Flooding on Amboy, August 30, 2015

Thanks, Laura Sibley, for the great pics. I heard the road is okay, now.

Tamarisk tree flower buds in monsoonal storm light

Photo by: Ron Resnick / Blurrylens Photography

I can't believe people still ask me why I live here. Just look at all the natural beauty and all the wonderful artists that capture it. Thanks, Ron, for letting me post.

Desert Trail Column, July 30, 2015

Approximately 100 people attended a special movie under the stars last Saturday night at The Palms. Gerhard and Edith from Vienna, Austria hosted the showing of “Eden’s Edge,” a collection of nine short films depicting slices of desert life. (Darlene’s worm farm was one of them.) The crowd was very interested in the unique filmmaking involved, and Gerhard spent about 30 minutes answering questions from the enthused audience. Because of an unexpected turn of events (see below), Darlene was able to attend the showing after all.

Darlene's worm farm depicted in the project Eden's Edge

We send out Rainbows-of-Rubies-and-Larkspurs to Lilah Margaret Fairweather and to Mandy Root who are celebrating their special days this week. Happy birthday to both of you!

Darlene’s Commentary:  Firstly, thank you, Teresa Sitz, for the moonshine yarrow – I’m dying to see what it looks like. I received a great card wishing me a speedy recovery for my hip replacement, for which I lovingly thank Teresa (the instigator) and Karen (the accomplice), brother-in-law Ted, Charlotte Williams, Izzy and pups, Almut Fleck, Mary Quamme, Pastor Max and Olympia Rossi, and my new neighbor Bob Burtt, that I will meet when I get back on my feet! I also received a phone call from Lee Jesmain, whom I so enjoy conversations with. I am very blessed to have so many wonderful and thoughtful friends, neighbors and family. But a little glitch occurred the day before my scheduled surgery when rainwater found its way into the operating rooms at HDMC causing a two-week postponement of getting my new hip!

Karen’s Commentary:  If you shop online at Amazon, I’ve found a fantastic way to donate to a charity of your choice without spending an extra penny. Go to http://smile.amazon.com. It’s the same exact shopping site with the same exact items for sale, but with a great twist. You choose what twentcharity you want to support – I chose Guide Dogs of the Desert – and a percentage of every one of your orders will automatically be donated by Amazon to that charity. No cost to you. And, by the way, I recently noticed that the Twentynine Palms Historical Society is one of the charities available, too.

Check out the Wonder Valley website at http://wondervalleycsa.blogspot.com. Teresa and Ken Sitz do a bang-up job of keeping Wonder Valleyites informed of what’s going on in our area.

Clint Eastwood, breakfast in bed.

Handy Hint: To clean your toilet, pour a cup of vinegar in the bowl before going to bed and then, in the morning, just brush and flush.

Thought for Today: “I’m Joe Citizen. I’m a moviemaker, but I have the same feelings as the average guy out there.” – Clint Eastwood

Until next time . . . remember to take time to enjoy the WONDERs all around us.

Where's Heather?

Wonder Valley's own artist, Heather Johnson, is riding her motorcycle to the other end of the Americas. She's made it as far as Ecuador. From Heather:

"Speaking of thresholds... — at Quitsato Sundial."

Monthly Monday Meeting - August 10, 2015

Join your neighbors for the Monthly Monday Meeting at the Wonder Valley Community Center, 80526 Amboy Road, August 10, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. to discuss various community issues.

I'm pleased to announce that Ignacio Nunez, Code Enforcement Supervisor, will be present to talk about Code Enforcement and to answer questions.

We will also be looking at the County's Adopt-a-Road program.

The agenda will be posted shortly.

Everyone (whether or not you're lucky enough to live in Wonder Valley) is invited and welcome to attend and participate.

How hot is it?

Forwarded by Olivia de Haulleville.

Adopt-a-Road Program

Hi All,

I've been researching county programs that might help us reduce dumping in our beautiful desert. One that looks very promising is the San Bernardino County Adopt-a-Road Program. You can adopt an entire road, or just a mile, and then you are responsible for 4 cleanups a year. The county provides the tools you need including trash bags and they come pick up the bags. They'll also pick up any bulky items that have been dumped in the area.

People who adopt a road may apply for a sign and the SIGN is what I think will make the difference. I know that many people who dump in the desert are thoughtless, but I believe that SOME of them may see a sign that says the "Smith Family" or the "Wonder Valley Hiking Club" maintains this road, then they MAY think twice about dumping there.

Adopt-a-Road signs would give the appearance that Wonder Valley is owned by the people who live here and is not just a wasteland for people to dump in.

So, I would encourage you to join. If you have any questions, please contact me: teresa_sitz@gmail.com.

To learn more about the program, and sign up, follow this link:
http://www.sbcounty.gov/dpw/operations/adopt-a-road.asp

To see the map of available roads, follow this link:
http://sbcountydpw.maps.arcgis.com/apps/PublicInformation/index.html?appid=53a06871b7324ad9b947df3ad1ba9164

Here are the available roads in Wonder Valley:
These are called "County Maintained Road System" (CMRS)

Amador between Amboy and Montalyo
Amboy to Bullions Mountain Road
Anza from Amboy to the end of the road
Bullion Mountain Road between Valle Vista and Amboy
Diamond Bar between Bullion and Falderman
Encanto between Bullion and Falderman
Falderman between Amboy to a little past Sunny Sands Drive
Godwin between 62 and Amboy
Montalyo between Bullion and Falderman
Pinto Mountain Road from Amboy to Valle Vista
Raymond Drive between Bullion and Mojave Road
Valle Vista between Pinto and Bullion

Please let me know if any of these roads have dump sites contiguous to them or are high crime areas.

Desert Trail Column, July 23, 2015

The meeting with our Basinwide MAC representative Teresa Sitz on July 13 was very informative and interesting. Reps from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and Roads Department were there, answering numerous questions from the audience. Wonder Valley Community Watch signs, WV pencils, WV postcards, flyers and informational sheets were given out, and a lot of subjects were discussed.

Seniors and disabled persons can apply for free painting, light carpentry and light repair work. Call 760-361-1410.

Leo Calice and Gerhard Treml from Vienna, Austria will screen the very unique “Eden’s Edge” at The Palms, 83131 Amboy Road, on Saturday, July 25 at 8 pm. “Eden’s Edge” consists of nine shorts, one of which is Darlene’s story of raising worms in the desert! This collection of short films is like nothing you’ve ever seen – it will be well worth your time to attend. More details at bit.ly/edens_edge.

We send out Rainbows-of-Rubies-and-Larkspurs to Star Javier, Isabel Austin and Mary Anderson who are all celebrating their special days this week. Happy birthday to all of you!

Karen’s Commentary:  Thanks to Jan Peek for stamps, cards and coupons. I just sent two big boxfuls of cards to St Jude’s Ranch for Children. An update on the ants:  They came back! So I am now a true believer in the powers of original blue Dawn as opposed to the cheap stuff. I applied a thin coating of “OBD” about two inches wide on the kitchen counter top all along the wall, and no more ants!

Darlene’s Commentary: Gerhard Treml  emailed me from Vienna, Austria about the showing of “Eden’s Edge” at The Palms this Saturday, but I will unfortunately be unable to attend due to my upcoming surgery. Gerhard, Edith and their team came here a couple of years ago to interview folks that had a story to tell about life in our beautiful and unique piece of desert. I was so honored to have my story selected and developed as one of the nine short films in their project. “Eden’s Edge” has been screened at art film festivals around the world, including Germany, Poland, South Korea, France, Austria and Slovenia.

If you want to ask about, complain about or cheer about our road maintenance, call 760-367-9880.

Handy Hint: To prevent a door from constantly blowing shut, put one part of an adhesive-backed Velcro fastener on the end of the doorstop and the other part on the wall.

Thought for Today: All Chinese bar codes start with the number eight, because it is pronounced in Chinese the same way as the word for “prosperity” and considered to be a lucky number.

Until next time . . . remember to take time to enjoy the WONDERs all around us.

Rain storm over the north of Amboy neghborhood in Wonder Valley, 7/19/15, Teresa Siz

Where's Heather?

Wonder Valley's own artist, Heather Johnson, is riding her motorcycle to the other end of the Americas. She's made it as far as El Trampolin del Muerte in Colombia.

From Heather:

Tomorrow. El Trampolin del Muerte, also known as La Carretera del Diablo. I've been told it rises from an elevation of 600 meters to 5000+, becoming a single rocky lane with 1000-foot drop offs and occasional streams cutting through it. Am I up to this? Well.. I have the following on my side:

1.  A little bike that has so far proven to be pretty sure-footed in tricky circumstances.
2.  I'll be riding inside, not on the edge.
3.  FARC has announced a cease-fire, effective now.
4.  I've been fantasizing about this road since I learned of it.
5.  If it comes even close to fitting its description, it'll epitomize the "frightening and beautiful".

Hell, yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe6fnSKxAQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNOcSEBGlJc

Eden's Edge - Palms, next Saturday night, July 25

Eden's Edge, 9 Shorts On The Californian Desert

with artists Gerhard Treml and Leo Calice

One of these films feature Darlene Parris, who writes the weekly column for the Desert Trail!

 

High Desert Test Sites writes,

Please join us for a screening of Eden's Edge, 9 Shorts on the Californian Desert.  Vienna based artists Gerhard Treml and Leo Calice developed a series of short films together with an interdisciplinary team of researchers (Elisabeth Marko, Christina Linortner, Edith Schwarzl) to explore the narrative nature of landscape and how everyday stories and mythologies are enacted in them. 

Eden's Edge features one of Hollywood's most iconic landscapes, the Californian desert. Tightly connected to movies and myths relaying the American meta-narratives of the Wild West, the new frontier, and the land of opportunity, this particular landscape is reinterpreted by Treml and Calice's short films based on the life stories of its actual people. 

The visual settings follow a stringently maintained master-plan. We see bird eye-views of minimalistic scenes, meticulously arranged in gray desert sands, usually furnished with but a few props keeping the protagonists in far distance, however, conteracted by the their close accounts on desert life. 

Saturday, July 25, 2015, 8:00 pm
The Palms Restaurant and Saloon
83131 Amboy Road
Wonder Valley, CA

Dust storm, Wonder Valley, July 19, 2015

I was standing in my driveway looking south toward Highway 62 and the Pinto Mountains, a half mile away, when I saw a strip of dust come up.

At first I thought it was an off roader, but the cloud of dust kept getting bigger and denser.

This all happened very fast - in a matter of minutes.

Ken, watching the storm form.

It keeps getting bigger and coming closer. It's hard to even see the Pintos now.

 At this point we went in the house because we couldn't be sure how fast it was traveling. It seemed pretty fast. You can no longer see the Pinto mountains at all.

We came out a few minutes later and the dust storm had crossed Amboy. You can see the plume in the center is taller than the mountain.

Desert Trail Column, July 16, 2015

The USDA Food Distribution will take place from 11 to noon at our Wonder Valley Community Center, 80526 ½ Amboy Road, on Monday, July 20.

We send out Rainbows-of-Rubies-and-Larkspur to Ronald Rush and to Jayden Root who both celebrate their special days this week. Happy birthday to you both!

Darlene’s Commentary:  What a beautiful and perfectly-timed break in our summer weather this last week, several days in the low 90’s and nights in the 70’s. I had a chance to “crutch” around my yard for a bit and so enjoyed it, as I’ve spent most of the last month indoors due to triple-digits-plus. I never realized that using crutches gives you a lot more than sore armpits and calluses on your hands – you get a free full upper body workout! My arms have more strength and look more toned than they have in a long time. Wow!

Karen’s Commentary:  Okay, here’s my medication story. I was prescribed an antibiotic and a cough syrup, and after one day, I was so hyper I felt like I’d taken a full bottle of caffeine tablets! After being wide awake all night with no thoughts of sleep, I knew I needed rest, so tried closing my eyes. I immediately saw beautiful shooting stars, kaleidoscopes, patterns, swirls, etc. When I’d open my eyes, all was normal, but when I’d close them, the show resumed. The pretty images soon gave way to faces that gradually became sinister, then scary, then gory. The pictures and scenes seemed to be on the inside of my eyelids. Hallucinations are listed as possible side effects on both medications, so I talked to a doctor and was told that I didn’t have to take the cough syrup unless I really needed it, but to keep taking the antibiotic. As it turned out, the cough syrup definitely proved to be the culprit. This is absolutely the freakiest thing I’ve ever had happen with any medication.

Reach Out Morongo Basin will provide free rides to people wishing to go to the 29 Palms Nutrition Site on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Pick up is at 10 am and drop-off at 2 pm, at The Palms, or they will even pick you up at your home. Call 760-361-1410 for further information.

Handy Hint:  Frozen grapes are a great summer treat and can be used in place of ice cubes in any drink, including wine or plain water.

Thought for Today:  All Chinese barcodes start with the number eight, because it is pronounced in Chinese the same way as the word for “prosperity” and considered to be a lucky number.

Until next time . . . remember to take time to enjoy the WONDERs all around us.

Tornado in Wonder Valley

Reports have been coming in about a tornado north of Amboy on Sunday, July 5. The twister rearranged lawn furniture, tore up some fences, and ripped up some roofs. No injuries were reported. Starlene Javier, who works at the Community Center, said it was more of a "dirt-nado."

A sun shower to the left.

I was driving that day on Highway 62 and took this picture, looking north. I could see a sun shower to the left - a monkey's wedding, but looking at the pictures now I wonder if the two dark areas to the right were not funnels forming.

Funnels forming north of Amboy?

 Please, if you have any photographs of the damage, or stories you want to tell, comment below or send them to me at teresa.sitz@gmail.com.

Sad Vicious at The Palms

Sad Vicious at The Palms

Saturday, June 18, 7:00 p.m., FREE
The Palms, 83131 Amboy Road, Wonder Valley, CA 92277

Wonder Valley Community Meeting - NOTES

Wonder Valley Community Meeting Notes
July 13, 2015 at Wonder Valley Community Center, 9:00 a.m.
Chair: Teresa Sitz

1.       Call to Order, 9:10 a.m., Teresa Sitz

2.       Introductions
Because there were so many people (19) we passed on introductions.
PRESENT
Community Members: Charlotte Williams, Izzy Austin, Almut Fleck, Olympia Rossi, Mary Quamme, Bob Tellefson, Eugene Molina, Star Javier, Bob Burt, Karen and Ted Meyers, Jill Reinig, Mary Lindsley, Ken and Teresa Sitz
Special guests:

a.       Sheriff’s Specialist Robert Anderson;

b.      Reese Troublefield, Interim Divisional Manager, San Bernardino Special Districts

c.       John Bradford, Assistant Regional Manager, San Bernardino Special Districts

d.      Mark Lundquist, Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council

e.       Jim Schooler, Field Representative, State Senator Jean Fuller

3.       Community Comment on items not on the agenda
No comments were made

4.       Reports and Presentations
a.       Sheriff’s Specialist Robert Anderson reviewed crime statistics for Wonder Valley. From January through June there were 390 calls. Of those, 49 were written up as reports, and there were 7 arrests. There was one burglary in June at Brown and Blower. Jill asked which months of the year had the highest crime rates. SS Anderson said this year it was January and May. Bob asked if these were the same figures as were listed in the Desert Trail. SS Anderson said no. Bob followed up asking if comprehensive statistics were published anywhere. SS Anderson said no.

Olympia expressed concern over non-emergency calls. SS Anderson recommended calling 760-956-5001 when you weren’t sure your call was an emergency. SS Anderson said he personally patrols Wonder Valley twice a week.

b.      Teresa read the report for the MAC. Star Javier and Ted Meyers added content. There were no objections to the delivering the report as amended.
[I want to note that I included information about using our community center as a cooling station. Karen Meyers had contacted me about this issue as she had worked with Southern California Edison in the previous years to get this to happen and told me that this was the year there might be money available to do so. I failed to mention this at the meeting and want to acknowledge Karen for all the work she put in and for keeping on top of this issue.]

5.       Ongoing Business

a.       Neighborhood Watch and NextDoor
Teresa announced that there were NW signs at the desk and asked that anyone who used one agree to watch their neighbors’ houses and have someone watch theirs. She encouraged people to join NextDoor.com.

b.      Illegal Dumping
Almut and Jill agreed to work on arranging a volunteer cleanup with Teresa. Several people indicated properties that might qualify for a county cleanup. Mark Lundquist explained a little more about the process.

c.       Wonder Valley Art Fair
Teresa described the art fair and asked if anyone would like to participate. Jill Reinig signed up to show work at the Glass Outhouse Gallery.

6.       Special Districts Report
Road Budget, Road Building Tentative Schedule, and Park Budget
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yjwwwrnbf2wx5yp/2014-15_budgets_roads.pdf?dl=0
Reese Troublefield and John Bradshaw reviewed the road and park budgets and the road repair list. (These will be attached when they are received in digital format.)
Contact information:
Reese Troublefield: RTroublefield@sdd.sbcounty.com
John Bradford: JBradford@sdd.sbcounty.gov
Mr. Troublefield talked about allowing volunteers to keep the community center open.

7.       Agenda Planning
Ted Meyers asked Code Enforcement to be added to the next agenda

8.       Adjournment – 10:30 a.m.

Where's Heather?

Wonder Valley's own artist, Heather Johnson, is riding her motorcycle to the other end of the Americas. She's made it as far as Girón, Santander, Columbia.

 From Heather:

Girón. I spent a single night in this colonial suburb of a much bigger city, in an enormous and beautiful 200-year-old hotel room that looked expensive enough to make me feel guilty about staying there (though it cost around $19). It had a balcony made of ancient stained beams from which I could gaze down at people passing by under the street lights that night. — in Girón, Santander.

Monthly MAC report for Wonder Valley

The people in attendance at yesterday's community meeting voted unanimously to endorse this report, with two additions, to the MAC meeting last night.

July 13, 2015 MAC Report on Wonder Valley

We started a Neighborhood Watch in Wonder Valley last month, and on June 17 we joined NextDoor.com, a private online social network and an enhancement to the Neighborhood Watch program. Since we started 33 people have signed up. We’ve invited the Sheriff’s Department to join our group so we can receive notices from them.

There have been a few arrests in Wonder Valley recently, and residents have mentioned seeing the Sheriff’s Department out here more often. We want them to know we appreciate them keeping on top of problems here.

We had our monthly Monday Meeting this morning with 19 people in attendance. San Bernardino County Sherriff’s Specialist Robert Anderson attended and spoke to us about crime in the area, the Neighborhood Watch and NextDoor. Reese Troublefield, the Interim Divisional Manager, and John Bradford, the Assistant Regional Manager, of San Bernardino Special Districts presented on the budget summary and gave a road report.

I added three local cooling stations to the website – 29 Palms Senior Center, the 29 Palms Branch Library, and Hi-Desert Medical Center. Our temperatures have hovered around 110 degrees lately. I spoke with Southern California Edison about opening our Community Center as a cooling center. SCE told me they couldn’t provide funds as San Bernardino County had not contracted with the Public Utilities Commission to receive money to fund cooling centers. Star Javier, who works at the Wonder Valley Community Center said SCE has been closing centers throughout the Morongo Valley, including Joshua Tree.

We also discussed illegal dumping.

On July 6 Kip’s Desert Book Club met at the Glass Outhouse to discuss the book Vermillion Sands by J.G. Ballard. There were 28 people attending. We’re grateful to Kip Fjeld and High Desert Test Sites for continuing to site their projects in Wonder Valley.

Several local artists are working with Laurel and Frank from the Glass Outhouse to produce the Wonder Valley Art Fair on October 24 &25, to run concurrently with the Art Tour. We’re working with local businesses to be open at the same time.

We’re publishing a one-sheet, hard copy newspaper called the Wonder Valley Sand Paper. It’s designed to reach people in the area who might not be online.

There are two new Wonder Valley post cards. The website address is listed on the back if you’d like to see what we’re up to.

July 25, 8-ish at the Palms, 83131 Amboy Road, Wonder Valley, CA 92277

From High Desert Test Sites:

EDEN'S EDGE, 9 SHORTS ON THE CALIFORNIAN DESERT

LEO CALICE
GERHARD TREML
JULY 25, 2015
Vienna based artists Gerhard Treml and Leo Calice developed a series of short films together with an interdisciplinary team of researchers (Elisabeth Marko, Christina Linortner, Edith Schwarzl) to explore the narrative nature of landscape and how everyday stories and mythologies are enacted in them.

Their film Eden's Edge features one of Hollywood's most iconic landscapes, the Californian desert. Tightly connected to movies and myths relaying the American meta-narratives of the Wild West, the new frontier, and the land of opportunity, this particular landscape is reinterpreted by Treml and Calice's short films based on the life stories of its actual people.

The visual settings follow a stringently maintained master-plan. We see bird eye-views of minimalistic scenes, meticulously arranged in gray desert sands, usually furnished with but a few props keeping the protagonists in far distance, however, conteracted by the their close accounts on desert life.

This program is supported by The University for Applied Arts, Vienna, The FWF, and Land Salzburg.

Update: The artists will be present.

Many Moods of Ben Vaughn, Sunday, July 12

The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn

This week's MANY MOODS OF BEN VAUGHN will feature selections by these fine recording artists and more. Full playlist to follow.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE:

KCDZ, Joshua Tree, CA (Sundays at 3:00 pm PST)

AVAILABLE AS PODCAST: Now available on iTunes thanks to KCDZ in Joshua Tree, CA.

Where's Heather?

Wonder Valley's own artist, Heather Johnson, is riding her motorcycle to the other end of the Americas. She's made it as far as Playa El Cuco, El Salvador. From Heather:

From Heather:

Bogota. I didn't anticipate being spattered with fake blood and being granted the privilege of creeping around 15-foot concrete walls, pretending I've just gone ballistic and murdered my corporate office comrades. What started as a practical visit to a new city to get my bike cleaned up unraveled into a tangle of crazy experiences and yet more friendships. 

The city itself is seductive as hell. Ancient, unsanitized and simmering with an unspoken artistic violence. Nearly every concrete surface is covered in street art. Music seeps out from every doorway and entire city blocks are dedicated to the sale of used books.
Motorcycles are everywhere. They stream through the traffic clogged streets like blood pulsing through massive plaque-filled arteries. There is a mutual understanding between bikers, a code of ethics that follows the patterns of a dance. Like riding in New York City, that dance entails dodging taxi cabs, buses, bicycles, cars, but in this case there are no rules. 

Tonight will be my last night here. I feel drained but rejuvenated. Southern Colombia awaits.

Agenda for Monday, July 13 Community Meeting

There will be a Community Meeting at the Wonder Valley Community Center on Monday, July 13, 2015 beginning at 9:00 a.m. This is the monthly "second Monday" meeting. We are pleased to announce the following special guests:

1. San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff's Specialist, Robert Anderson
2. Reese Troublefield, the Interim Divisional Manager, and John Bradford, the Assistant Regional Manager, of San Bernardino Special Districts

This is an opportunity for people to ask questions and voice concerns, so please come and bring your friends and neighbors. 

Available at the meeting:

• Neighborhood Watch signs
• Two new postcards
• Wonder Valley pencils to the first 24 attendees

You can download a copy of the agenda, or view it below.

WONDER VALLEY MONTHLY MONDAY MEETING

Second Monday of the month, July 13, 2015, 9:00 a.m.

Wonder Valley Community Center

80526 Amboy Road, Wonder Valley, CA 92277

Wonder Valley MAC Delegate and Meeting Chair: Teresa Sitz

Everyone is invited and welcome to attend and participate.

A G E N D A

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; 

indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

1. Call to order
2. Introductions
3. Community comment on items not on the agendaThe community is also invited to comment after the reports and during the discussions below.
4. Reports and Presentationsa. San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, Specialist Robert Anderson
   b. Discussion and possible action: Shall the community endorse the delegate’s MAC Report to be read at the MAC meeting tonight? (see the back of this page)
5. Ongoing Business
   "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh
   a. Neighborhood Watch and NextDoor
   b. Illegal Dumping
   c. Wonder Valley Art Fair
6. Special Districts Report
   Reese Troublefield, the Interim Divisional Manager, and John Bradford, the Assistant Regional Manager, of San Bernardino Special Districts will present on the budget summary and give a road report.
7. Agenda planning
   The community is invited to suggest items to place on the next meeting agenda.
8. Announcements
9. Adjournment 

MAC Agenda and Draft Minutes posted

The Wonder Valley Community meets at the Wonder Valley Community Center on July 13 at 9 a.m. with their MAC Delegate, Teresa Sitz.

All nine of the delegates of the Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) meet Monday, July 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Joshua Tree Community Center, 6171 Sunburst Avenue in Joshua Tree. The public is invited and welcome to attend.

MAC Agenda for July 13, 2015: http://bit.ly/07132015MAC
MAC Minutes for June 8, 2015: http://bit.ly/06082015MACMINUTES

Wonder Valley, last weekend. Photo credit: Teresa Sitz

Ben's Vaughn's, the Many Moods of Ben Vaughn

Ben's Vaughn's, FOURTH OF JULY SPECIAL! 

This week's Many Moods of Ben Vaughn will focus on 1976, America’s bicentenial year. 

Tune in to hear selections by Lou Reed, Waylon Jennings, Bohannon, The Runaways, Dwight Twilley, and maybe even the Rocky theme. Full playlist to follow.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE:

KCDZ, Joshua Tree, CA (Sundays at 3:00 pm PST)

AVAILABLE AS PODCAST: 

Now available on iTunes thanks to KCDZ in Joshua Tree, CA.

Desert Trail Column, June 2, 2015

Fifty-eight years ago this week, in Liverpool, England, 15-year-old Paul McCartney watched a band called the Quarrymen led by the almost 17-year-old John Lennon. The two teens met later that day and before long created one of the most popular rock groups of the 20th century – The Beatles.

Are you bored? Do you like cherries? Yes to both? Then hop on a plane for Eau Claire Michigan this week for the 42nd annual International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship. Entrants eat a cherry and then spit the pit as far as possible on a blacktop surface. How exciting!

Penny and Ron Root are celebrating 22 years of marriage this week. Happy anniversary to you, Ron and Penny!

Famous people celebrating birthdays this week include Lindsay Lohan (29), Dave Barry (68), Geraldo Rivera (72), Huey Lewis (65), Ashley Tisdale (30), Gary Shteyngart (43), Milo Ventimiglia (38), George W Bush (69), Shelley Duvall (66), Anjelica Huston (64), Hillary Mantel (63), Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz, 80), Julian Assange (44), Lisa Leslie (43), Michelle Kwan (35), Dalai Lama (80),Eva Marie Saint (91), Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, 53), Jorja Fox (47), Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino (33), Pau Gasol (35), Amelie Mauresmo (36), Becki Newton (37), Teemu Selanne (45), Johnny Weir (31), Richard Petty (78), Jose Conseco Jr (51), Montel Williams (59), Michael Weatherly (47), Neil Simon (88), Francois Arnaud (30), Joe Thornton (36), Nancy Davis Reagan (94), Doc Severinsen (88), Jeffrey Tambor (71), Kevin Bacon (57), Kevin Hart (35), Thomas Gibson (53), Toby Keith (54), Horace Grant (50), Chris Gratton (40), Allyce Beasley (61), Joe Sakic (46), Beck Hansen (45), Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey, 75), Della Reese (born Deloreese Patricia Early, 83), Billy Campbell (56), Gina Lollobrigida (87), Moises Alou (49), Berenice Bejo (39), Billy Crudup (47), Ralph Lee Sampson (55), Sylvester Stallone (69), Pierre Cardin (93), Burt Ward (70) Ned Beatty (78), Sophia Bush (33) Geoffrey Rush (64), and Grant Goodeve (63).

The Food for Life Ministry prepares delicious hot meals at Little Church of the Desert every Saturday afternoon. The meals are free, plus delivery is free to your home if you are unable to travel to the church. Call Reach Out Morongo Basin at 760-361-1410 for further information.

The Christ of the Breadlines, Fritz Eichenberg

Handy Hint:  When you get a splinter, reach for the Scotch Tape before resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put the Scotch Tape over the splinter, then pull it off. Scotch Tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily.

Thought for Today:
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
– Decca Records executive, rejecting the Beatles in 1962

Until next time . . . remember to take time to enjoy the WONDERs all around us.

Wonder Valley Get Together

Dear Wonder Valley,

Kip Fjeld and High Desert Test Sites are both BIG supporters of Wonder Valley. Kip works most Sundays and at some of the events at the Palms and this is the second Kip's Desert Book Club he's hosted out here. The first was at my house and 28 people came to discuss the book Point Last Seen with the author Hannah Nyala West. We all sat on my patio. As it got darker lightning flashed over the Coxcombs. It was a beautiful evening.

THE ASK
The message I'm getting from many of you is that you long for the days when you used to have a hopping community where everyone got together for social events. For that to happen again we all have to leave our houses and our comfort zones and go to where the people are. Next Monday night that will be the Glass Outhouse Gallery for Kip's Desert Book Club. It's not required that you read the book - J.G. Ballard's Vermilion Sands (I have an extra copy if you need it). I may find time to read it over the weekend but if not I'll just listen to other people talk about it and enjoy the potluck, the company, and the sun setting over the magical grounds of the gallery. The setting sun lights up the bottle garden in a dazzling display.

Please come. Meet your neighbors. Meet Kip and all the people who work so hard to make Wonder Valley the art and music mecca of the Morongo Basin. Be the one who makes the difference. You are needed and wanted.

Let's give a big Wonder Valley showing on Monday. Give me something great to report about at the next MAC meeting.

Monday, July 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Kip's Desert Book Club at
The Glass Outhouse Gallery
77575 Twentynine Palms Highway (at Thunder Road)
Wonder Valley, California, 92277

There will be a community potluck at this event so please bring a dish or bag of chips if you can, and something to drink for yourself.

I'll be there so you can come sit by me and I'll be bringing the two new WV postcards to pass out,  if you want to get them early, and I'll also have copies of the Wonder Valley Sand Paper so you can pick that up, too.

Wonder Valley rainbow

Wonder Valley artist, Kiki Seror, an instructor at Copper Mountain College, caught this rainbow over the Buillon Mountains the other day. Kiki teaches art and photography.

Wonder Valley murals

Cathy Allen, an art instructor at Copper Mountain College, organized a mural tour of Wonder Valley last Sunday after brunch at the Palms. I missed it and am so hoping she does another.

The artist is Mear One. The video below has mature language, probably not safe for work. Lovely job they did sprucing up the desert in Wonder Valley.