Joshua Tree Through Gail's Lens - Words by U2

Desert sky

Dream beneath the desert sky

The rivers run, but soon run dry

We need new dreams tonight

Desert rose

Dreamt I saw a desert rose

Dress torn in ribbons and in bows

Like a siren she calls to me

Sleep comes like a drug in God's country

Sad eyes, crooked crosses in God's country

Set me alight

We'll punch a hole right through the night

Everyday the dreamers die

To see what's on the other side

She is liberty

And she comes to rescue me

Hope, faith, her vanity

The greatest gift is gold

Sleep comes like a drug in God's country

Sad eyes, crooked crosses in God's country

Naked flame

She stands with a naked flame

I stand with the sons of Cain

Burned by the fire of love

Burned by the fire of love

Lyrics from "In God's Country" by U2 from the Joshua Tree album

Odds and Ends

 Yoda is staying in our house.

 One of our blue columnar cacti suddenly grew these unusual looking flower buds - we had no idea!

Last night, we went to our second Steam Powered Giraffe concert - music and entertainment for the nicest audience around!

Nick and Cassidy in Napa

Earlier this month, I spent a week up in Napa to visit gracious hosts Nick and Cassidy.  Cassidy had just started a new job, but Nick and I had some time to do "man things" like make beer, put up a bat house, and supervise removal of dangerously leaning trees.  The following pictures don't need much explanation, so I'll let most stand alone.

The fresh paint and color scheme have sure brightened up the kitchen!  Nice touches, Cass!

Kato (top) and Kirby.

 One of the "leaners" that had to come down.

Nick has tilled much of the property for crops.  Everything is so green up in the Bay Area!

Going Bats!

It started with the idea of making a small birdhouse to donate to the Audubon Society fundraising auction party at our local lagoon nature center.  Making a bat house seemed more interesting, however, so I ended up making four bat houses (because I couldn't buy a partial sheet of plywood).

Each bat house is capable of housing at least a hundred bats.  A single bat can eat up to 1,200 mosquito sized insects an hour, or about 8,000 insects a night.

Excuse the blurry phone pictures that follow.  There were silent and live auctions for many very creative bird houses and one bat house.  The event was quite festive, with food, drinks, and live music provided by "The Endangered Speciez".  And... we actually were recognized by three administrators from the Oceanside Museum of Art as the "hippies" from the Valentine's Day Party.  We practically never see anyone we know or get recognized in this sprawling metropolis, so that felt heartwarming.

The woman in yellow, the auctioneer, is Martha Barnette from the KPBS program "A Way With Words".  It was a very pleasant down home crowd, most of whom are out of the picture.  Gail kept me a little anxious as she joined in the bidding several times, but bailing out before actually winning - whew!  Some of the bird houses sold for over $150!

I was relieved to see I got some bids!

This woman and her husband were nervously guarding the bat house to maintain their high bid.  I was tickled to see how much they wanted it!  They had enjoyed bats at their home in years past and figured they had the perfect place for it.