Bottling the Desert

Cabazon. While the green hue that is cast across the bordering mountains this time of year makes it seem less like a desert community, tumbleweeds pile up like refugees against chain link fences and jackrabbits shade themselves in the shadows of coyotes. I would like to say, based on the sporadic, gypsy reminiscent neighborhoods that dot the landscape like ant colonies, that Cabazon was never meant to be a rest stop or a gateway or anything more than a dot beside Banning. But then the "World's Biggest Dinosaurs" opted to brave extinction for a chance at roadside attraction, a forgotten Bingo hall made itself over into a towering casino, and a faded outlet mall spread along the freeway like a designer disease. Windmills at the edge of town beckon motorists forward into the real desert of yuccas, rock formations, and golf courses, but Cabazon, with its burger joints and date shakes, yaps at their heels like a stray dog.


I am fascinated by the new against the more ramshackle, by the impermanence of this life in a flood zone, and by this rural town that hangs on to the map by railroad track staples and asphault threads. Like many desert towns, Cabazon emanates contradictions like heat from a Tucson highway. While a small corner market serves as a grocery store for the local community, the outlet mall boasts a Starbucks, a Haagen Dazs, and a Auntie Annies specialty pretzel shop. Shoppers coast on a diet of caffeine, sugar, and salt, while some residents take their meals filtered and in a paper bag. At the casino, a brazen Las Vegas style billboard advertises an authentic pow wow and gamblers, intent on nickle slots and roulette wheels, barely see the imported desert flora that graces their path to imagined riches.


Further south, a well maintained mobile home serves as a Set Free, an organization to help drug and alcohol abusers through work and salvation. Meals are shared at a redwood picnic table beneath a large jacaranda tree and men mill about drinking styrofoamed cups of coffee. Across the main road, sheriffs patrol the dirt roads and empty fields looking for drug dealers. Nearly every home has its own fence, yet dogs run free in the streets. New homes, their stuccoed exteriors painted in terra cotta, sand, or other desert hues, stare at the mobile homes, their sides dented and their roofs rusted, that huddle behind cactus gardens and mesquite. A perpetual wind coats everything in a gentle dust and a rock filled riverbed reminds golden weeds that their predecessors were green. Nearby and silent, save for the semi trucks making their pick ups, the Arrowhead bottling company continues about its business.

The tower of the casino stands like a lighthouse in an evaporated ocean, welcoming passerby to dry up their savings accounts. But behind the clink of ice against ice as another waitress is summoned, there is the sighing of ancestors whose traditions have been lost to material pursuit and of desert tortoises searching for water, dreading rain. The windmills, sentinels of the rural wanderer, whisper "go away" and yet the off ramp clogs like an artery and the parking lots swell. Cabazon.

Billboard

Traveling westbound along the 10, I noticed a billboard for a conservative talk radio station. It was simple and direct, with a solid colored backdrop and "When in doubt, tell the truth. "-Mark Twain. Having bored of the limited supply of CD's that I have in the car, I once tuned in to the station just in time to hear one of their hosts say, "Barack Obama used fear tactics to pursuade people to go along with socialism.".


Because I am trying to be patient with all sides to every story (feeling this will be the best way to teach Ava how to form her own opinions), I continued to listen to their complaints about the inaguration, their supreme belief that the country (with Obama at its helm) is headed to "hell in a hand basket", and their general displeasure with our new president. And I was really okay with their opinion, having heard all of their arguments at least a half dozen times a day for the past year. But then one host went into a tirade about how telling it is of Obama supporters that former President Bush was booed and serenaded with that "Hey Hey Hey Goodbye" song. I for one (and I know I am not alone) did not condone nor appreciate those actions, feeling that those particular fans lacked class. And, in case it isn't already quite evident, I am a huge supporter of our new president.


Needless to say, I have two things to say to the station:

#1. If you want to attract people to your view point, try not to insult them first.

#2. A better quote for your billboard would be: "First know the facts, then distort them as you please" -Mark Twain.

See, I'm Not Crazy (At Least In This Situation)

Remember my fear that Ava would get trapped in a front loading washing machine? There was an article in the news today about a 4 year old doing just that... I am saddened to say that the little girl died after her younger brother turned the machine on.

Face Space

Lynn's recent post about Facebook reminded me about a post that I have been meaning to write...


A couple of years ago Josh and I were swapping stories and talked about how there are friends and exes that we have been wondering about, but not necessarily enough to actually call or physically track down (who has time to lead a manhunt when there is vaccuuming to be done?). With Facebook and Myspace some of those "what have they been up to" questions are answered, usually before you even get in a quick hello. Jobs, familial status, location: its all on the page. How do they look now? Check out their photos. Its been interesting getting to know people again, tracking their lives so to speak, but without the responsibility of coffee dates and phone calls, awkard silences and "umm"s.


And for friends and family with which I have regular communication, I love the convenience of it all. I can plan coffee dates at midnight, inquire about a hair appointment at 7am, and take a quick look at wedding photos before I'm off to show property. Amy and I were recently able to chat online, as we both happened to be on Facebook at the same time (the IM features on both are great) and she didn't even hear the vaccuum. I have caught up with a friend who is somewhere in Central America and had a lunch date with a friend in San Francisco, all while simultaneuously getting work done; answering the phone at the office, checking my regular e-mail, tending to Ava.

I still love an old fashioned coffee or lunch date, lengthy conversation, and the opportunity to hug someone I haven't seen in awhile. And I have to wonder about the state of personal relationships as we grow ever more dependent on the cloak of the computer. But I also have to wonder if I would have a social life at all if Facebook and Myspace didn't fit so neatly into my whirlwind days.



* I can also get into a discussion about how one can define themselves on these sites, i.e. the profile photo that they choose, their mood and/or status update, etc. but I will save that for another day...

Trendy

The criminal trial for a Congolese warlord who "recruited" (stole) kids as young as 9 to fight in his army started this week. Hopefully this will be this year's latest trend.

Panda Land

Rather than filling our house with tons of gifts that would more than likely find their way to a charity within a year or two, Josh and I decided that it would be more enriching to take Ava somewhere every year for Christmas and/or her birthday. (Besides, between us we have three families and she is likely to be an only child, so I don't see her ever lacking in the toy or clothing department). We did get her the rocking panda (which my dad trumped with a rocking horse that shakes its tail and makes clomping noises... I will post a video of her on it once I learn how to transfer it from Josh's phone), but our real present to her was a trip to the zoo. We decided that Josh's birthday this past weekend would be the perfect excuse for me turn off my cell phone and for us to get away, if only for the day. (We couldn't have chosen a more beautiful weekend...the weather was perfect!). I was concerned that she would be too young to really enjoy it, but thankfully she has inherited my love for being outside in vegetation covered glory and both of our curiosity for new things. She loved it!

And while she foud new animals to intrigue and excite her (elephants, giraffes, monkeys, and meerkats), pandas are still the king of her forest. When she saw them , she pointed at them, then made kissing noises and patted her thigh. Based on recent reports of pandas "greeting" trespassers to their lair, I think it is probably better that they continued with their lounging and bamboo eating, but she was so excited! As you can see, she choose a newer, bigger stuffed panda from the gift shop (we named him Gou Gou-sp? aka "Big Big" after the male panda that was there), then abondoned him when she got home and saw old Panda.

Inauguration Day

I have been so excited for today and am even more excited for the years to come.

A rarity to have our television on all day, I have been transfixed by the events surrounding this grand day. At first disappointed that I hadn't won tickets to attend, I think I am better for being able to see more of what was happening, as cameras panned from events to faces, speeches to commentary, than I would have been had I been there, dwarfed against a backdrop of millions and struggling for a singular glimpse that may not have happened. Reporters have already articulated the myriad of ways in which today has stunning signifance and newspapers will be awash with photos to be savored from year to year, so I will refain from belaboring the points. Suffice it to say that hope, personified and framed, hangs in my hallway.