Here in the land of the great Mojave Desert, we've been having some astonishingly clear days. What are called the "Santa Ana" winds have set in, blowing hard from the east, and left the skies a burnished blue that is something to behold. These winds are dry, coming in off thousands of square miles of the Southwest, a land of little rain, and sometimes huge fires follow. We have had some rain, so fire conditions are not as bad as they could be. For us, last Sunday was set to be, for once, virtually windless in a region known for virtually constant blowing. On a bike I've battled this country more than once in blustery conditions. I think I still have the emotional scars to show for it. Brutal. But Sunday, all was sweetness and light, and Jodi and I needed a walk through our kind of church. We hiked into a land of twisted hoodoos and sinuous, narrow-walled canyons of eroded stone, lots of volcanic ash and sand and lumps of basalt here and there, a vertical cliff in a dead end slot, small stands of the fabled Joshua tree here and there. We reveled in the light and silence, and I took many excellent pictures, which you will not see. Why? Oh, because I'm a moron and left the camera at some point out in the vast sandy expanse featured above, a photo courtesy of Jodi. I've ordered a new camera, so, minus a couple of hundred dollars, I'll have my own gear again soon. Sigh....
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