino worked hard with his brother. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 68. It has been difficult for Rosa, as she misses 'Jack' so much. Now a grandmother of five, Rosa continues to cook and bake Italian food. Rosa continues to reside in Yucca Valley, tending to her garden and her chickens and is the only one of her nine siblings to have left Italy.
With turtle as her spirit animal, Supinda Sirihekaphong says wherever she is, is home. She was in awe of the colors and the sky on her first trip to the desert. Born in southern California and raised in New York City, Supinda has also lived in Thailand, Philadelphia and studied abroad in Australia. Supinda says living in all these different places has helped her learn to appreciate wherever she is, allowing her to put down roots and call where ever she is home. While living in the Bay area, Supinda worked in the sphere of higher education. A change in the leadership of that institution, left Supinda without a job after 10 years. Supinda interviewed at many other institutes of higher education. Interviewing without new offers coming her way, Supinda began to think perhaps her time in the academic world was over. She thought about what other paths might be interesting to her, eventually giving it up to the universe to bring her a sign. The next morning she awoke from a dream in which she was supporting someone in labor. She called friends – those trying to get pregnant and those not trying, and none of them were. Supinda took this as the sign she requested. While continuing to interview for roles in higher education, Supinda completed a doula training program. While in the program, Supinda was getting opportunities to support doula clients. When all three of her clients went into labor on the same weekend, Supinda was able to support each of them. Looking for a yoga class over the last Thanksgiving holiday, Supinda walked in to a local studio, Instant Karma. The studio owner happened to be there that day and Supinda introduced herself as a registered yoga teacher, who could perhaps fill in for the studio's regular teachers during the upcoming holiday. Supinda was invited to do a yoga demo and was brought on board to teach. When the studio was forced to close for Covid, Supinda was able to assist the studio in putting classes online without skipping a beat. In this episode, Supinda says even while serving as a doula and yoga instructor, it's important to her to be involved the community. Which is why running for a Trustee position with the local community college appealed to her. Supinda believes her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Social Justice is particularly useful in this role at this time. Follow Supinda's campaign on Facebook: @supindasiri4cmccdtrustee Donate to Supinda's campaign: https://www.crowdpac.com/c/drsupinda4cmccdtrustee Volunteer for the campaign: https://forms.gle/C1s3VGfJT1g3wiQT6
Artemis first experienced the desert as a five year old visiting her godparents home in the desert. And again, a few years later on a visit to see her stepbrother in Nevada. Artemis remembers staring out the car window, admiring the stars and the quiet open spaciousness. Artemis is a licensed marriage and family therapist, pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology, specializing in trauma informed care education. She is also a women’s empowerment coach, yoga teacher, writer and poet. About three years ago, Artemis lost her career, her relationship and was homeless. In flight mode, she was hopping from place to place before landing at her godparents home in the desert. What began as a week and a half ‘visit’, turned into a couple of years when Artemis finally faced herself. She discovered she had unresolved trauma and had developed an eating disorder. Compelled to stop in at a desert church, divine intervention took over setting Artemis on a two-year journey, stripping away her masks and rebuilding a solid foundation for herself. In those two years Artemis spent a lot of time in the desert alone. She stepped into her gift of spoken word, writing, performing and hosting a radio show. While getting back on her feet, there was a lot of grieving, before eventually moving into her own place. Artemis was hired by a private therapy practice and obtained her non-profit management certification. In this episode, Artemis describes the desert as a safe place where she was able to surrender, heal and step into who she is – which included coming out into her queerness. She is particularly passionate about ensuring disenfranchised, low-income folks have access to quality mental health care. To that end, Artemis joined he the ‘It’s Your Time Program’ sponsored by the Coachella Valley Women’s Business Center. The program helps female entrepreneurs lay the groundwork to start their businesses off on the right foot. Artemis recently left the desert and returned to Sacramento. Being closer to the state capital will allow her to be more involved in the policy work necessary to make real social change. Check out the coaching from Artemis at: Embodyucoaching.com And follow on her on Instagram Listen to the Let's Talk About Race Podcast with Diane Wong here If you’d like information on the Racial Justice Collaborative visit: racialjusticecollaborative.com Tickets to the September 26 event (10a-3p) can be obtained at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sitting-in-the-fire-ii-restorative-circles-tickets-118061782971
Born and raised in Queens, New York, Karen Harper came west at the urging of a friend. Looking down at the landscape of the Reno, Nevada desert from a hot air balloon, Karen loved it. While in Reno, Karen was accepted in the Job Corps vocational program where she tried her hand at welding and culinary arts. Upon graduating, Karen started work with one of the local casinos and thought her cooking skills would take her places. Karen left the casino kitchen for institutional cooking in skilled nursing facilities where she found less pressure. Karen was introduced to 29 Palms by her sister, Carrie, who lived there running a cleaning business. Carrie would invite Karen to visit, but as Karen tells it, she would end up helping Carrie at her cleaning jobs instead of just 'visiting'. On one of those trips, Karen made a decision to move to 29 Palms. She applied for a job, bought a home- now she owns three of them. Karen leaned on her culinary skills while attending school to become a teacher. By this time, Karen had a family and the 12 hour days in food service didn't provide enough time with her family. At one point, Karen also left the desert for Georgia and Virginia, eventually returning to 29 Palms. After being approached numerous times by various women in difficult circumstances, Karen and her sister Carrie realized they needed to create an organization that would give these women a place to be heard and receive direction. Women of Color Global 29 is a non-profit, women’s empowerment organization, headquartered at Jeanine's Beauty business, Jeanine's Beauty , in 29 Palms. They were inspired to start the organization after being approached by women in their community who were looking for work, having trouble making ends meet or managing their children. The non-profit serves as a resource to build women’s confidence to get the help they need. If you or someone you know (under the age of 23) are interested in the Job Corps program, google ‘Job Corps’ and the largest city near you. (ex: 'job corps southern California') to find a program near you.
Or visit their website: jobcorps.gov, linked above. Find: Women of Color Global 29 Karen and Carries business, Jeanine’s Beauty Supply is located at 6470 Adobe Road, 29 Palms. They are open Monday-Friday 11-630, Saturday 10-530. The are closed on Sunday.
Originally from New Jersey, Melissa Grisi was living in San Francisco and working at Ameoba Records when she got into listening to alt-country.
She and her boyfriend - now husband, Ben - were digging the music and history of Gram Parsons. So, before moving back to the east coast in 2002, the pair decided to make a pilgrimage to Joshua Tree - to visit where Gram had partied with the Rolling Stones and would ultimately die, at the Joshua Tree Inn. In this episode, Melissa describes what the area was like in 2002 - an undiscovered, gritty haven with an eclectic mix of artists, criminals, Marines and desert folk. There was a fifteen year journey between Melissa's first trip to this desert in 2002 and making it home in 2015. During that time, there were numerous trips back, including their honeymoon in Wonder Valley. Purchases at the Sky Valley Swap Meet ended up in their Rhode Island backyard, creating their own desert oasis on the east coast and tiring their friends with their constant talk of Joshua Tree. The idea of moving to the desert became a reality on one of those trips when Melissa found a classified ad for a social worker at the local hospital. Melissa eventually landed a therapist job aboard the Twentynine Palms Marine Air Ground Combat Center and she and Ben bought a home in Twentynine Palms over the internet, which Ben has renovated to make their desert home, including a pottery studio for Melissa. Coming from a family who values being of service, Melissa just opened her own therapy practice in 29 Palms, Blue Sky Therapy, offering private therapy appointments, trauma informed yoga as well as training and consultation. Blue Sky Therapy Check out Melissa's pottery on Instagram: @wildhopehandmade Melissa's work is also available at Soul Connection in Joshua Tree.
Twenty years ago, Jennifer Jungwirth was just wrapping up her college education when she got a call to interview for a teaching position in Baker, CA. Then, the Morongo Valley Unified School District called. Jennifer came out to Yucca Valley and after 45 minutes of what Jennifer assumed was just friendly, casual conversation, the folks at YYHS offered her the job - and she accepted. This was Jennifer's first experience with desert. In this episode, Jennifer says her friends thought it was 'cool' that she was moving to California, though Jennifer had not let on that she was moving to the Mojave Desert. Of her first years in the desert, Jennifer admits, "I didn't get out much. I kept my head down honing my teaching craft". Eventually adopting a dog, Jennifer started to make her way into the national park and then slowly became a faculty advisor to a number of clubs at YVHS, like ’S’ club – (Soroptimists), AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and Gay Straight Alliance True Colors. She also joined in community service with the Morongo Basin Humane Society – no-kill animal shelter – leading her to develop their dog-walking program. After attending a meeting of Transition Joshua Tree and hearing about community gardening, she became involved with their monthly Community no-waste dinner and food program - currently on hiatus due to the Covid pandemic. Jennifer admits there were a few times early in her career at YVHS she considered moving on from the desert. Now, 20 years later, Jennifer says she has learned to appreciate the desert's subtle seasonal changes and though she enjoys leaving the desert to travel to faraway places, she says, "it always calls me back".
Janis Commentz is a southern California native who grew up near the coast and began drawing and painting early in life. As the daughter of an artist, she was surrounded by art materials and enjoyed trips to galleries and museums, as well as seasonal trips to Laguna Beach and Carmel.
Commentz moved to the Mojave Desert in 1977 to teach art and English at Sky High School, now Black Rock High School. At the University of Redlands, she earned a B.A. in art and English and studied printmaking with John Nava, well-known for his tapestries at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. She holds an M.A. in Education from California State University at San Bernardino, facilitated life drawing in Joshua Tree sessions in Joshua Tree for nearly a decade and teaches art classes at the 29 Palms Art Gallery, field classes for the Joshua Tree National Park Desert Institute, and painting retreats at the Campbell House in 29 Palms.
She has exhibited at Gallery 62, Joshua Tree Art Gallery, the Purple Agave, Rainbow Stew, and the 29 Palms Art Gallery in the Morongo Basin, T.E. Studios in Riverside, and the Redlands Art Association, Redlands.
Commentz participated in the Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours (ten seasons), Joshua Tree National Park Juried Art Exposition (six years), Joshua Tree National Park Spring Art Festival, Art Faire at California State University at San Bernardo and Art For Heaven's Sake, Redlands. In 2013, she helped create the “Pop Up” Art Gallery in Joshua Tree, Six Chicks, which evolved into Gallery 62. Commentz served as Gallery Director for Gallery 62 during 2016. She has been the featured artist at the Glass Outhouse Art Gallery and the 29 Palms Art Gallery.
Janis Commentz blogs on her website at https://www.janiscommentz.com/
Bobbi Fabian's first experience with desert was with the Warner Brothers Roadrunner cartoon. Growing up in Melbourne Australia, Bobbi made her way to America looking for more opportunities as a photographer, finding she felt more at home in the U.S. than in her home country. Bobbi moved to the U.S. in 2003, settling in Los Angeles. With an MA in Photography Bobbi was a freelance photographer and educator for most of her working life – commissioned by brands like Timex, Penguin Books, Audi and other household names. On a road trip through America, while working on a project, she and a friend made a point to go through Death Valley and Joshua Tree. Staying at the Amargosa Hotel, they felt so at home, they decided to meet there every Christmas following that visit. Bobbi's friend was unable to make it to their annual holiday in 2014 and Bobbi decided to go anyway . There she met a women and her friend who had moved to Death Valley Junction to perform Mara Becket’s original (dance) pieces. During that trip, Bobbi sensed good things would be happening in Death Valley Junction and decided to make another trip back sooner than her annual holiday visit. It was February 2015 and the Opera House was having a special event dinner and performance celebrating Valentines Day. The Dancer and her friend, charged with making dinner for the patrons, had gotten into an argument. Bobbi stepped in to help the friend finish the dinner preparations. The following morning, he told her the Cafe was in need of management and Bobbi should consider taking the job. Bobbi dismissed the idea, but couldn't let go of the thought the entire ride back to Los Angeles. A month later, Bobbi was back in Death Valley Junction sharing her ideas for the Cafe with Marta Becket, who said yes to all of them. On June 10, 2020, Bobbi celebrated five years in Death Valley Junction. In this episode Bobbi also shares some of the history of Death Valley Junction, how dancer Marta Becket came to be the caretaker of the town and how this place with 268 acres, population 3, survives today. Now, as the general manager of the Cafe, Hotel and Opera House, with the support of the non-profit's Board of Directors, Bobbi describes her day to day: working in and hiring for the cafe, overseeing the maintenance for all three buildings as well as sharing the history of the Junction with it's curious visitors. We also talk about Death Valley National Park, what drew her in so closely to that part of the desert and her disappointment with folks who treat the desert as a wasteland. There are a number of videos available on YouTube telling a deeper story about Marta, her journey to Death Valley and her revitalization of the Amargosa Opera House. Just google 'Amargosa YouTube' or check out the documentary 'Amargosa' available online. It was such a documentary that inspired Desert Lady Diaries guest, Shana Rhodes, to make her own move to the desert. Take a look at Bobbi's photography here: www.bobbifabian.com Visit the Amargosa website: http://www.amargosaoperahouse.org/ And, if you can and are so moved, please donate to the go fund me campaign to help the non-profit maintain the property during this time of Covid-19 closures: https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/amargosaoperahouse
Born and raised in the Tri-Cities area of Detroit, Michigan, Marylee 'Boo' McIntyre grew up gathering bushels of berries, apples, apricots and what ever other fruits were in season with her siblings to be used in the creations her grandmother and mother would bake from the day after Thanksgiving through the December holidays. Over the years, baking became a way to relieve stress and get grounded. Marylee's first encounter with the desert was visiting neighbors from Royal Oak, MI, who had a place in Lake Havasu, Arizona. Marylee and her then husband loved it so much, six months later they were living there. A lake in the middle of the desert was fascinating to Marylee. At that time, the largest employer in town was McCulloch Chain Saws and neither Marylee or her husband were able to find solid employment. Then his employer invited him back to Michigan and so they left the desert. During this tumultuous time in the finance industry, Marylee worked in a number of roles in finance. At the last job, after being asked to train her replacements, Marylee left and found her way to the desert. A man she'd met online lived in Joshua Tree and Marylee thought, 'What the heck? Might as well give that a try." Unsuccessful in her attempts to find work in finance here, Marylee turned to baking and was making treats sold by a local Joshua Tree cafe. After about five years, Marylee began to visualize having her own bakery - and so, it is. Boo's Organic Oven opened it's doors in July 2019, offering sweet (pies, cookies, pastries and cakes) and savory (pot pies and hand pies). We talk about business challenges during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic (Winter/Spring 2020) and of unfortunate incidents of racism that Marylee has had confront to protect her employees. A self-described city girl, Marylee likes to hike in the desert, but prefers not to go alone, "The trails in the desert are not as well-marked as those in greener areas... I sometimes find myself getting turned around." The night sky, the silence and watching sunrise and sunset are Marylee's favorite things about desert living. A grandmother of 13, Marylee says one of her granddaughters back in Michigan has the family baking bug, though she hasn't yet made the trip to grandma's desert bakery. And, if you want to know how she got nicknamed 'Boo', you'll have to listen to the episode. Check out Boo's Organic Oven here. Follow on Facebook and Instagram
After 20 years in Los Angeles and a career in the film industry, Jody Curtis was guided to the Mojave desert in 2008. A seeker of deeper spiritual understanding from an early age, her first experience with desert was visiting her Mom and step-dad during one of their annual stops in Slab City. Taking several days to wind down from the stress of the city, Jody often found she didn’t want to leave the desert to go back home. Just after leaving her job at NBC, Jody was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. A defining moment for Jody, her first thought was 'I have to get out of the city and get back to nature’. By this time, her Mom had settled in Landers and so, Jody moved to the desert, having purchased a home sight unseen. Traveling back and forth from this desert, Jody often passed the Institute of Mentalphysics and wondered what the place was and try as she might, was never able to locate information online. After moving to the desert, that curiosity remained, Jody telling her mother, “I think I’m supposed to work at this place.” One day she decided to just walk in and talk to the Director and a few months later, Jody, a web designer, was working there, combing through historical documents and records to create an online presence for what is also known as the Joshua Tree Retreat Center. During her ten years working at the Institute of Mentalphysics, Jody became a Reverend and teacher of the breath work. In this episode, Jody also shares the background and history of the Institute and of Founder Edwin Dingle, named Ding Le Mei by his eastern teachers. Jody is now putting the Mentalphysics teachings into the world through her online classes and is also Founder and creator at Empower House Productions sharing audio and video affirmations and guided meditations to heal and empower body, mind and spirit. If you're interested in checking out the breath work class, currently every Wednesday at 11 a.m., dial in using Zoom conferencing, Meeting ID 882 7880 8645 and use the password: Wellness. Follow Empower House Productions on Facebook, click here: https://www.facebook.com/EmpowerHouseProductions/
At the age of six, Rosa Ficara had her first experience with desert - her family had just moved to the desert from Waterbury, CT. Rosa doesn’t recall much about the move other than the fact that the desert was much warmer than those Connecticut winters. As the first-born of Italian immigrants, Rosa spoke Italian (two dialects) before she spoke English. At that time, this area of the desert wasn’t extremely diverse and in school, Rosa found herself befriending schoolmates in a similar situation – one was Japanese-American and the other was Korean-American. At 17, Rosa was ready to leave the desert and explore, heading down to University of California Riverside to study language. In addition to two dialects of Italian, she also speaks French, Spanish, and English. While at college, Rosa sometimes brought friends or roommates back to the desert to visit and was surprised to hear how cool they thought it was that she grew up here. Rosa says, “I started to appreciate the desert through their eyes.” In this episode, Rosa describes a few of her global experiences while still in college, then in a work program, working for a bank in Switzerland, among other roles and locations. On her return to the U.S. she settled in Culver City – near Los Angeles – where she discovered Salsa dancing, which has become one of her greatest passions. While in the LA area she felt the urge to change her career path and enrolled in the California School of Culinary Arts Cordon Bleu in Pasadena. She thrived in the program until she was injured in a car accident the day of her baking final. Attempting to complete the final with a cast on her right arm proved impossible and though she made it to the International Cuisine curriculum, never officially graduated from the program. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to enjoy Rosa’s cooking, you know she’s put her education to good use. Rosa and her business partner, Merilee Kuchon will soon open Roadrunner Grab & Go, a cold kitchen situated adjacent to the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center. Having returned to the desert in 2004, Rosa has gained an appreciation for the grounding nature that is right outside her door and finds herself now enjoying the bounty it has to offer. And now she photographs the snakes, instead of running away from them. Follow Roadrunner Grab & Go on Instagram.
Born and raised in San Diego, Shaney Jo Darden's first experience with the desert was traveling to visit her grandparents who lived in Palm Desert. About ten years ago, Shaney Jo started coming to the hi-desert to visit a friend, who owned Rimrock Ranch in Pioneertown. Rimrock became a place for Shaney Jo to bring her staff for annual employee retreats: learning about new programs, receiving training and enjoying some off-site downtime hiking, taking in a sound bath at the Integratron or having a social night out together at Pappy & Harriet’s. After a number of trips to the hi-desert, spending more and more time here and meeting the community, Shaney Jo began to realize this was a special place for her. Having spent nearly 10 years in Los Angeles, Shaney Jo was ready for a change and recognized moving to the desert would not only change her surroundings, but would also be the place to fulfill one of her big dreams: to build a wellness center for cancer survivors. Shaney Jo is the Founder and Global CCO of Keep A Breast . The organization empowers young people around the world with breast health education and support and sparks conversation around prevention, early detection and self-checks for young women. This includes art and education programs as well as programs for survivors. In this episode, Shaney Jo takes us through the formation of the organization, from it's humble beginnings as a fund-raising art show, to the international organization it is today, celebrating 20 years of good works (2020). Last year, Keep A Breast was part of the annual local Highway 62 Art Tours, breast casting nearly a dozen local women whose casts were painted by local hi-desert artists and available for viewing during the third weekend of the tours. With their new headquarters completed and staffed in Yucca Valley, Shaney Jo is looking to offer the KAB lounge space for a cancer survivors group to form and is now turning her attention to the development of the wellness center of her dreams. Actively in the planning stages on property in the Rimrock area, this achievement will bring Shaney Jo’s desert journey full circle. As Keep A Breast began to rapidly grow and change, Shaney Jo found herself looking for help to responsibly guide the organization. She found it in the form of a book titled, ‘Let My People go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman‘ by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia and one of the founders of 1% for the Planet. Shaney Jo recommends this book to anyone running a business or non-profit who is looking for a better way to lead their organization and take care of its staff. Prior to founding Keep A Breast, Shaney Jo worked in the apparel industry - another lifelong dream realized - with designers like Tommy Hilfiger in NYC, before returning to the west coast to work in the surf/skate apparel industries – Shaney Jo’s fabric of choice is denim. Check out all the links and, if you're inspired, make a donation to this worthwhile organization. https://www.keep-a-breast.org/ https://www.nontoxicrevolution.org/ https://www.fit4prevention.org/
Forty years ago, stifled by life in a small Michigan town, Jacqueline Guevara's vibrant, fun-loving mother loaded her 1972 Cadillac Coupe de Ville and hit the road with her teen-aged daughter for a new start in Palm Springs. Driving into this desert oasis was Jacque's first experience with desert. In this episode, Jacque describes working in the Palm Springs hospitality industry in the 1980's and the life skills she acquired in those jobs. A change in ownership lead to a subsequent lay-off from her job at the Palm Springs Country Club leaving Jacque jobless for the summer. With her sons out of town visiting their dad, Jacque wasn't sure what to do with the time on her hands when a friend teaching ceramics at Desert Arc invited Jacque to come and volunteer. Jacque was immediately hooked with the idea of helping people and suddenly found herself in a career in social work and, eventually, non-profit management. Some of those positions required Jacque to travel frequently between Los Angeles and her home in the Morongo Basin - her description of the feeling of 'the day coming off you' as she climbed those grades will be relatable to those familiar with the route. Jacque describes herself as a new and 'accidental conservationist' in her work with Mojave Desert Land Trust and eventually in her current role with the Joshua Tree National Park Association, where Jacque leads teams carrying out a number of initiatives from staffing the park's visitor centers to providing adult education opportunities through The Desert Institute. Jacque also gives us some insight into the the Association's role at the National Park, specifically where they take their cues and direction from and the part that plays in park operations, particularly shut-downs of the park.
Cathy Snodgrass was born and raised near Galveston, Texas. Her first experience with desert was watching western movies. In 1976, driving through what was then Joshua Tree National Monument, Cathy rounded a mountain and found herself looking down on the 'quaint' town where she and her then Marine husband would be stationed. Cathy knew immediately this was home and made it a condition of her second marriage that they never leave 29 Palms – that was 40 years ago. Cathy will tell you, “I’m very heart bound to the area”. Describing a time she went back to Texas to visit, she says she couldn't wait to get back to the desert, feeling "smothered by all the green." Over and above her love of the desert landscape, Cathy loves the people and the camaraderie and community that comes through being involved in the 29 Palms Historical Society or those days she helped to organize the annual Weed Show. Cathy describes her ‘super power’ and how she used it and other skills in her Civil Service roles on the Marine base. She started as a C4 clerk typist and worked her way to GS11, becoming one of the first civilian paralegals in the Legal Assistance Office, then taking an early retirement at 50. An author of a plethora of award-winning romance novels (under the pen name Caitlyn Willows) Cathy says, “The writing gods decree that you will write – and you do." Cathy started writing in 1986 and was writing while working full time on base, each day rising early and writing two hours before heading off to work and then again for two hours in the evening, before bed. She describes the life of a dedicated writer, locking herself away on weekends - in addition to her weekly morning and evening writing - didn't leave much time for fun or friends. Without any formal writing training, Cathy just began writing, later joining an organization that taught writing where she says she learned a great deal about the process. Even with that, it took Cathy 13 years of writing before she was ever published. Cathy provides a cautionary tale of sorts about what her life as a writer was like, taking a step back last year to regroup. In doing so, or to quote Cathy, ‘letting the universe have it’s way with me” and says she has found she is now happier than she’s ever been. With more time in her schedule now and feeling no grieving after leaving her writing career behind, Cathy works creatively in mosaics and pottery. She has also become a reiki master and has obtained a degree in spiritual healing. Check out Cathy's Creative Soul Facebook Page featuring her books and mosaics.
Artist and founder of Earth House Studios, Sharon Davis creates colorful art and installations at her home in Morongo Valley. Sharon and I bonded as two Jersey girls, so you might get hungry listening to the beginning of this episode. Sharon left NJ for the first time in in 1974 and came to California, landing in Huntington Beach, moving on to Moreno Valley, then Palm Springs. After that she's moved between the east coast and Texas, Virginia and Maryland, with a few stops back to California in between. Her first desert experience was in Palm Springs, which Sharon found to be way too hot. When she did decide to come back west, having some pretty specifics requirements for her property, she thought she'd land in Pioneertown, but found the perfect place in Morongo Valley - a place she feels doesn't get enough credit and notice in the basin. Sharon has always liked art and being creative, dabbling in many different types of art from drawing to sewing. As a kid, a woman came to her parents house to buy a couch, saw some of Sharon's art and invited her to come apprentice with her husband, who worked for Tiffany's. Sharon spent one Saturday with the man and another young artist, learning how to inlay enamel with toothpicks. After have her kids, Sharon set aside her creativity and art, only using it to work on projects she typically gave away as Christmas gifts. She finds herself very inspired by the desert and the night sky and tells a story about her high school art teacher, with whom she re-connected with many years later. We also hear a bit of history around the Morongo Valley Art Colony. Being part Cherokee, Sharon tells us a bit about ceremony, sweat lodges and a recent art installation event she hosted at her home to bring awareness to the disappearances of over 6,000 missing native American females – women and children.
Like the roots of the honey mesquite and creosote, Robin Kobaly's desert roots go deep. Her immediate family moved to Morongo Valley when she was 2 years old. At six, Robin had an extraordinary experience with desert wildflowers - an experience she was hesitant to share, being part of a scientific community, fearing her work would not be taken seriously. In her studies of plants, Robin also came to appreciate the ways in which Native Americans used plants dyes for basket-weaving, textiles and ceremonial paints and tells a story about the dye found in prickly pear cactus. Studying plants with her mother in the Morongo Valley, they would collect and sometimes serve them for dinner. "My brothers were always petrified about what they were going to eat the next night". Having spent time as a botanist for the federal government, her life has been dedicated to try and protect plants and the desert while educating people to do the same. Robin is the Founder and President of The Power of Plants as well as serving as Executive Director of SummerTree Institute. In this episode, Robin explains how much more alive the desert is than it appears, what is happening underground, how the plants are partnering up to survive, and the value the desert provides in naturally removing carbon from the air. Robin's recent book, 'The Desert Underground', began as a scientific 'white paper' of sorts to assist the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to understand what happens to the desert when it is prepared for thousands of acres of industrial solar fields. With a number of folks asking for a copy of this 'report', Robin decided to turn it into a book. The book was extended to large display boards, creating expositions, which Robin is now developing for a traveling exhibit and along with her husband, Doug. If that wasn't enough, they are also creating a documentary on the subject, to educate even more people about the importance of the desert. Robin was the 2018 recipient of the Minerva Hoyt California Desert Conservation Award, presented annually by the Joshua Tree National Park Association. "The Minerva Hoyt California Desert Conservation Award recognizes annually individuals or organizations that have worked to further Mrs. Hoyt’s legacy by making notable achievements in the areas of leadership, protection, preservation, research, education, and stewardship of California’s desert lands. The award seeks to recognize an individual or persons whose efforts lead to a significant and lasting contribution on behalf of the deserts of California." When things slow down a bit, Robin is looking forward to hearing the flowers talk to her again.
Carol 'Dusty' Seddon's first desert experience was in and around the Mojave near Apple Valley in the mid-90’s accompanying a group of friends from an Orange County college, who were coming out to perform archeological digs. Dusty immediately fell in love with the feel of the desert – the dry air, the quiet and so much different than what she’d know in the suburbs. On these digs they mostly found tools, stones used in cooking, and maybe bits of pottery. In October of 2005, returning from a Mitchell Caverns trip, Dusty was looking for a more adventurous route back home to Orange County. She pulled out a map and found a route that would bring her through Amboy, to a place she’d heard of called, Joshua Tree. As dark fell, Dusty found a camping spot at Indian Cove and on exiting her tent the next morning, looking around at the colors, boulders, textures, says, “It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced”. In this episode, Dusty tells about a gift from the Park Ranger who showed up to her site in the morning. Dusty made it a point to return to Joshua Tree within a year. Those trips continued, becoming every six months, then more frequent – sometimes camping, other times staying at the Joshua Tree Inn. Just seeing the landscape along the highway seemed enough - three years after her steady trips out, she finally went into Joshua Tree National Park and was pleasantly surprised by what she discovered. As much as she loved coming to and recharging in this special getaway place, Dusty felt she could never live here with the extreme summer and winter temperatures and then, there was how figuring out how she would make a living. After ten years of visiting, Dusty met and began dating someone who lived in Joshua Tree. He pointed out how stressful her life in Orange County, CA was and suggested she give a move to the desert some serious consideration. Dusty admits she did not possess the ‘blind faith’ others seemingly had when making their journeys here. Sitting in her car in public parking lot one day on a lunch break, Dusty saw a moving truck and took that as a sign to make the move - and continued to ponder what she would do when she got here. With a love of clothing since her early teens, Dusty shopped often in local vintage, resale and thrift stores. Her sense of the owners of these shops was, 'they had the life'. While still working full-time, she often wondered how she might make a go of selling clothing on the side, but with most of her energy going to her full time work, she just could never see it happening. Having brought all the clothing with her to the desert, as Dusty was unpacking it, she began to realize what an exceptional collection she had and thought she needed to begin selling them. A chance encounter at the local Punk Rock Sewing Circle accelerated Dusty's dream and soon after, she was opening 'Dusty Deserette' in the Sun Alley Shops in downtown Joshua Tree. Dusty celebrated four years in business on February 13, 2020. Though Dusty didn’t set out to have a vintage clothing shop, she has found that much of what she has sourced for the shop is vintage and she continues to learn more about the various facets of that fashion genre. She calls her shop 'a fashion shack of eclectic clothing for guys and gals'. Dusty says she's found life in the desert to be more fulfilling and authentic and is currently is renovating a camper she'll stock with clothing to travel to flea markets and do pop-ups on the road. FB: Dusty Deserette IG: @dustydeserette
First trained as a painter, artist Mary Addison Hackett also practices in photography, video and other time-based projects. Mary Addison first experience with desert was on family vacation – three of them – from her hometown of Nashville to the Grand Canyon, Tucson, Mexico and other natural desert wonders along the way. Even then, Mary Addison had a camera and to document her trips. Though impressed with the natural and cultural aspects of these desert trips, Mary Addison doesn’t recall having any aspirations of moving to the desert. Mary Addison’s next desert encounter came in the late 90’s while working for a post-production house out of Chicago. A project with a director in Santa Monica, brought Mary Addison west and during some downtime, she decided to make a trip to Joshua Tree and admits the place made no particular impression on her at that time. Later, after getting married in Palm Springs, and having by this time moved to Los Angeles, she remembers weekend getaways at the 29 Palms Inn and other camping trips where she used the coin operated showers at Coyote Corner. Mary Addison made the move to Joshua Tree after five years back in Nashville caring for her aging mother, then sorting through three generations of belongings and selling her childhood home. The political climate had changed and, feeling uncomfortable in Nashville, coming back west, near her artistic Los Angeles, peer group felt like the right thing to do. Researching and communicating with a realtor via the web, Mary Addison found a home and made the move. Here in the desert for about two weeks, a friend from Atlanta texted, suggesting she immediately –that very moment – drive to an event at the Joshua Tree dry lake bed for what turned out to be a High Desert Test Sites event. Mary Addison also attended an Artist Tea at Joshua Tree National Park (which she now directs) and the opening of the Joshua Treenial – a trifecta of events at which Mary Addison began to establish roots in the artistic community. Mary Addison believes the desert has elevated her consciousness around being a more responsible human, doing her best to reduce her footprint by taking her trash to the dump, rather than opting for trash pick up and chopping her own wood, used to heat her home. Not sure if the desert is her last stop, Mary Addison says she wanted a rural living experience and right now, the desert is affording her that opportunity. Mary Addison has exhibited domestically and internationally, is a film editor, arts educator and freelance arts writer. Check out Mary Addison on social: www.maryaddisonhackett.com
Instagram: @maryaddisonhackett @painting_is_a_verb
Born in New Jersey and raised in New York's Hudson Valley, Cynthia Marie loves to drive cross-country - she's done it six times. On one of those trips, she found herself nearly out of gas and calling Roy's in Amboy, CA, asking them to keep the pumps open for just a bit longer so she could gas up and make it to Joshua Tree for the night. As is the desert way, the obliged. Still working in graphic design, Cynthia went to art school to study Printmaking. The school required their sophomores to take one class that felt out of their comfort zone - Cynthia chose metal fab(rication) sculpture and fell in love. Cynthia has worked in both the artistic and production sides of welding. Starting making furniture and then moved over to the production side which found her working on huge entertainment sets in Hollywood and Las Vegas and even to Rio de Janeiro building the NBC stage for the Olympics. In the episode she talks about the challenges of working out of the country, which included some difficulties getting clean laundry. Once in the desert, Cynthia quickly found herself meeting local folks through volunteering with the Desert Institute, where she continues learning and experiencing the desert up close and personal. Photo credit: @hidesertshredder
CHECK OUT CYNTHIA's WORK ON INSTAGRAM: @hotsteelwelding
Here we are at the start of another new year where, as with life, change is the only constant. And it snowed in the desert! A quick 15 minute episode welcoming you back and highlighting what to look for as the podcast launches into it's third year. Happy 2020!
For this episode of the podcast, listeners were invited to send in one question they wanted me to answer. Here's a sampling of some of the questions answered in this episode: "What makes Dawn Davis produce the Desert Lady Diaries?" "When and how did you become a voice over artist?" "Would you talk about the process of how each episode gets made from start to finish?" "Why do folks here keep the hood of their car raised while it's parked?" "Did you move here to be close to the park?" And several more. I hope you enjoy it - and if you ever have a question, you don't need to wait for an episode like this to get it answered. Send an email to desertladydiaries@gmail.com and I'll answer.
On being in retirement bliss It was a lunch hour trip to the California Museum of Photography in Riverside, where Julia first experienced Joshua Tree. The exhibit was the result an annual photographic expedition to Joshua Tree National Park. Finding out it was an annual event, Julia put it in her heart to attend and take photos the next year - and she did. During that weekend, Julia says her soul shifted and, “I felt really connected to the area for reasons I couldn’t explain.” After a number of trips back and forth to visit from her home in the Corona area, Julia moved to the desert in 2010, at a time when the local housing market was in decline. She and her then partner found a three bedroom, two bath house for $50,000. The downsides were Julia was still working in Riverside and continued making the two-hour commute for five years. As well as dealing with a squatter at the property next door. This past summer Julia took a trip with her daughter to see family in the northwest and two weeks after returning home, Julia found herself going back to Washington state to provide additional support for the family after her sister was diagnosed with throat cancer. In this episode, Julia talks about the bliss of retirement, blurring the line of time, allowing herself to do things when she feels inspired and not looking at the clock. She describes it as allowing herself to just ‘be’, starting new projects in the moment. On her summer family visit Washington state, Julia signed up for a drumming class and talks about making and using different drums. Julia drums at home and finds it transformative, with hours going by as she is just 'being'. Julia is also an artist, painting and using the solar eco- printing process to make one of a kind items for her wardrobe. We also cover some of the changes she’s seen in Joshua Tree, the inspiration of community and attending the very first Transition Joshua Tree meeting, as well as the reduction in vacant homes, squatter issues and the increased park and vehicular traffic.
Cheryl's first experience with desert was in the early 80’s, driving to Palm Springs for Spring Break with a friend - and her friend’s grandmother drove them around Palm Springs to see the sights. After that, Cheryl started coming out to the desert on her own, not really knowing about Joshua Tree until a former boyfriend suggested they visit a place he used to rock climb. On arrival, Cheryl was so taken with the place, she asked him to stop the car, so she could get out and take in the unique landscape and wide open space. Eventually, LA traffic and other factors began to wear on Cheryl and she decided to come out and try living in the desert for a year. From an early age, Cheryl was told she was creative and remembers always working on craft projects. Just out of college with a BA in Illustration, Cheryl expected she'd be working on the commercial side of art and also recognized the role computers would play in the future of some art disciplines.
In this episode, Cheryl says she didn't set out to start her own embroidery business. Moving to the desert and creating in a digital medium showed her she could work from anywhere and her many embroidery business contacts helped, giving way to her business, Stitch Art Studio. Not knowing anyone when she moved to the desert and being a business owner, Cheryl got involved in the Joshua Tree Chamber of Commerce and shares memories of Turtle Days and Coyote Days and meeting her husband, while serving on the Board of the Chamber. Her community involvement didn't stop at the Chamber. Cheryl talks about finding the Morongo Basin Arts Council, which expanded her community to the many creatives in the area. Cheryl served as a volunteer and in executive capacities with the Council and also presented her work as part of the Highway 62 Art Tours for many years. The Joshua Tree Music Fest has also become a tradition for Cheryl and her husband. After a 2018 trip to the Four Corners, Cheryl and her husband started talking about a side trip to Sante Fe, for a visit with friends. They quickly found a house outside of Albuquerque, which they are actively remodeling to prepare for a Spring 2020 move.
Kathleen Lowndes is proof that attitude is everything. Kathleen's first experience with desert was on a family move from Upstate NY to Inglewood California via the infamous Route 66 – Kathleen was eight years old. She recently found a black and white photo from 1955 of her family under a Joshua tree in Kingman AZ. After Kathleen's mother died in 1998, Kathleen grieved for a year - sitting in bed, knitting and crocheting. After grieving, her roommate had a stroke and decided to take their recovery in their homeland of Sweden to take advantage of the lifetime healthcare. Having been invited to stay with friends in Banning, California, Kathleen gave up the apartment in Laguna Beach, put her things in storage until she decided how she wanted to move forward with her life. With a plan to take day trips, try to get her old job back, get her things out of storage and move on – Kathleen says her car had other plans, bringing her regularly to the hi-desert. Kathleen entered the park, where she explored places she'd previously visited in the park and after two or three weeks of this routine, Kathleen decided to get all her things out of storage and found a house to rent in Joshua Tree. In this episode Kathleen talks about the medical condition – that she later discovered ran in her family – that began to present itself in various ways, until finally taking her down in July of 2003, which lead to a diagnosis putting her on a journey to her enormous medical miracle: a surgery that could potentially rob her of her abilities to think, walk and talk. Kathleen says she went for the miracle because she couldn’t stomach the thought of becoming permanently disabled and says, “I trained for this surgery like an Olympic athlete trains for a gold medal". After successful surgery and months of physical therapy, rehab and a short stint in assisted living, Kathleen found her self at home in the desert silence, where she says she experienced an onslaught of ideas. Kathleen says she is pretty convinced it was the silence and the solitude that really helped her recover and that she was somehow positioned in this desert for all of this to play out as it did. Since having the surgery, Kathleen is thriving, doing all those things and more including writing a book about her experience. The only thing left to do is get back behind the wheel of a car. Kathleen's book, 'Facing the Ultimate Fear: A New Future', is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and locally in the desert at Joshua Tree's Space Cowboy Books and in Yucca Valley at Cactus Wren Book Exchange and Rainbow Stew.
Imagine driving into the desert, a place of wide open spaces where you can see for miles, and not being able to breathe. This was Mary Sojourner's first experience with desert, somewhere between Parker, AZ and 29 Palms. Mary had moved west in 1985 from Rochester NY ‘to write and fight for the earth'. It was Edward Abbey’s ‘Monkey Wrench Gang’, which spoke to her loud and clear. In 2007 Mary felt Flagstaff changing – gentrification as we know it today was happening. Mary was living in a small cabin with a wood stove, no running water, sharing a shower house and outhouse with other cabin dwellers. The landlord cashed in and rents were to be raised significantly. At the same time, a chance encounter with a representative of Mojave Desert Land Trust brought Mary to Joshua Tree to conduct a writing workshop and do a joint reading with previous podcast guest, Susan Lang. Mary's accommodations turned out to be a small cabin, on Yucca Mesa and the experience of the Mojave desert while staying there found Mary leaving Arizona three weeks later to live in the Morongo Basin. Mary stayed in the Mojave for about a year, finding magic on walks through washes and the trash blowing over from the local landfill, eventually taking her leave due to her body's unwillingness to manage the summer heat. Mary has written three novels, 'Sisters of the Dream', '29' and 'Going Through Ghosts' and 35 years of her life has been fighting to stop uranium mines near the Grand Canyon, getting a pumice mine off the sacred San Francisco peaks, stopping developers from putting a gated golf-course community around wetlands in Arizona, and the ongoing struggle to get a local ski resort to stop making snow on the sacred mountains with reclaimed water. Her activism stems completely from the deep connection she feels with the earth. We talk about the idea of ‘owning a piece of the earth’ and where this drive ‘to have’ in our current day and age has come from, why it seems more prevalent than ever and how it’s affecting our relationship with each other, the earth and it's resources. Find all of Mary's books available here
Learn about Mary's writing workshops and coaching
Dawn Rowe's first experience with desert was driving to Las Vegas for a Marine Corps Ball. Alan, her late husband, needed something for his uniform and decided they would drive the back way to Vegas, passing the Marine Base in 29Palms where he would pick it up at the PX. Driving up the Morongo grade and then down into the valley, Dawn remembers her first thought was "Who lives out here?” And now she does – falling in love with a community where she's become a very involved and active citizen, all the way to her current position as San Bernardino Third District Supervisor. Prior to coming to the desert, Alan’s military career found them spending a lot of time in the San Diego area, then Virginia and on to 29 Palms. After landing in Yucca Valley, Alan, was killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 - their children were five and three. When Dawn moved to Yucca Valley in 2003, there was no Home Depot, Starbucks or Applebee’s. She and her husband decided to live on the east end of Yucca Valley, giving Dawn, then a young mother with two small children, access to more people and places. Dawn's community developed through volunteering in the schools, her church family and interacting with military wives. One of the reasons Dawn decided to stay in the hi-desert after the loss of her husband was her connection to this community and proximity to the base. Dawn says she and her children transitioned to civilian life in a place she calls, ‘peaceful and beautiful’. Dawn talks about getting through the loss of her husband with the assistance of the Marine Corps. While the Corps itself assisted with the logistics of her new life, she never imagined her own experience as a volunteer shepherding young military wives through losses would apply to her.
Dawn enjoys the connections that she calls ‘small town wonderful’ – in a place that provides opportunities to not only have social connections with your neighbors, but to sometimes even work with them, ultimately becoming people you can lean on in times of crisis. Raised in a volunteer-oriented family, Dawn gravitated to public service very naturally. An experience in land development spurred Dawn's interest in public service, leading her to commit to making San Bernardino County a business-friendly environment. Having built a new home with her family, she decided she’d enjoyed the process so much, that she would purchase another piece of property, subdivide it and build two more homes. Dawn experienced a number of issues in the subdivide process and it was that frustration that spurred her to go into the Town offices and ask some questions and gain some clarity around the bureaucracy she was experiencing. She introduced herself to, then Mayor of Yucca Valley, Chad Mayes, who suggested she become the Planning Commissioner for Yucca Valley, where learned about land use. This role eventually lead her to a seat on the Town Council and eventually Mayor of Yucca Valley. In the meantime, she’d also obtained her substitute teaching credential and while doing so also worked part-time job with then Assemblymen Paul Cook. In this episode, we also talk about a law suit filed against the SB BOS challenging the process of Dawn's appointment and the large territory of nearly half a million people that she covers as 3rd District Supervisor. We also dig into a few local issues like affordable housing, looming Airbnb regulations, limited rural area law enforcement and code enforcement issues. If you live in the Third District and have issues or questions, reach out to Dawn and her office here.
Janelle Pietrzak's first experience with desert came while driving cross country from Philadelphia, to a new job in LA. Traveling with her partner, Robert, it was July and they made a stop in Marfa, TX, then on to Joshua Tree for two nights – most of which was spent at an aquatic center in Palm Desert (40 miles away from Joshua Tree) to escape the heat. Janelle has always working in textiles and even though she spent 10 years in the fashion industry doing fabric sourcing, she knew as soon as she began working in the industry, it wasn't for her – the roles in which she found herself were did not allow her to be hands-on or a maker of things – except coffee and files. Janelle started weaving as a hobby and became obsessed, making mostly wall hangings and art. She’s built a community of friends in weaving through Instagram as the craft fiber movement began to take off. As a result of the success of a month-long pop-up shop in LA, Janelle quit her job after 11 months and began her weaving business, having received commissions for her work from private and corporate clients. Los Angeles was not agreeing with either Janelle or Robert, so they began looking at places where they wanted to live, which could be anywhere, since both of them work out of their home. After some searching and the consideration of Roberts children living in LA, Joshua Tree felt like the right place with the space and affordability they needed, while still remaining close to the kids. A collaboration with women's lifestyle brand Anthropologie, designing pillows and throws, really opened up Janelle’s business. We touch a little on the time that Janelle spends running her business, versus being hands on in the creating. Janelle has lived in many places, typically for no more than three or four years at a time - she talks about her current struggles with desert living and the ways in which she copes. Janelle would like the accessibility of a city, but doesn’t want to live in a city. To ease that feeling, she makes trips to Palm Springs, still having the desert feel without all the sand and dirt. At the same time, making the drive between her home and studio, she can’t help but feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place. In this episode we also talk about the challenges of living in a tourist economy, the difficulty of carving out a living for oneself that pays the bills and the transient ‘community’ in which we find ourselves and the energy that brings with it. Janelle says her work has been influenced by the colors of the desert, particularly the golden light and the spring wildflower bloom. And we talk about the wind and the wildlife of the desert and the changes of seasons we see here. Take a look at Janelle's weaving and other products available at All Roads Studio or visit their store location in Yucca Valley at 7319 Acoma Trail - be sure to check their Instagram site for open times.
Patti Brown wisited Yucca Valley for the first time in 1989 to meet, who would become her future mother-in-law and real estate mentor. That first trip Patti felt like she might be going on adventure that she wouldn’t be coming back from and her first impressions of the desert were that it was barren and somewhat far removed from what she considered her ‘normal necessities of life.’ It was very different from the lush green she'd grown up around in Northern California. After a number of visits to Yucca Valley, Patti began to feel the peace and serenity that came with each desert visit. Driving in the snow, down the Morongo grade, heading home after a Christmas visit, the conversation turned to, ‘why wouldn’t we just stay here?" Before they knew it, Patti and her now husband, had a cabin in Flaming Heights and were moving to make the desert their home. Patti admits it took her a few years to really fall in love with the place. Having to travel down the hill an hour and 15 minutes each way, each day to go to a job using her retail expertise, she didn’t have much time to get involved in the community and make connections with her neighbors. But, once she left retail and started working in real estate, those relationships started to form very quickly. Patti's interest in retail came from her dad who had worked for Nordstrom before starting his own business. Patty followed in those footsteps working for department stores; she likes retail and working with people. When Patti arrived to the desert, the only non-Mom & Pop store at that time was old K-mart. And after driving down the hill working retail hours, Patti found her self wanting to be closer to home and her kids, so she started helping her mother-in-law - the realtor - eventually leading Patti to become a licensed realtor herself, before moving into escrow and eventually her own hard money business, launching 'The Loan Lady' in 1996. In this episode, Patty explains a ‘hard money’ loan is, who may need it and how that money is used. Once Patti was able to work here in the hi-desert, she came very involved in the community. She is a committed Rotarian, involved in many business networking groups and is currently the Board Chair of the Yucca Valley Chamber of Commerce. We also talk about the changing landscape of the real estate market in the Morongo Basin and the types of jobs and income currently in the area and what may be necessary to sustain the growth. Patti also gives some advice on how to prepare to make a home purchase here.
SMLXL Born in England, Jane 'Spider' Fawke grew up watching American Westerns at a Saturday morning program near where she lived. It wasn't John Wayne who captured her attention, but the beautiful vistas of Monument Valley in the background. Growing up poor, Jane gravitated to the fashion scene in Paris after graduating from the Royal College of Art with a Masters in Fashion & Textile Design. After some encouragement from a friend, Jane moved to New York. Jane came to America after 10 years in the ready-to-wear industry in Paris, France and speaks fluent French and Italian. She designed in the US for another 15 years. Then, sensing the onslaught of 'throw-away' fashion, Jane pursued her second dream, to become a Park Ranger. She started by volunteering to be on a team that spent long hours daily creating defensible space - clearing weeds, grass and brush. The first day she came home exhausted and after a good night sleep, woke up excited to return and continue her work the next day. Soon a permanent position opened and Jane was hired by the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency in Thousand Oaks in 2002. Jane and her husband, Alan, bought their desert home in 2005, and moved here full time in 2015, two years after her retirement. Jane received her Desert Naturalist Certificate from UC Riverside in May of this year and does a lot of volunteer work with kids – and recently worked with the JT Clean Team, cleaning up Tortoise Island in downtown Joshua Tree. In this episode, Jane also tells a story about an early tortoise sighting at her property and the interpretation from a friend, a Hopi Chief.
Patty Domany exemplifies the term 'entrepreneurial spirit'. Patty was introduced to the desert by her Los Angeles neighbors, who had land in Landers. After spending a number of weekends with them and driving the desert roads to find a place of her own, Patty had a brief conversation with a 'Landroid' over coffee one day at 'Johns', now known as La Copine, who was a 'caretaker' for a local cabin whose owner had passed. Patty reached out to the owner's son and, after a bit of negotiation, got a 10-day escrow and closed on her little piece of desert heaven. Coming out every weekend from Los Angeles since 1990, Patty retired in 2015, making the cabin her permanent home. A fairly new member of the Moose Lodge in Landers, Patty has covered a lot of ground in her life. She married at 17 and was mom of two by 21 and divorced 18 years later. She’s taught macramé, raced motorcycles, cooked on yachts in the Carribean, hitchhiked across Europe after a free plane ride and went to UCLA at night to educate herself for a job as an export manager for a car parts company. Patty definitely has the entrepreneurial spirit, selling macramé kits, owning a Mexican take out and a high-end breakfast catering company. The only think that may have slowed her down a bit was beating breast cancer in 2000. At nearly 80 years old, Patty recently purchased a chain saw - to cut the wood you see her pictured with above - and after a high-cholesterol warning from her doctor, continues to working on her vegetarian diet, which has reduced her cholesterol exponentially, without the use of pharmaceuticals. Patty loves all the desert creatures around her home and has a contingent of bunnies who come for breakfast daily.
At eight months old, after being born in Hollywood, Susan was brought to her mother’s burnt homestead cabin in Pipes Canyon. The family first lived under the stars and later in an Army tent. Susan was raised in upper Pipes Canyon – in what is known today at the Wildlands Conservancy. She attended a one-room schoolhouse, collected bottles for coins from Hollywood cowboys in Pioneertown and set pins at the original bowling alley there. Walking from school, Susan would walk through the movie sets of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, though the excitement was lost on her as she watched them doing the same thing over and over. Sometimes she’d ride her pony to and from school. Susan tells us about the community that at that time included the Golden Stallion Chinese restaurant (9:21), the Red Dog, the Hollywood influence and the rodeo grounds. By the time she was 23, Susan had five kids and was still running around the desert barefoot, even on the campus of College of the Desert in Palm Desert and UC Riverside – it was the late 60’s and early 70’s. In those years she’d read Tolstoy, Freud and Dostoyevsky and though she felt a kindred spirit with these authors, because all of them were men, the thought of being a writer herself didn't come until later. Looking back, Susan believes writing was in her blood as her mother wrote a column for the Pioneertown paper and Susan’s sister has also written a book. On her way to a mid-term just before graduation, Susan was in a car accident, which left her unconscious for 30 days . Her sister arranged with Susan’s professors to give her incompletes and she was able to graduate later, after writing one essay. In the midst of this, her husband left her. These days, Prescott, Arizona is home for Susan where she founded and directed the Southwest Writers Series and the Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing at Yavapai College. Currently, Susan is Faculty Emerita at Yavapai College, teaches courses at Prescott College, and serves as Event Coordinator at the Peregrine Book Company in Prescott, Arizona. Susan still has ties to the Pipes Canyon area, visiting her brother who still lives in Pioneertown. This month (October 2019) Susan will be reading and selling her books at the following venues in the Morongo Basin: October 4 at 7 p.m. at Black Rock Nature Center, Yucca Valley October 5 at 4 p.m. at the Sun Alley Stage near Space Cowboy Books Monday, October 7 at 7 p.m. at Kip's Desert Book Club at The Palms Wonder Valley You can find Susan's books here. Or, visit Susan's website here.
Karmolette O’Gilvie, born and raised in Houston, Texas, has lived in 29 palms for 27 years. She and her husband of 38 years moved to 29 as part of his military career. Karmolette's first experience with desert was in California. She and her husband were stationed in Camp Pendleton and discovered 29 Palms by riding up to visit other military families. They immediately noticed the night sky, the peacefulness and low crime. Over the years, Karmolette has witnessed many military folks come here to the desert with great uncertainty about remaining, then sees them leaving for the next assignments, tearful and sad to be leaving a place that crept into their souls. After three years stationed in Corpus Christi TX, she and her husband had an opportunity to choose 29 Palms or return to Camp Pendleton – they chose 29 Palms and have been here ever since. Karmolette’s children still live nearby – one in 29 Palms, the other in Indio. In this episode, we talk about the changes and differences in the base and the city of 29Palms over the 27 years Karmolette has lived here, as well as the changes in local government including the recent institution of district elections. Karmolette has a nursing degree and a PhD in Biblical Studies. The decision to go into nursing came from Karmolette witnessing her mother’s health struggles, often hospitalized due to issues with Type 1 diabetes. Karmolette admired the health professionals and at a young age, made up her mind to become a nurse, enabling her to take care of her mother. Karmolette's nursing career started in the delivery room and now she shepherds patients and families through the process of hospice. Karmolette credits her parents with her civic-mindedness. She says they encouraged her and her siblings to run for officer or leadership roles. At 16, Karmolette became a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) and held a position representing her class to a state level nursing organization. She identifies herself as a change agent and citizen who cares about her city. Karmolette walks us through how she ‘applied’ to get on the 29 Palms City Council ballot, the campaigning and finally, the slightly nerve-wracking process of the counting of the votes, leading to her eventual win of her district. Karmolette went to bed on election night feeling she’d done her best, and accepted, what she thought was her loss, until she received a phone call the next morning, advising her the mail-in ballots had not yet been counted. There were days the votes separating her from the opposing candidate were actually four votes or two votes. She points to her own election experience to demonstrate that every vote really does count. Now part of the City Council, Karmolette talks about the learning curve of getting up to speed with the the scope of the council and past history – and she feels she has grown in ways she could have never expected. Last, we also talk about the first Juneteenth Celebration held in 29 Palms earlier this year and the plans Karmolette sees for future events and importance of passing the history to our youth.
A native of Wisconsin, Shana Rhodes says she didn’t feel the connection she was hoping for in Portland when she decided to move there. Intrigued by a documentary about dancer Marta Beckett, who landed in the Mojave desert under interesting circumstances and spoke of the wild horses and amazing sunsets, Shana said to herself, "I have to see this place". She packed her camera and paints and drove to the Mojave to see Death Valley for a two week exploration. Like Marta, proprietress of Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley, Shana was immediately taken with the unique beauty and solitude of the desert. Wandering through abandoned homestead cabins in Wonder Valley, she became fascinated with things weathered by the desert. Six months after a third trip to the desert, Shana committed to leaving Portland in six months. Without a job or knowing anyone here, she found a house to rent on Craigslist, moved to the Morongo Basin and was immediately hired on at Crossroads Cafe in Joshua Tree. Shana continues to serve locals and tourists at Crossroads. She talks about ‘hangry hour’ and how the crew works so well together in a small space with lines waiting out the door during busy season. At the end of her shifts, she loves going home to recharge in the silence, with a good book and her dogs, Billie and Henry nearby. Shana has been painting for 10 years – she uses it as a form of meditation. Only recently she began to share her work publicly through local art exhibitions. Initially, she was reluctant to show her work, feeling perhaps she wasn’t strong enough to take any criticism. As it turns out, her experience was completely the opposite - feeling tremendous support and encouragement from the women in the community and other artists. Shana is also a new first time homeowner and taking in all of the excitement – and responsibility – that comes with that milestone. She even put in her own concrete floors, taking her dad’s advice of, “what ever you can do by yourself, do it.” And now, every time she looks at the floor, she says she feels the satisfaction of having done it herself, in true desert ‘get it done’ fashion. Shana’s advice for folks looking to move to the desert is to be ready to deal with the silence and solitude, which makes you face your fears and hangups and to understand we move with the sun. PHOTO: Carly Valentine - listen to Carly's Desert Lady Diaries episode here.
Heather recalls her first experience with desert was on a road trip with her grandmother and says that wasn't the one that put the desert in her heart. At 14, on a Nile river cruise to Egypt with her mother and grandmother, the desert set her soul alight. Years later, living in Silicon Valley, Heather traveled to LA for work and planned a solo motorcycle trip back through the Mojave, up through Tahoe. She’d camped in Joshua Tree National park overnight, waking up to the sound of coyotes. Heather tells us as she drove out of the park into 29 Palms and heard a voice inside her say, "you’re going to live here someday". Heather bought a property in Wonder Valley and after taking a writing sabbatical at one of her own desert properties, she found a sense of feeling more energetic and creative in the desert, which spurred her to move here full time - that was about a year ago. Heather finds being in tune with nature, the mountains, the sky and the ability to be a bit isolated has been very beneficial for her work. She feels a deep connection to this desert, to the earth and the rock. In this episode Heather tells us about the painting from a friend that helped her extend the threshold of her desert home while working for a company that required extensive and regular global travel. As a futurist and security researcher, Heather studies things that are happening today to predict certain future outcomes. We talk about considering future outcomes that result from present outcomes and making strategic decisions that will lead to more predictable outcomes. Heather's clients include US & UK governments, SWIFT, Disney, IEEE, mid-size companies and start-ups. Her research has been covered in the New York Times, CNN, American Banker, CNBC, Fox and the Atlantic. She is the author of the Cyber Attach Survival Manual, published by Weldon-Owen and is the writer/producer of 14 documentaries and short films about future technology. Her work has won multiple awards from the Association of Professional Futurists. Watch some of Heather's films and learn more about her at her website: www.heathervescent.com Heather on Twitter: @heathervescent Heather on Instagram: heathervescent
Originally from the Philadelphia area, Janet became enamored with the desert while traveling through New Mexico on a family vacation to visit her dad’s one and only uncle in San Diego. Driving through the desert she thought, “I have to come back to this place.” Attending school for architecture in Cincinnati, Janet decided she wanted to get into the construction side of the business and through a co-op program at the college, she'd heard about Habitat for Humanity and landed a co-op in Atlanta, GA. While there, she caught Albuquerque architect Antoine Predock on the cover of Time magazine - this was her way back to the desert. Though the Predock office continued to say no co-op opportunities were available, Janet remained hopeful and persistent. She drove to Albuquerque, having no interview appointment. While there, Janet worked at the youth hostel where she was staying and picked up a job waitressing at the local pancake house. The people were unique and interesting and she quickly realized she wanted to live in this kind of environment. And she finally ended up with a six month work session with the Predock firm. Though Janet thought she might continue her schooling in New Mexico, her last co-op experience was in Berkeley, CA, where she was eventually hired on with a firm where she discovered straw bale construction. The firm received a call to build a straw bale home for composer Lou Harrison in Joshua Tree, known today as Harrison House Music, Arts and Ecology, and Janet found herself in Joshua Tree to work on the project. This project would also be the beginning of Janet's interaction with the San Bernardino County planning, development, land-use and code enforcement departments. Janet's ability to navigate county codes and ordinances became very useful later, in her role helping to fend off what became know as 'Alta Mira', a proposed 248-home, gated community on about 100 acres of land in Joshua Tree. Janet's knowledge and dedication was instrumental in this matter and after 10 years of, the developers decided to move on. You can read all about it here. When Janet arrived in Joshua Tree, she knew only one person, George, who was associated with the Harrison House project. There was no Crossroads, just Park Center Deli, known today as Park Rock Café, next to the JTNP Visitors Center. This was Janet’s social scene until she was introduced to the local radio station, which helped her get more information about events happening in the community. Our conversation about the County and the former Alta Mira project leads us into a discussion of how and where neighbors can get involved in the community, so as not to be caught off-guard about the goings on around town and make their voices heard. We also discuss the serious crisis of a shortage of long term rentals, multi-family units or apartments in Joshua Tree, one that Janet sees more and more local families with school-aged children experiencing, and strongly suggests it would behoove the community to come together to talk about these issues in proactive, rather than reactive, ways. Janet's Company - StrongArm Construction AAA Map - Indian Country
Born in France, Marie Bobin's first experience with desert was a trip with friends to Death Valley. It was a last minute, 'let’s get out of LA for the weekend' kind of trip – in August. Marie says they drove a lot, got out of the car to snap a few photos, then jumped back into the air conditioned car. Marie's family moved to California when she was in her preteen years. With a background in performing arts and producing, Marie started her career in London with a pub theatre, producing shows for four years and then came back to the states working with museums and cultural centers. Though she has lived in Thailand and London, she says she always returns to the Golden State. Looking for a change of pace from Los Angeles and being self-described national park lovers, Marie and her husband were considering areas near Yellowstone and other places. In this episode, Marie says when she mentioned Joshua Tree, her husband said, "The desert?!", but after a number of short day trips out here, he started to fall in love with the place just as Marie had. They put their house in Topanga on the market - it sold in 10 days. Marie immediately found work. Marie says, "The doors just kept opening, confirmation that this is where we were supposed to be". Moving to the area without knowing anyone, Marie attended Kip’s book club, 2nd Saturdays in Joshua Tree and other events around town, where she started to meet her community. With a background in cultural programming and consulting, Marie became involved with local non-profits Harrison House, Joshua Tree Retreat Center and Mil-Tree, of which she in now holds a board position. She also met Jenny Kane, Executive Director of Arts Connection, where the idea for applying for the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Grant happened.
Marie says she immediately recognized the good work so many Morongo Basin organizations were already doing. It was her desire to produce an event that would support and enhance their work. Being familiar with the NEA Big Read grant, Marie was certain it would be the right vehicle to pull all these organizations together for one big cultural event. An entire month of free events - with something for everyone - are scheduled during September, beginning with the kick off at Mojave Desert Land Trust Headquarters on September 7, 2019 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. To view and download the schedule of events, visit Arts Connection of San Bernardino or check out Big Read Morongo Basin on Facebook and follow them on Instagram @BigReadMorongoBasin.
Teaching brought Gay Smith (left in photo above) to California, as after college graduation there was a glut of teachers on the east coast. She’d read about a fellow student who came to Corona, CA to interview, she followed suite and got the job on the spot. Having been in teaching for over 40 years, Gay talks about the changes she's witnessed in the students over the years. Gay's first experience with the desert was during the December holidays in the early 60's with a group of friends she’d met through teaching. The place they visited was her soon to be husband’s cabin on Copper Mountain Mesa. Though there was no electricity or water in the early days, Gay and her husband, John, continued to come back to the his cabin on weekends, all vacations, including the summer months. At some point, they decided it would be wise to at least run electricity to the cabin - which they did themselves, impressing the County code Inspector. When the kids came along, they added a room to the cabin and became permanent residents of North Joshua Tree in 1974. Gay talks about a developer who had a big vision for Pioneertown, found Gay and her husband John purchasing several acres in the area. The developer went broke and plans for the 'Golden Empire' fell through, but John and Gay remained. Thank Gay when you see her for being involved in making Mane Street in-accessible to cars and holding off the County from adding paved roads and sidewalks! In this episode, Gay takes us back in time to 1965 and one traffic light at Old Woman Springs Road and talks about tricks they used to find their home at night. Gay also talks about the history of Pappy & Harriet’s and tells of it's origins, including the biker gang fights, before it became the infamous music-lovers haven it is today. Gay owns the Pioneertown Wild West Theatre, which is a 501(c)3. You might be inclined to check out a show there or donate to the cause after hearing this interview. Check out Gay's vacation rental: Desert Willow Ranch
In part two of the 100 episode milestone celebration, I read the remaining excepts chosen from 'The Desert Was Home', by Elizabeth Crozer Campbell. Elizabeth describes the beauty of the landscape, shares some stories about desert friends and neighbors and laments the changes she and Bill witnessed in the time since their initial arrival to the desert. The last passage describes a moonlight drive and concludes this love story between Elizabeth, Bill and the desert. If you'd like to read more about Elizabeth's history and see more photos of her beloved Campbell House, check out the Campbell House Inn website. And once again, if you listen: thank you, if you have been interviewed: thank you and if you have donated: thank you. I appreciate all of you.
In this special celebration episode, I'm reading excerpts from 'The Desert Was Home', a book by an original Desert Lady, Elizabeth Crozer Campbell. If you’re unfamiliar, Elizabeth, or Betts, as her husband called her, she was born in Beach Haven, NJ – so of course I felt an immediate kinship with her.
Elizabeth Warder Crozer, was born the youngest of four daughters, in 1893 and died in 1971. She was raised in Upland, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a wealthy family and her education through her post graduate studies were in private schools. She met Bill, an orphan from Los Angeles, at a west coast wedding, where they were both in the bridal party. As the story goes, it was love at first sight and they themselves married in 1920, even with the disapproval of Elizabeth's family. They initially lived in Pasadena and Linda Vista, but Bill’s health issues, stemming from his involvement in WWI, found them desperate to find a place where he could heal… that is where ‘The Desert Was Home’ begins. Visit the Campbell House website (from which the photo of Betts and Bill came) for a glimpse of the modern day Campbell House and learn more about Betts and Bill's love story, which also became their love affair with the desert. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into early life here in the Mojave desert from one of it's original homesteaders.
Kim Fulleman's first experience with the desert were as a Girl Scout, visiting Joshua Tree National Park to camp and hike. Kim and her friends would find the biggest rock formation they could – and climb it. After 20 years in a 400 square foot Hollywood apartment, Kim was ready for a change. She was feeling like it was time to get back into nature and heal from some things she’d experienced in her life. After looking for and bidding on a place in Joshua Tree, only to be outbid, a friend suggested she take a look in Landers - where she found her home. Kim's first few months here were not without some desert challenges. In this episode, Kim talks about moving to her home in early June and having the swamp cooler go on the fritz – causing her to be sequestered to her bedroom with only a small window air conditioner for relief. Then roots were entering the plumbing. But that wasn’t the end… when she heard something that sounded like explosions, she texted a friend and found she was hearing the military exercises conducted at the Marine base in 29 Palms. In Hollywood Kim was a professional musician, playing bass and on vocals for 'The Distillers' and other bands, including 'Punk is Dead', a band that performed Grateful Dead songs punk style. When not working professionally, Kim did what most folks do in Los Angeles to pay the rent – restaurant work, bartending, security, pet-sitting and more. Now, here with the silence and expansiveness of the desert, Kim has found herself inspired to begin writing poetry and talking with a friend about creating some healing type music.
Christine Anthony’s first experience with the desert was on a commercial shoot at the Glamis sand dunes in southern California. She’d picked up this commercial production job after arriving in LA on a greyhound bus from Cleveland, OH with $7 in her pocket, having followed her rock-n-roll boyfriend to the West Coast. The romance fizzled and Christine found her self reaching out to a few folks she knew in LA, also from Cleveland, one of whom became a roommate. Deciding to remain in LA, Christine navigated her way through a few jobs, producing television commercials, then moved to the agency side of the business for many years. About 18 months ago, while on a regular visit to Vegas, with the Mojave to the southwest and the Sonoran desert to the southeast, Christine decided to take a look at some real estate and a few weeks later, seeing a mid-century modern house come up in a search, immediately placed a bid on it, site unseen, and bought it. We talk a bit about her neighborhood in Las Vegas, the background of the neighbors and how they interact, as well as the designers of these mid-century modern homes in her Paradise Palms neighborhood. We also talk about the differences between Las Vegas and Los Angeles as far as friendliness, competition and economics and some common misconceptions people have about Las Vegas. Christine also offers up some interesting places to visit off the strip and expands on the feeling of safety the city keeps at the forefront of it’s operations.
A lifetime of careers with Parks and Recreation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service, as well as being a Jazzercise instructor, radio ad executive, secondary social studies teacher and director of a youth drug prevention program, Carmen Mendoza is finding her soul back in the Mojave desert, returning here after spending over half her life in Colorado. In this episode, we talk about the ways the light travels along the mountains during a desert day, which leads us to a discussion about Carmen’s training in using Harmonic Light Frequencies, which she found through searching for other methods to reduce her own pain from fibromyalgia. One day, while watching the snow fall from her Colorado kitchen window, Carmen heard a voice utter a phrase which inspired the first of seven short stories in her book, 'Road to Soul: 7 Captivating Short Stories'. Her own desert photograph adorns the front and back covers of the book. Carmen is also a professional, certified life coach and provided us with some examples of some of the ways in which she has assisted her clients. Additionally, Carmen provides 26 weeks of pro-bono coaching to caregivers of wounded Veterans, to help them manage their lives and ensure they are practicing self-care along with caring for everyone else around them. We also have some conversation about the desert Carmen remembers growing up, compared to the one she has found on her return. If you're interested a light treatment, coaching or purchasing Carmen's book, visit her Harmonic Coaching website: www.carmendoza.com At the time of this writing, Harmonic Light Frequency treatments are available at Carmen's home office in 29 Palms by appointment or in Yucca Valley at Rainbow Stew on Wednesdays from 1-5 p.m. for $35 per session. Carmen's Website Harmonic Coaching by Carmen Facebook Page Road to Soul Facebook Page
Brenda first visited the desert as a young girl on family camping trips and those visits continued into her teen years as a destination for soul-searching and wandering the space. Needing a change, Brenda made the move to the desert with her horses. Upon arriving, she found she had many friends here and immediately found her way into the community. Brenda loves the diversity of the weather, the beauty of the landscape and talks about the differences of living in Idyllwild and the desert, particularly the inconveniences of being locked in - or out - for events like fires or snow. At her sanctuary on the mesa, Brenda grows plants, from which she creates various essences and has created spaces to work on her art, as well as a space for her clients to do their healing work. In this episode, Brenda shares her experiences of living a corporate life with an environmental company in Japan, which segued into a job in entertainment. After leaving these jobs and living in Idyllwild, CA, Brenda decided to go back to school to complete her undergrad and Masters. Part of her Masters included writing a book on post modern and quantum science for which she won an award, which required that she teach. Never having taught before, she suddenly found herself in the lecture hall and discovered it to be extremely satisfying. Twelve years later, she returned to school to work toward a counseling degree. Now Brenda is creating her own classes and has begun offering them to the local community and talks about her research into the differences between PTSD and Complex Trauma. In the last part of our conversation, Brenda describes where her interest in herbalism comes from and how she uses it for self-care and, in one case, for the care of her beloved horse.
Lisa Rae Black remembers her first experience with the desert as a visit to Grandpa's house - he lived in Morongo Valley. As a five-year old, she recalls jumping out of the back of her dad's 280Z, feeling like she'd landed on Mars. Fast forward about 50 years, Lisa inherited the property from her now deceased brother, Jim, who’d lived there for many years with his three thoroughbred horses. Her grandfather purchased the property in1931 and built the 300 foot homestead in 1951. In this episode, Lisa talks about the little bits of history that have come her way from her grandfather during the permitting and renovations process of the homestead. Lisa's interest in the guitar began early. At five, she commandeered her brother's Christmas gift, a Snoopy guitar. She began taking lessons at age 12 and credits her instructor, himself an accomplished classic flamenco guitarist, with instilling the importance proper posture, timing/beats and scales. After discovering she could play some Chuck Berry guitar licks, she was ‘off to the races’. Her neighbor, a drummer for their high school marching band and a local surf band, was her ride to school each day. Eventually, he joined forces with the lead singer of the stoner band in the same school – if you’re familiar with hair metal bands from the 80’s you’ll want to hear this story, which leads to another story of how Lisa got into her first band, The Pandoras, who got their first record deal after their first gig. Lisa says it all happened ‘too fast, too soon’ and admits she was too young to appreciate the opportunities. She says that while she’s worked with some successful names you’ll recognize, that level of notoriety never really manifested for her. After having recorded a five-song EP with The Pandoras, Lisa stayed on at the studio for awhile, recording with Berlin, Social Distortion and was in many other LA bands including Helle's Belles, Hardly Dangerous, Feline and Bellylove, whose music was featured on the third season of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Thinking her move to the desert had put her band days behind her, one Sunday, she and Paul were looking for something to do and headed up to this place they'd heard some local folks talk about called Pappy & Harriet’s. There was a band playing some mellow tunes and when the band called the Security guy up on stage to sing, Lisa and Paul didn't know what to think. The band launched into Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song'. Afterward, Lisa immediately approached him about singing Sabbath covers and ‘Hammer of the Ozz’ was born with Security guy 'Big Dave Johnson' on vocals and local Landers resident and another accomplished musician, Greg Gordon, on drums. The band is looking forward to recording at Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree in August 2019. Lisa and Paul have also formed a soul, funk band called ‘The LP’s’. Photo: Sandra Goodin Check out the bands: www.hammeroftheozz.com www.facebook.com/hammeroftheozz www.facebook.com/thelpsofsoul
While working at a print shop in Pasadena, news came though that the government was giving homesteads to World War I veterans. After his shift, Ann’s father Bill Underhill , got in his car with a shovel and a sleeping bag and headed to 29 Palms to stake his claim. After moving to the area permanently, he recognized he needed a job and started The Desert Trail newspaper. After her own jobs in the various Underhill family businesses - the newspaper, movie theater, roller rink - Ann felt the urge to expand her horizons beyond the desert. She shares memories being at the home of a grade school friend, with immigrant parents, and being so curious about the air mail letters she saw on their table. A trip she took in an Airstream trailer across the country with fellow homesteaders, the Hatch family (Liz Meyer Ep 40) really expanded her horizons. While at Scripps College, Ann met her husband, Mike, who also had an interest in traveling. Soon after marriage and they graduation, moved to Washington DC, where Mike joined the State Department Foreign Service, which took them to Belgrade (Yugoslavia), returning to the states for a short time before they were off to Vienna, Austria. As residents in these countries, they traveled to many places in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as Asia. On their return to the states, while working in graphic design, Ann decided to change things up and go back to school for her Masters in Architecture. With Mike’s work opportunity with the Air Force Academy, Ann was able to study at University of Colorado in Denver. After finishing her studies, she and Mike returned to Washington DC. A number of years later, Ann found herself returning to 29Palms more often as her mother, Prudie, was aging and still living in the home they all grew up in, which is now an Airbnb called ‘Broadview’. Ann and Mike have now retired in 29 Palms. Back in 29 Palms for fourteen years now, Ann is the President of Sky’s the Limit Observatory and very involved in all the activities and events that happen including their Full Moon nights and Star Parties (which happen every Saturday night that the moon is not full). The facility is experiencing great popularity and the organization is always looking for good volunteers, particularly those familiar with using telescopes, and grant writers. The big fundraiser for the observatory is the Night Sky Festival, September 21, 2019. This event sells out, so get your tickets early! Ann says, "29 Palms is a great place to be raised, it's a good place to leave and it's the perfect place to end up." www.skysthelimit29.org https://www.skysthelimit29.org/night-sky-festival.html http://www.hidesertstar.com/the_desert_trail/
Growing up, family summer vacations in a rented Winnebago meant traveling to the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico among others. In this episode, Kim talks about playing games with her siblings on the drives and running around in the open space. 'Wanderlust' is a word she uses to describe her family, "We were always going somewhere." Her love of photography grew from taking trips to all the places Huell Howser featured on his California's Gold television show. Though coming to live in the desert was a dream come true, Kim experienced anxiety about work and money early on, which at times was so strong, she could barely breathe. In the process, she applied for a house - and got it - and then applied for a job - and got it. One might think the desert was welcoming Kim with a little bit of a test, as only the desert can. In her role as a Professor in the Child Development program at Copper Mountain College, she works to prepare students for careers in child care and says the program is also a great foundation for elementary school teachers and classes also benefit parents looking for a better understanding of their children or themselves. If you're interested, Kim can talk with you about the program: 760-366-3791 x0452. Since Kim moved to the desert knowing no one, she began following photographers or other creatives whose work she came to like on social media. She also started attending open mic poetry readings hosted by Space Cowboy Books and Cholla Needles in Joshua Tree, which lead her to writing a sci-fi piece, read on a recent episode of 'Simultaneous Times' podcast. You can hear Kim's story in Episode 14 here. Discovering the book, 'A Wrinkle in Time', was what drew Kim in to the world of sci-fi. Though when she tried to watch Star Trek with her dad and grandpa, she was told, "this is what the grown ups or guys watch", which, of course, made it even more intriguing. She admires and is inspired by the work of African-American sci-fi writer Octavia Butler, as well as Poet Laureate outgoing, Tracy K. Smith. Find Kim and her photos on Instagram facebook.com/kim.photos
Experiencing a lunar eclipse at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon was Miriam's first experience with desert. She shares a memory of standing in the open space, and having the realization that she was living in outer space. Not viewing it as something 'out there', but as something she was a part of. Art school brought an interest in film and the next thirty years were spent as a freelance art director for television commercials. The job took her from Portland to New York City to Los Angeles. And though she'd made friends and built community in Portland and NYC, Miriam found Los Angeles a more difficult place to connect to her community. She loved working with the cream of the crop production teams, but needed to find a place to fit in and unwind from the '24/7 lock and load high' of television production. At that time Miriam and a partner decided to go in on a house together in Joshua Tree - the partner backed out - Miriam bought her place and never looked back. She continued to work in LA, making the drive out to JT immediately after she was 'wrapped' on Fridays - then hauling back in at three or four a.m. on Monday mornings. Four years ago, Miriam left LA to reside permanently in Joshua Tree. The week after closing on her home, as she traveled up the Morongo Grade, Miriam saw the chaos and calming community response that was brought on from the Sawtooth Fire. In this episode, she describes the experience as both beautiful and frightening, which made her realize this was going to be a completely different experience than she'd ever lived before. To get to know people and the area, Miriam went on the Highway 62 Open Studio Art Tours, an annual event in the Morongo Basin. She recommends it as a great way not only to meet people, but to see the geography and topography of the area. Since coming to the desert, Miriam has become a committed supporter of conservation organizations, as well as an involved activist within her desert community, informing herself about the detrimental effects of solar farms and panels as well as the flu from domesticated goats and sheep that is having a devastating effect on the local populations of big horn sheep. In addition to her rental properties, Miriam recently purchased and renovated a commercial property in downtown Joshua Tree, which will hold a bakery, a sundries store with stationery, gifts and home decor and an as yet to be announced secondary business from an already successful local entrepreneur. Miriam is proud to have all local residents filling the storefronts and talks about the solutions she found to some of the challenges in working with the County. Come and stay with Miram https://www.jtrusticmodern.com/ At the end of the episode, I mentioned a local Experimental Music production was looking for women who are interested in participating in these performances. If you or a female you know is interested, please refer them to: phogmasheeen@earthlink.net.
Sixty miles into her trip moving from Florida to Los Angeles, the car radiator sprung a leak. Meilani MacDonald and a friend pressed on to Los Angeles, with a jug of water in the trunk to keep the radiator full. Once they got to the desert, they took to driving at night where the cooler air was kinder to the vehicle. This was Meilani's first experience with desert. Meilani's first brush with Joshua Tree was weekend camping trips to the national park to escape LA's urban environs. Though she doesn’t get into the park much these days, the feeling and natural beauty of this place, here in the hi-desert, is enough to keep her grateful to be living in this paradise. After many years in LA, Meilani left LA for more wide-open spaces, landing in Desert Hot Springs - partially because those weekend camping trips she'd taken to Joshua Tree often ended with a run through one of the may hot spring spas in DHS. And who wouldn't want to live in a 'spa' town? After a difficult relationship break-up, a search for cooler temperatures and for reasons of economy, Meilani came to the hi-desert and found a home. In this episode, Meilani tells us she only knew one or two folks in the area when she moved. However, since joining a business referral group (bnirsb.com), she has met more local folks in a professional capacity. Then we get into the personal side of making friends and difficulty dating. We touch on the spiritual awakening that can occur if one is open and allows themselves to be immersed in the silence and space of the desert.
In addition to her Virtual Assistant business where Meilani offers services of writing, editing and graphic design, Meliani has recently discovered a calling to lead Creative Intention Setting sessions, and read tarot. She'll be adding to her repertoire of services after working through her processes and work space logistics. Look for them on her website soon. https://1meilani.com/ Meilani on Facebook Meilani on Twitter Meilani on Instagram
Pulling up to their new desert home in the dark, Kajiel Sullivan and her husband were greeted by a coyote. Now living on base, Kajiel misses the privacy and quiet of the desert and sadly feels less a part of the 29 Palms community which she'd grown to enjoy. In the meantime, she also a busy full-time mom to her and Reginald's daughters, Rosie (4), Millie (2) and baby Rain who enjoy time in the park near their new home on base. Kajiel hopes to take a ride with them through Joshua Tree National Park sometime soon. 29 Palms is the Sullivan family's first military move. Previously, Reginald was a member of the Reserves in Nashville, now he is a member of the Navy. In this episode, Kajiel talks about making the adjustments from civilian to military life. Kajiel was born and raised in Milwaukee and besides being a huge Green Bay Packer fan, has fond memories of the Juneteeth celebrations held there. Upon learning how many folks here were not familiar with Juneteenth, Kajiel felt strongly that this was not only an opportunity to create and celebration she was missing, but also an opportunity to educate more people about the Emancipation Proclamation reaching Galveston, Texas and why it is not only an important part of African-American history, but of American history as well. Working with a small committee, doing much of the fundraising and permit paperwork legwork herself for the first time, Kajiel is looking forward to having everyone at the first 29 Palms Juneteeth Celebration in Luckie Park on Saturday, June 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be food, music, games and some local high school students will be participating for prizes in a Juneteenth Essay contest. If you're interested in donating to or attending the 2019 Juneteeth celebration, click on the links below to the Facebook pages for fundraising and the event. Say hello to Kajiel when you're there. Though she knows they will leave the desert next year, Kajiel feels she has found a home and community she loves here and senses she will return to the desert someday. Photo: Lady Guidry Photography Juneteenth in 29! Event Page https://www.facebook.com/events/796271517405502/ Juneteenth in 29! Fundraising Page
https://www.facebook.com/donate/430893884336975/
Born and raised in NJ, Adriene's first experience with the desert happened after moving to Los Angeles in the late 80's. She and a friend took a trip to Baja, CA. Adriene says she immediately felt, 'this is where my bones will end up." and has been in love with the desert ever since. After returning to the east coast to obtain her graduate degree, Adriene returned to the west coast and having visited Joshua Tree with friends from Los Angeles in the late 80's, decided the hi-desert would be a great place to have a sanctuary in which to write and create. Those were the days before the park received it's National Park designation and one was able to go into the park and camp for any length of time for free. In this episode, Adriene says reliable internet was one of the things that precipitated a big shift in population here in the Morongo Basin. Prior to that people loved to come up, but it was difficult to find work - the internet changed that. And because there were fewer conveniences, like larger grocery stores or home improvement stores, inhabitants relied more on each other. No city or county structures were set up as they are now. And Rancho de le Luna, known as a music recording studio now, was more of a crossroads of creatives of more than just music. Adriene believes the artists culture in Joshua Tree survives because in the late 80's and 90's artists were able to rent to buy homestead cabins for $100 a month, while the owners would hold the mortgages. Adriene's most recent project combines art and performance. Her ECOtarot deck, climate change tarot cards, are used at events around the country to bring awareness to the issue of climate change and to help people see what their actions, no matter how small, can do to help. Teaching four months of the year at Arizona State University, where she serves as Professor of Intermedia in the School of Art, Adriene returns to the hi-desert, sometimes with students in tow, spending the remainder of the year at her home in Twentynine Palms. Her computer and media art spans three decades, including pioneering work in interactive cinema and live telematic performance. Adriene's Art Website https://ajenik.faculty.asu.edu/
Since the age of six, Juliette Tworsey knew she wanted to sing. Growing up in Chicago, she attended a small Catholic school with a really small choir. As she tells it, "there were like three kids in the choir". In her teens, Juliette worked up the courage one day to sing with the 'basement band' in her neighborhood. A group of kids, playing for other teens in her neighborhood. That lit the fire and Juliette began the process of trying to start her own bands, which she describes as difficult, being a woman, particularly a woman who wants to sing rock music without the trappings of the stereotypical female singer. There was a time Juliette's music was back-burned, devoted to work with no time for band practice, securing gigs or playing out. But, as a bartender at a Chicago blues bar, every once in awhile, near closing time, Juliette would get on stage there and belt a few tunes. Eventually, Juliette met her current band mate and life partner, Jules Shapiro, who'd been in a band that had a song called 'Firebug'... and their own band, Firebug was born. They left Chicago for Los Angeles landing in the Silverlake area. After a number of years, including playing at LA's famed Viper Room, they headed to New Orleans, getting into the music scene there and trying on being street musicians, to slide into the NOLA street culture. In this episode, Juliette explains this was not only a great way to meet other musicians, but also to try out new material to see what resonated with the crowds. Though she loved New Orleans, she and Jules found they missed the West. Remembering their time recording at Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree, they decided to come to the hi-desert, where they could live more affordably while pursuing their passion. Juliette is currently studying web and software development, affording her the opportunity to work from home, like many do here in the desert, to meet expenses and play music. Photo credit Jules Shapiro Firebug Website: https://firebugmusic.com/
Firebug's new album on Bandcamp: https://firebugmusic.bandcamp.com/ Firebug on Instagram: www.instagram.com/firebugmusic Firebug on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FireBugMusic/
An American citizen, Jessica Dacey was born in Canada. Her family left the U.S. when she was nine years old, living in South Africa for a few years before heading to England. After finishing her schooling, Jessica got the travel bug which lead her to Mongolia where, on the last day of her visit, she saw and applied for a job as Editor of the local newspaper. Jessica got the job, moving and living there for a year. On a month long van trip traveling through the southwest with her husband, Jessica landed in Joshua Tree, one of the last and longest stops of their trip. There was an attraction to the space, the quiet and the beauty. They returned to Switzerland and two years later Jessica found herself applying for and landing a job at Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) in Joshua Tree. Jessica recalls making the decision to leave Switzerland one of the most difficult of her life, as she had become accustomed to an organized and progressive way of life in Switzerland, though she admits, "the comfort became a little bit stifling after awhile" and she felt the need for some new challenges. The non-profit MDLT has been in existence for 12 years and, to date, has protected over 80,000 acres of the Mojave desert. As MDLT's Director of Communications, Jessica finds herself helping people understand the importance of the desert, changing their minds from thinking of it as a wasteland. With that in mind, in this episode we also talk about why the construction of a proposed new development, on the south edge of Joshua Tree National Park is detrimental to the area. Jessica intimates that while the chocolate and cheese in Switzerland are pushed to the forefront, the balance of their culinary history relies mostly on a heavy German food influence. Looking to eat lighter fare, while on a visit home to Bath, England, Jessica took a two-week class at Demuths Cookery School to learn vegan recipes and techniques. Returning to Switzerland with these skills, opportunities arose allowing Jessica to make food for musicians playing at a well-known music venue in Switerzland as well as at a refugee center. A 'global citizen', Jessica says she was surprised at the transformative effect the desert has had on her. Her travels have taught her we all share a common humanity and she encourages people to travel and experience other cultures when they have the opportunity. Learn more about Mojave Desert Land Trust here: https://www.mdlt.org/
From the age of nine, Petra Cimbalova dreamed of leaving the Czech Republic and traveling to exotic places. Growing up she kept a book of photographs, cut from magazines of islands and other distant lands. Inspired by cousins, who'd returned to the Czech Replublic after living in Germany for many years, Petra embarked on a trip to the United States at the age of nineteen. Landing in Newark, New Jersey, Petra made her way to Grand Junction, Colorado, staying with a friend who was a church caretaker, eventually making her way to Denver and landing a job in finance. In this episode, Petra describes the manifestation of some physical responses to the stress of her job and being discouraged by management, from using earned vacation time as factors that lead her to conclude she would need to leave this 11-year career behind. A New Year's visit to Joshua Tree and the feelings she left with, feelings of happiness within herself that she was not feeling in Colorado, were the final factors in Petra's decision to leave the job and Denver behind and begin anew in the desert. Petra talks about her transition from a daily job to finding her own way, which has included a trip to Thailand for a five week, 250-hour course in sacred dance, a dream trip she's held on to for two and a half years. Fresh off that inspiring and transformative trip, Petra has begun to share the skills and self-realization she gained, holding weekly classes at local yoga studio in Joshua Tree. What began as a creative outlet to make jewelry for herself, Petra now has an Etsy shop filled with her hemp-based earrings and necklaces - take a look here. Petra's Jewelry: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HighDesertAdornments?ref=shop_sugg Petra on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petracreates Petra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofsacredfreedom/
A native of Michigan, Jane and her then husband moved to Southern California in the late 60's. A trip with her young family to Indian Cove, near Joshua Tree National Park, planted the seed for Jane's love of the desert. Jane first came to live in the desert in the 80's under very different circumstances: divorced, homeless, seeking affordable housing and running away from LA's cocaine scene. Then, to escape a partner who'd entered the desert speed scene, Jane headed to the coast of Northern California and would not return to live in the desert for nearly 25 years. She came back three years ago, thinking she would purchase a small plot of land, using it to park her camper for intermittent desert escapes. With a home loan through a government program and the reasonable price of real estate, Jane became a homeowner - something she thought would not be possible at her age. A graduate of USC's Masters in Gerontology program , Jane's interest in aging started in the 1970's working with the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation, coordinating programs for all ages at a park in Inglewood. She then moved on to a position as Director of the Senior Center in Lafayette Park. Jane left Parks and Rec to take a job in the Admittance Office of USC. There, she consulted as USC developed a Masters in Gerontology program. She was so interested in the program, she applied and was accepted, graduating with her Masters. Jane loved the classes as now uses that knowledge and her own 77 years of life experience in her role as a Senior Assembly Legislator for the California Senior Legislature. Jane says she had an aging crisis when she turned 60. Never believing she would make it to her 60th birthday, she sought out the assistance of a therapist to cope and reminds us that with people living longer, particularly the large Baby Boomer generation who may not have saved enough for retirement, homelessness, drug abuse and mental illness are still a part of this large aging population - some of the issues she actively works on in her position as Senior Assembly Legislator. A peace activist and videographer, Jane has participated in and videotaped demonstrations and police actions. In this episode we also discuss her love of educational and community television. Jane's Composting Toilet Video
At the age of eight, Mary Bell Cassle's father handed her a carburetor and it's schematic and said, "Put this back together." And she did. Now Mary finds herself in her second semester of the Automotive program at Copper Mountain College, with the goal of adding to the female ranks of the automotive industry. Mary was twelve when her mother passed away and her life didn't stabilize until a few years later when she was adopted by last week's guest Annelise Kuiper. At the age of 18, Mary graduated high school and immediately joined the Army, but was discharged nine months later having sustained a knee injury during basic training. After months of therapy, the Army deemed Mary's injury a pre-existing condition, eliminating her eligibility for continued benefits. Mary was looking for work and met someone who was a truck driver - driving a truck sounded like great work. The relationship eventually became romantic and within five years, Mary found herself a mother to four children and in an emotionally and physically abusive situation. In this episode, Mary courageously shares her struggle through this period in her life sharing that after 16 years she finally got back to the desert to heal. Living in the desert with an amazing night sky, astronomy plays a big part in Mary's life. She collaborates with her adoptive mother, Annelies, on a weekly neighborhood column in the local newspaper. Mary's portion of the column directs our attention to the upcoming happenings in the night and early morning skies over our desert and says, "The way I look at it is, as big as the Universe is, there's got to be somebody out there besides us and I want be the first one to find them or see them or talk to them at least." We also talk about meditation and the benefits of quieting down to listen to our own thoughts, coming full circle to the notion of treating ourselves with the same concern, caring and compassion we have for others.
Annelies Kuiper is of Dutch descent, born in Kenya, Africa eight years before Kenya received it's independence from Britain. With no rights to Kenyan citizenship, it was difficult to find work so Annelies made the difficult decision to leave and has only been back to Kenya twice since 1974. Annelise found work with a large hotel chain, which took her to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Johannesburg, eventually landing in 'romantic' Palm Springs where she lived for 11 years, playing golf and enjoying the resort hotel amenities. After ending a second relationship, Annelies wanted to 'fall off the earth' and a friend recommended she move to the hi-desert. In this episode, Annelies tells me how she found her place in north Joshua Tree: Copper Mountain Mesa. Heartbroken and disillusioned, it was a place where she could scream as loud as she wanted and no one would call the police. A place where she could once again find and be her authentic self. On the mesa, Annelies had the sudden urge to write and in six months time wrote two books. 'Kenya Cowgirl!' and 'Stay Well Kenya Cowgirl', the first a fictionalized version of her formative years in Africa. Six years ago, Annelies decided to return to school - starting at Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree and transferring to UC San Diego, from where she recently graduated with a degree in Communications and Media Studies. Annelies has partnered with artist Andrea Zittel and High Desert Test Sites to publish a book of short stories that will be arriving in Spring 2019. In the meantime, you can keep up with Annelies and the goings on in her 'little community' of Copper Mountain Mesa through her weekly column in the Hi-Desert Star 'Weekender', available for free on Saturdays. Links for Annelies:
https://www.amazon.com/Kenya-Cowgirl/dp/0963039709 Annelies on Facebook Annelies on Instagram
A native of Los Angeles, Kat Johnson says her first trips to the desert in the 1970's were inspired by the desert sounds of The Eagles. She wouldn't come back again until six years ago at the suggestion of a then boyfriend. Kat wasn't really excited about a trip to the desert, but the vacation rental close to the park sealed the deal - Kat wanted to continue to commune with the wildlife, particularly the desert cottontails who made their presence known each morning of her stay. And seriously, if you've seen them, who can resist? From that moment on, Kat was on a mission to find a place in the Hi-Desert and live Los Angeles behind. The process took about three years of weekend trips and later, weekday visits to tour homes that had recently been put on the market. In this episode, Kat talks about her assemblage art pieces and her process of locating anchor pieces for them both before and after eBay, as well as her fascination with 'lucky'. Some of those objects are also tattoos and Kat was hard-pressed to point out any favorites - hard to do when you have over 25 of them. She also talks about the responsibilities of being a Gallery Director, a role she stepped into the last two years at Gallery 62 in Joshua Tree. Having run creative departments for large ad agencies, Kat loved the idea of being in charge and bringing projects to fruition again. Now that her two year run is almost up, she's amping up her own art work and putting some shows on her calendar for 2020. In the meantime, she's preparing for the May 2019 show at Gallery 62 which will feature student art, along with a silent auction fundraiser for the Gallery 62 Art Student Scholarships to be presented to select Morongo Basin student artists pursuing a career in art after high school. Rather than feeling like she's in a line at Disneyland, given the popularity and over use of some of the parks more accessible trails, Kat prefers 'off trail' hikes, allowing her to really be one and at be peace with nature. https://www.artsy.net/artist/kat-johnson
Pam Anders first experience with desert was after a drive from Oregon. Pam's first husband suffered with asthma and his mother, who was living in Twentynine Palms suggested they move down to improve his health. Arriving in the dark, they were a bit off course. With no signs or lights, they pulled to the side of the road and Pam got out of the Volkswagen to take a look around. She looked up and almost fell... the star-filled sky was like nothing she'd ever experienced. And the silence was nothing like she'd ever heard. After a few years they went back to Oregon. In this episode, Pam says the pull of the desert was so strong, she had to return, this time on her own, taking a number of jobs simultaneously to support herself. She worked at the bank (now Edchada's Mexican restaurant), a grocery store, a florist and Del's Shoes. She met and became friends with many of the Twentynine 'old timers', one couple being the J.B. Carrol's. When Pam told them she was looking for a house to rent they said, "Why rent, when you can buy?" Thinking it was not possible, the Carrol's sold Pam her first home - they even held the note. In 1976, Pam became San Bernardino County's first female Animal Control Officer, selected as one to fill eight openings with 145 applicants - most of whom were men. Pam says she believes in claiming your desires and the power of visualizing you already have what you want. At the age of 26, she was trained, provided a four-wheel drive truck, a shotgun and a come-a-long and was on-call twenty-four hours a day. Pam shares some humorous and touching stories from her time in that role. These days Pam doesn't live in Twentynine Palms, but maintains a cabin there where she spends hours and days at a time creating art and treating herself well. With her long-time interest in antiques, you may find her at Pioneer Crossing in Yucca Valley, tending to store displays and guiding out of town visitors to sites in the area they should not miss. Pam is excited to share a book she is currently reading: "The White Heart of the Mojave" by Edna Brush Perkins who, along with her friend Charlotte Hannahs Jordan, hired a guide to take them from their homes in Pasadena on an adventure through Death Valley. Pam's Links: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1198489.The_White_Heart_of_Mojave http://pioneercrossingantiques.com/
Swimming at Thanksgiving and Christmas while visiting her mom near El Centro, CA are Alyce Herrera's earliest memories of the desert. . In this episode, Alyce will tell you she moved to Joshua Tree for the vegan pie and carrot cake at what was then the Ricochet Cafe in downtown Joshua Tree. The Ricochet is no longer there, but Alyce is and she's making a big impact on her community. Alyce became a vegetarian about five years ago while running a chicken and rooster rescue on her own property. She began to feel hypocritical, not being able to slaughter her own meat for consumption. So, she attempted the slaughter and couldn't go through with it, so her partner at the time did. Once the meal has been prepared, Alyce says she took the first bite, spit it out and hasn't eaten meat since. Alyce has since become vegan, thus becoming an even more passionate animal rights advocate in the process. She is the creator of The Vegan Guide to Joshua Tree, is starting a blog, Alyce the Vegan and is co-creating a vegan photography tour to Iceland, which will include a chef that will prepare fresh vegan meals for the participants. Until recently Alyce played a role in organizing the local Food Not Bombs meals at the Beatnik Lounge in downtown Joshua Tree - she is moving on to take on another issue close to her heart: advocacy for homeless persons, with mentor Peggy Lee Kennedy. Buddhist meditation (6 pm) followed by vegetarian potluck (7 pm) will still be available at the Beatnik on Tuesdays.
Inspired by community residents not being their best selves on social media and original storytelling series like The Moth, StoryCorps and Ted Talks, Alyce created 'Teddy Talks' a community lecture series that happens the 3rd Saturday of every month at The Beatnik Lounge in Joshua Tree. Named for the founder of the Joshua Tree Cultural Preservation Society - base of operations the Beatnik Lounge - and long-time Joshua Tree resident Teddy Quinn, Alyce created the series as a way for people to get to know their neighbors, the diverse people that call Joshua Tree home. Links to Alyce: https://www.alycethevegan.com/ http://joshuatree.guide/vegan https://www.facebook.com/TeddyTalksBeatnik/ https://www.facebook.com/BeatnikLounge/
Before a long trip road, Wanda Stadum brought her dog to stay with a friend in Yucca Valley. After her trip, Wanda returned to retrieve her dog only to find he had gone missing. Wanda looked around, liked what she saw and decided to move to the desert. Wanda was no stranger to the Hi-Desert. She and her sister had tagged along with their Scoutmaster Dad when he'd bring his troops to camp and hike at what then known as Joshua Tree National Monument. With a background in graphic arts and a knack for hand-lettering signs, Wanda opened a sign business with her new found love, Bob. From her tipi, pitched in the backyard of her Yucca Valley friend, Wanda had waved at Bob as he rode by on his bicycle one evening - the rest is history. The business thrived for 30 years - their love, even longer. Since her arrival to the hi-desert, Wanda has been very active in her community and her involvement and dedication has been recognized by many organizations including the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, the California Legislature Assembly, the Elks, Soroptomist International, the Basin Wide Foundation and the organization she now leads as President/CEO, the Yucca Valley Chamber of Commerce. Wanda loves being physically active as well - she's voluntarily taught water aerobics at two local pools for 35 years. She credits health and fitness as one of the main reasons she has the energy, attitude and time to give to her community. Wanda is currently reading 'First Colony', a sci-fi fantasy series by Ken Lozito and her recommended desert reading, especially for a view of life as a single woman homesteader, are books by Susan Lang.
Jane Gnoza is not only a dear friend... she is an amazing person. Her deep calling from childhood has been to be of service to others in what ever way she can assist. Jane ventured to Southern California to leave behind the harsh winters of her home state of Minnesota and at first glance found desert to be a barren place - now, the Seussical Joshua Trees make her smile. After some time in San Diego and the low desert, comprised of the areas around Palm Springs, Jane found her way to the Hi-Desert. In this episode, we focus mostly on Jane's lifetime of experience as an intuitive/clairvoyant/clairaudient. Growing up with these gifts was difficult. Jane has since learned they are just part of her experience this time around, having frequent visitations regularly from a variety of light beings. We talk about why the desert seems to be associated with UFO sightings and Jane talks about Contact in the Desert (next one is May 31 - June 3, 2019) and offers some resources for those interesting in learning more about life in other dimensions and gaining understanding around the concept that thoughts are things and we have the power to change our thoughts and manifest the life of our dreams. Jane left California for a time, traveling to Peru where she trained with a Shaman for eight years facilitating Ayahuasca ceremonies. Though not a Native American in this lifetime, she feels a kinship with the Lakota and has also lead Native American Journeywork and the energetic healings of both humans and animals. Her lifetime work for the past 30 years has been as a physical therapist assistant, rehabbing people from a variety of illnesses and injuries. Jane recommends: David Wilcock: https://divinecosmos.com/ Contact in the Desert: http://contactinthedesert.com/about-the-show/ GAIA TV: https://www.gaia.com/
Karen Tracy's first experience with the desert was the destination of one of her father's Sunday drives. Her dad had a friend whose parents had retired in Joshua Tree and were doing some farming... not the type of farming you might expect. That house is still there, as is the little shed that housed the farms product. Karen recalls her feelings around the 'farming' and also remembers the owners proudly demonstrating their toggle switch operated window blinds. It would be a number of years before Karen returned to the desert. A marriage to a fellow student at dental school dissolved, but Karen moved forward and completed dental school. Some of Karen's friends had purchased property in the desert and she would find herself out here on weekends in the 70's and 80's. After graduating and then leaving a dental practice in Northern California, a friend called asking Karen to come out for six months to assist with her own dental practice in 29Palms while she took some time off for the birth of her child. Thirty-three years later, Karen is still here. During her stint helping her dentist friend, Karen discovered climbing and the Joshua Tree climbing community. Karen worked hard to become a climber who takes herself climbing, rather than one who gets taken climbing. At one point, Karen was working one day a week at the dental office and climbing the other six days of the week. It was the climbing that cemented Karen's decision to stay in the desert. In this episode, Karen talks about the fall during one climbing trip that not only broke her back, but broke her arm in several places. After an attempt to self heal, Karen heard a message calling her to try yoga. After an attempt to self-teach by book, she decided to go to Los Angeles and Hawaii for in-person classes culminating in a trip to India for yoga teacher training as a way to improve her practice. A few days after her return to the desert from India, she received a phone call from one of the few studios in town to come and teach. Karen also shares her experience with Transcendental Meditation (TM) and talks about the meditation domes in Fairfield, Iowa, as well as her involvement in the beginnings of Transition Joshua Tree, a sustainable system based on the Transition Network of Rob Hopkins. Photo: Elena Ray
In 1970, with a marine husband in Vietnam, Cheryl Erickson was tasked with coming to 29 Palms to look for a home for herself and her husband. After her initial trip, Cheryl decided not to tell her husband she was not moving to the desert - 50 years later, she is still here.
Having a life-long love of books, Cheryl worked in libraries at the University of Minnesota, Fairfax County, Virginia and Cal State Long Beach and immediately, upon getting settled, took a job with the 29 Palms Library. A marine officer's wife, Cheryl learned the other Marine wives were a bit unhappy that Cheryl's work made her unavailable to assist with the planning of teas and other service spouse functions.
Oddly enough, Cheryl's step-mother knew a women who lived in 29 Palms and suggested Cheryl seek her out after settling in. The woman was Mary Hayes, wife of Ted Hayes who was the first high school teacher and principal in 29 Palms. Through Mary, Cheryl had an easy introduction to the community and feels it was that sense of community that has kept her in 29 Palms all these years.
At the library, Cheryl worked as assistant librarian to Harold Weight. One day, while Cheryl was reading 'The Desert was Home', by Elizabeth Campbell, an important early resident in 29 Palms history, a library patron suggested that if Cheryl were interested in 'that kind of stuff', he would bring her some items he'd kept in the process of removing the contents of Campbell House. Cheryl and Harold poured over the materials and lamented the fact that so much from the home had been discarded without a thought of it's historical value and importance. It was at that point, around 1982, with the meeting of a few other local minds, that the 29 Palms Historical Society was formed.
With Harold's assistance and previous experience in collecting oral histories Cheryl conducted oral interviews of more than 70 of the oldest residents of 29 Palms. In this episode, Cheryl talks about her conversation with Johnnie Hastie, the towns bus-driving errand man.
Cheryl went on to become the head librarian of the 29 Palms Library and, along with Ann Congdon, was the Pioneer Days 2107 Old Timer of the Year.
Cheryl is also a member of Little Church of the Desert, where she played the organ for many years, and continues to play an important role in the community and in the 29 Palms Historical Society.
https://www.29palmshistorical.com/
Raised as one of five girls in a suburb of Boston, MA, Mimi had never seen a desert until her plane landed in Palm Springs in the late 70's. Mimi was coming to southern California to see about jobs with the Riverside and San Bernardino school districts - her real goal was to eventually get to San Francisco to live and work. After being shown around by the school district, Mimi went back to Atlanta, thinking the desert wasn't going to be her next move. Shortly after her return, the school district called back, aware of a job opening in the Morongo Valley. Mimi came back and in the course of being interviewed, met a man in a local Joshua Tree restaurant who wrote for the local paper and was also from the Boston area - he would eventually become her husband. Mimi took the job. When Mimi started the job, she traveled to various schools in the district - picking up stray dogs along the way. During our conversation, Mimi indicates the problem of dog dumping was much worse at that time. She was thrilled when the Morongo Basin Humane Society opened in the 80's. Though not a no-kill shelter at the outset, Mimi was happy to have a place to take the strays she was encountering. Eventually, Mimi was asked to be on the Board, the shelter had gone to no-kill status and the rest is history. Mimi has been the Board President of and on (more 'on' in the last several years) of the Morongo Basin Humane Society for many years. If you have an interest in animals and would like to make a donation to the shelter, you can do that here. If you'd like to volunteer your time, go to the shelter on Sundays and walk a dog! In this episode, Mimi also recounts a 15 month overseas trip with a friend. They covered Wales, Switzerland, Spain, Morocco and many other places along the way. Mimi says she loved her old desert neighborhood, in the Highlands of Joshua Tree, but it changed over the years, with neighbors moving or most dying off. She's moved from that area and still has a place in the desert and also a place in Oregon now, where she likes to go in the summertime. Mimi isn't sure whether the desert will continue to have a hold on her or not, but she does know she'd like to step away from the responsibility of the shelter and enjoy her retirement.
http://www.mbhumanesociety.com/donations.html
Kit's family moved to the desert in the early 60's from Duarte, California. Kit was youngest of four kids, spread out over a number of years, so two of her siblings had already left home by the time the family made the move to the Mojave. Kit spent time riding horses barefoot and bareback and made a few bucks to spend on school clothes sweeping and washing curlers at Barbara's Beauty Salon (now known as 'that blue building' next to Ink & Steel in downtown Joshua Tree. After being voted 'Queen of Landers', Kit married at 17, had a child and moved to a local reservation with her husband with what by today's standards would be considered an early form of 'pre-fab housing'. Living for several years without running water or electricity still gives Kit an appreciation of the flip of a light switch. In this episode, Kit also talks about her appreciation for the Native American culture and what life on the reservation was like for her. Kit is a 'doer' and has had many jobs over her lifetime. Among other things, Kit has cleaned houses, been a firefighter, an ambulance driver, a meat cutter and a medical supplies driver. That last one, was the job that paved the way to her meeting renown environmental sculptor, Noah Purifoy and ultimately, apprenticing with him for many of his later years. It was Kit who encouraged Huell Howser of California Gold fame to come out and interview Noah for the program. With a home in 29Palms, Huell was also a lover of the desert. Kit is featured in the episode with Noah - watch it here. Kit has always been creative, but because she did not train in the 'fine art' of it, never really felt as if her work from found objects in the desert was truly art. It wasn't until stumbling upon Noah's place in north Joshua Tree that Kit really felt she was on to something with her found object, recycled material work and later, black-smithing. Though moving to the desert as a kid was a bit of a culture shock, Kit says she and her family immediately adapted and totally fell in love with the desert - she's been here going on 40 years. https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2001/10/24/noah-purifoy-visiting-939/
Karin has been an artist her whole life, from drawing as a child to, more recently, creating an eight foot tall work combing aspens and redwoods with a women with a fractured face. Her solo show opens at Joshua Tree Art Gallery (JTAG) on February 9, 2019. She's been creating art for 44 years. In this episode Karin talks about living in Detroit and Canada and moving to California in the 1970's. Her art career started with drawings of fashion, some of which still informs her art today. Karin worked as an art instructor at Riverside City College and at Norco (CA) for twenty years and at some points got involved in the nitty-gritty of administration and the politics of academia, which didn't leave much room for her to do her own work. Her initial impressions of the desert were not flattering and left her wondering who would want to live here. Later, a trip to the national park with her beau Robert, proved to be a game-changer, "there was just this feeling that this was an important place for me to be" Karin says. Karin and her husband, Robert, a musician, collaborated on a performance piece in 2003 call 'Scrubscapes' - sort of an ode to the desert - combining Karin's art pieces, some video installations with music and spoken word. Karin admits it was a bit of a stretch for her. While lecturing on art history to a room of students came easy, live performance, especially singing, was a different story. The collaboration yielded four successful performances. Her upcoming exhibition was inspired in part by "The Overstory" a book of interlocking stories, centered on trees, by Richard Powers. With a studio in Joshua Tree, Karin has 'office hours' for herself and her art, but stays creative at home in Yucca Valley making jewelry in her spare time. www.karenskiba.com www.joshuatreeartgallery.com
Amritakripa was introduced to the desert by her partner, Robbie and was immediately taken with the place on her first trip, feeling like she’d landed on a new planet.
Subsequent trips brought thoughts of buying property as an investment and after nearly a year of weekend trips looking at properties, they came to a decision to just leave Malibu and reside in the desert. As with most stories of desert moves, there were no impediments and the move was both rapid and smooth. Kripa believes the veil between the visible and invisible and much thinner here. The landscape, the space, the quiet allows one to easily slip between the two, if one so chooses, to tap into the creative, artistic and the spiritual. In this episode, Kripa offers her own creative journey into painting as an example. Having never painted in her life and doubting her abilities, she picked up a brush after serendipitous nudges from the universe and a dear friend. She’s been painting ever since, always starting with a color, channeling the final product through faith and trust. Her work is beautiful - check it out at the link below. A student of Bhakti yoga, Amritakripa’s band, also called Amritakripa, creates beautiful music combining kirtan chants and trance-like melodies, bringing people to their feet to dance and chant, creating a vortex of love energy where ever they play. Photo: Elise Kost Find Kripa's music here:
http://www.robbirobb.com/amritakripa/index.html Find Kripa's art here: https://amritakripa.com/ And the band on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amritakripamusic/
Joshua Tree has long been known as a place that accepts all comers. Seekers, hippies and the generally eccentric are welcome to come and be... well, themselves. It is a community of people, particularly the artistic community, who will accept you as you are. A late transitioning transwoman, Jenelle Weisskopf has found acceptance here - and reasonable rent. A former member of the Air Force, Jenelle is a software engineer mainly working from home. Jenelle first came to the desert presenting as a man and lived in Yucca Valley - her life was very different then. Work and life took her away from the desert to San Diego where, in the last few years, housing was becoming more and more expensive and some unpleasant incidents surrounding her gender identity were happening. Two years ago, after a conversation with a desert friend, Jenelle left San Diego, returning to the desert. In this episode Jenelle talks about how overhearing a conversation while standing in line at a local convenience store, she found a local group playing Dungeons and Dragons, inspiring her to create her own similar game, using Joshua Tree as it's backdrop. Jenelle also is finding time to return to playing the guitar and has many other varied interests, including home-brewing beer and has fun creating costumes for attending the annual Gaslight Steampunk Expo in San Diego, reuniting with friends she has met there in previous years. We also talk about the distinct differences she has experienced, particularly on the job, having presented as both a man and a woman. Jenelle ended our podcast conversation with a beautiful statement, bringing us both to tears. If we are here to do anything, it is to love one another and help each other become the absolute best people we can be. If you're a local interested in joining the local D&D game or Jenelle's game, find her on Instagram @mistressofcheese. Below are a few links I mention at the end of this episode. Thanks again for your support and here's to another year of stories from the fantastic women making this desert their home. To suggest Desert Lady Diaries to Buzzfeed as a podcast people should listen to in 2019 - do it by January 18, 2019: 1. Click HERE to go to their site and mention Desert Lady Diaries in the comment and WHY you recommend it OR 2. Email: scott.bryan@buzzfeed.com ,put PODCAST in the 'Subject' and tell him why you recommend it. EVER GRATEFUL! Interview with Ed Ryan of Podcast Business Journal 'This Desert Life' by Matthew Cabe, Victorville Daily Press
Well, we're all over the news here in Joshua Tree - government shutdown - COMMUNITY SPIRIT! In this abbreviated episode, I talk about the impact of the park being closed and what local residents are doing about it and how you can help. I also talk about a new segment of the podcast and how your support helps keep it going. Guest interviews will return beginning next week - Happy New Year! Read about recent impacts to the park that are causing it's closure: https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-01-08/joshua-tree-national-park-to-close-due-to-damage-in-government-shutdown Donate to Joshua Tree volunteer community efforts: www.friendsofjosh.org
MELANIE BUCK, In Memorium
Photo credit: Freequency Media LATE NOVEMBER, 2017 ~ FURSTWURLD, Joshua Tree, CA On this beautiful fall day, a group of loving, talented Morongo Basin locals met at a local community gathering place to talk to Janelle from Freequency Media and be part of her new project. Melanie is second from the back, with the short brown hair. After a bit of conversation about what brought some of us to Joshua Tree and the spiritual allure of this place, Janelle and her production team set up a meditation area, Melanie sat behind me and Gabriella Nagy led us in a deep, heart-centered yoga and meditation. As we proceeded through the meditation, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something so very special about this moment. Intuition was telling me to remember it, implant it in my brain. The sunshine, the mountains, the feel of the desert earth under me and each individual beautiful soul that was there on that rug - all of us vibrating together. The scene was incredibly alive, as you see in the photo above. It was warm under the shining fall day, our hearts were aglow with Gabriella lovingly guiding us through the chanting and yoga. The love people have for one another here was so very evident and I felt it. When the session was over and everyone was gathering their things, Janelle asked me to stay for a brief interview. While waiting for her crew to come around, still holding on to that feeling, I burst into tears. Janelle asked why I was crying and I explained the feeling I had, that there was something extremely special about this moment that I was being called to hold on to it. We continued to talk, then helped pack things up and everyone went their own ways. It was the last time I saw Melanie. That was Friday ~ on Monday, over morning coffee, I opened my laptop, logged on to Facebook, confronted with messages I never expected to see. Something happened to Melanie Buck on Sunday. There were messages with words like 'tragic loss'. You see, six weeks ago, Melanie and her husband, Paul, had just welcomed their son, Joe Claude into the world - he was six weeks old. Tragic indeed. I reached out to Faith Chinnock, since hers was one of the first messages I saw. We spoke briefly and cried together in our astonishment and sadness. A few moments later my phone rang. It was Carly Valentine, "What happened to Melanie?" More brief discussion, crying, and 'i love yous'. Tragic indeed. Everyone who met Melanie loved her immediately. She led with exuberance, humor, and a constant smile. Her love for her life and this desert was evident. I fielded a phone call from someone locally who I'd never met, who had just met Melanie a few weeks earlier, who was hoping to get to know her better. Tragic. So, to honor Melanie and her kind, loving soul, I wanted to bring her episode to the forefront again. She left us on December 3, 2017, at a time of the year when, perhaps, we yearn and hope for more connection, remembering those who have taken their light into another room and look hope in the candles glow and the gatherings of friends or family. For those who haven't heard the interview, listen to the great love in her voice for absolutely everything in her life. She was filled with gratitude. For those who have heard it, I hope you'll listen again and let her voice seep into your soul and leave you smiling. We miss our friend - I know. And please listen through to the message from her parents, Gay and David Whitman - they ache for the daughter daily.
A San Francisco Bay area native, Danielle Wall's introduction to the desert came at a young age with visits to her Grandpa's house in Yucca Valley. Fast forward to 2015, with a week to go on her lease in San Fran, she called her Grandpa and said she was moving to Yucca Valley in a week. Danielle didn't know anyone but her Grandpa when she moved here, but spent a year working for herself, catching odd jobs like pet-sitting or secretarial work, which helped her get the lay of the land and it's people. Danielle is now a General Manager at Rimrock Ranch, where the Joshua Trees meet the pines in Pioneertown. Thought she did have snakes as pets, Danielle didn't start out being a snake lover, having been an entomology major in college. She's since trained in snake handling and biology - dissecting them and working with live, but venom-less, rattlesnakes. Danielle says, "It's a thrill and it's cool to be around such a powerful creature." That thrill has turned into a free catch and release service Danielle offers in the Mojave with any donations she receives going to Animal Authority Rescue Team. In this episode, Danielle gives some tips on how to live in harmony with snakes and what you can do to keep them at a safe distance from your desert home. She also advises on what to do if you have a snake on your property and she can't get to you immediately, the consequences of trying to handle snakes yourself and what NOT to do if you get a snake bite. When she's not managing at the ranch or on a snake call, Danielle is a lingerie model. An admitted band nerd, Danielle says it's the last thing she ever expected to be doing. After gifting a boudoir photo of herself to her then husband, she started getting inquiries to come and model and it's just taken off from there. We also talk about the appeal of the tattooing process and how much work has gone into the Mojave Green tattoo around her neck. If you need reptile relocation, contact Danielle here: https://www.facebook.com/highdesertreptilerelocation/
An independent study project at a local high school fueled Jennifer's passion for photography. Frequent trips to protest and social justice meetings in NYC with her older sister had her snapping photos of the likes of Abbie Hoffman. A gifted musician, Jennifer put her camera down, picked up the alto sax and flute and was playing alongside jazz greats in NYC. While at Leonard Davis Center for Performing Arts, Jennifer met her husband, also a musician. They moved out to Los Angeles, initially staying with family. In this episode, Jennifer describes they racism they faced as a mixed raced couple in search of housing. Eventually, they had three children and Jennifer needed to step away from the music career and rekindled her love of photography. It was something creative she could still do while raising the kids. Sometime in the 1990's, while the kids were in school, Jennifer, a single mom of three, took a day trip out to Joshua Tree. She describes it as a spiritual awakening as she gazed at the beauty and reveled in the silence. She continued to visit, each time a little bit longer, staying at the 29 Palms Inn, among other places. During an Art Tour weekend, Jennifer found herself in Wonder Valley, eventually purchasing a cabin that would be her go-to get-away from LA for nearly 12 years. With the kids out of school and on their own, Jennifer made the decision to move to the desert full-time. Through the connections she made during those 12 years as a part time resident, she is now very involved in the hi-desert art scene, curating shows for the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council, 'Art in Public Places' and the 29 Palms Inn. She is currently putting together a show called 'Deconstruct/Reconstruct' that will open in April 2019 at Gallery 62 in Joshua Tree. Photo: Jennifer Ruggiero - Self Portrait Take a look at some of Jennifer's work on her website or follow one or both of her Instagram accounts: https://jenniferruggiero.zenfolio.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_ruggiero_photography/ https://www.instagram.com/wonder_valley_museum_of_art/
Susan Rukeyser describes herself as 'difficult company at the cookie swap'. She's aware that she doesn't like the things your supposed to like and talks about the things you're not supposed to talk about. Which is why, after growing up in Connecticut, it was so hard to find her people living in places like Georgia and Texas. About eight years ago, visiting family in Los Angeles, Susan decided to see what was east of the city and drove to Desert Hot Springs. She found out there was 'some kind of park' in a place called Joshua Tree and took a drive up. In this episode, she describes getting high as a kite on the sunshine and the place just feeling like 'home'. But, with a son in a good school in Georgia, it would be eight years before Susan could make the leap to make it her home. In the meantime, she'd make short trips out, basking in that sunshine, living like a local and re-opening her creativity. When she did finally move, the first day she drove up to her new home, a chuckwala greeted her, but, was never to be seen again. Moving here knowing no one - like more of us than you might think - Susan was grateful to find a poetry reading event at a local bookstore on Facebook. She showed up that evening and left feeling she had met her people. The idea for her book, 'Feckless Cunt: A Feminist Anthology' was borne of Samatha Bee using the term to insult the sitting president's daughter. Susan felt she had lots of feelings, but no words, around the state of our nation and put a call out to her network of writer friends to contribute. That was June, 2018. The months after that were full of choosing the works and formatting for self-publishing. In September 2018, Susan was arranging for open readings of the book in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, here at home in Joshua Tree and in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York - very near where Susan had operated a used bookstore in nearby Kingston years before. It felt like she'd come full circle. Susan is also the author of 'Not on File, Only Dying' and a chapbook, produced by local Joshua Tree Space Cowboy Books, called 'Swap/Meet'. http://susanrukeyser.com/feckless-cunt-a-feminist-anthology/