The biggest news is that I am now officially a resident of Joshua Tree! Yes, another desert rat (or fox) is born. I've been house sitting on and off out here since mid-January, but as of this week I have my very own (well a rental, but still) desert pad. It's beautiful and quiet and cozy and quiet and remote and quiet and teeming with wildlife. Did I mention it was quiet?
I was back in my LA home last week for a couple of days and was quite suddenly struck at how noisy the place is. I grew up in the suburbs and I've lived in other cities including New York City for ten years, so I know from some noise, but I guess I'd already (and without really noticing) become accustomed to the "silence" of the desert. LA is car alarms blaring, trucks passing, airplanes flying, dogs barking, power tools buzzing, air conditioners running, people talking, cars beeping, neighbors doing what neighbors do. Joshua Tree is birds chirping, quails cooing, coyotes yelping, wind blowing even sometimes howling, the occasional fly or bee buzzing, and every now and then a boom from the military base many miles away. But mostly, when the refrigerator isn't humming and the air is still, there's actual, honest to goodness, silence.
Like nothing I've ever heard.
