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| Desert lizard by C. Caplinger. Twenty-Nine Palms has 27,000 people and a vast number of murals! Last week when I was visiting there, I posted images of several historical murals in the town: See This Post. |
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| On the same building: a roadrunner that captured the lizard! |
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| This entire building is one huge mural. |
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| Another side of the building. |
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| Last week we had a wonderful visit with our friends in Del Mar, California, just outside San Diego. I’ve written about how we all visited the zoo and the art museum. One morning they brought in these fabulous croissants from the bakery on the corner near their house. |
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| And a delicious cheese board for lunch one day. |
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| Good food and good wine for dinner. What wonderful hosts we had! We are very grateful to them. |
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| Their home is furnished in craftsman-style chairs and cabinets. |
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| The garden with Ed’s bird watching scope. |
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| The back garden, with mainly native California plants. |
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| Sunset from their dining-room window. They have lived in this house for many years. Let’s face it, people like us can no longer buy houses with a view like this! |
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| As we were leaving, I took a photo of the front of the house. |
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| Not far from their house is a beautiful area for birding: a lagoon by the ocean. Ed is a committed birder! |
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| A side trip to the nearby Whole Foods where this mural is in the parking garage. |
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| At a diner near their house: a great view of the sea. And real California orange juice. |
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| Phyllis had a great selection for movies each evening. “The Booksellers” (2019) was a very interesting documentary on the New York antiquarian book trade. My only criticism is that it didn’t mention the recent major impact of eBay and online book selling. |
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| “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” (2022): a very creepy Stephen King film. I liked it! |
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| “Awakening in Taos: The Mabel Dodge Luhan Story” (2015): a documentary about Mabel Dodge Luhan, who had a sort of artists and writers colony in Taos in the early twentieth century. I had heard about her in connection with D.H.Lawrence and Georgia O’Keeffe, but learned a lot of new things. |
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| Cottonwood Spring Oasis at Joshua Tree National Park. We visited on our way back to San Diego on Sunday morning. |
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| A Townsend’s Solitaire was on the ridge above the oasis. We didn’t see many birds. |
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| Now we are back in Michigan with nasty cold rain and occasional sleet, and the desert seems like a mirage. |
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| Goodbye to San Diego. We took a walk on La Jolla Shores Beach, which we have loved for decades. Then we headed for the airport. |
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| The San Diego Airport is very beautiful. Our flight left on time, arrived early. |
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| And now, a cup of coffee on the glass-top table in my own living room. We arrived home at around 6:30 AM. Back to normal, and to being in Elizabeth’s blog party. |
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| Saturday morning we drove to Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, down the mountain from Joshua Tree NP. We could see the unusual sight of snow-capped mountains, which received a huge snowfall last week. |
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| A stature of a mountain lion watches over the feeders, where several people were looking at the birds. After watching for a while, we followed several of the beautiful trails around the preserve. |
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| Recently, Cassin’s Finch has been at the feeders for the first time on record.— perhaps driven down from the mountains by the snow. |
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| Opportunists always — squirrels were gathering fallen birdseed in their cheek pouches. |
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| We revisited the most beautiful loop road through Joshua Tree on the way back to our hotel. |
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| Several very large murals commemorate the history of the town of Twenty-Nine Palms. I took photos of three of these, which present local events from several historic eras. |
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| A couple named Campbell played a large role in the town during the early part of the 20th century. |
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| Another mural is a memorial to the miners of the early days in this area. |
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| The Oasis of Mara is the subject of another mural. This oasis was once an important crossroads for trade among the native peoples of California. We took a walk at this site Friday morning. |
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| On the Park Service Building at the Oasis of Mara is a mural dedicated to Minerva Hoyt, whose recognition of the value of the area was instrumental in eventually creating the park. |
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| Many other murals, such as this one, give the town an interesting look. I’ll post others later, to share with Sami’s Monday Murals. |
