Joshua Journal

August 2003

8/18/2003 Today's my lucky day I woke up early this morning and started running a bath. Just as I was about to step into the tub, hubby came in and saved me from a possibly fatal mistake by saying "It's not a good idea to take a bath during an electrical storm." What electrical storm? Hey, I don't put my hearing aids in until after a bath so didn't even hear the thunder. Oh well, back to bed. Rising a bit laterand padding barefooted toward the dresser, I felt an animal squirm under foot and thought there was a mouse in the house. I turned to see what I'd partially stepped on, but it wasn't a mouse. It was a three-inch long scorpion which was now waving its stinger angrily. (Sorry, no picture.) On carefully picking it up in a piece of tissue and tossing it outside, I realized my extraordinary luck. I was saved twice today before even getting dressed!.		8/27/2003 Oops, with the storm I almost forgot to mention that Mareine at J.T. Country Kitchen just started canning her wonderful home made salsas so visitors can take them home or order by phone (760/366-8988). This one was $4.25 per jar, including tax. Of course shipping would be extra if ordered by phone (tell her KAT gave you her number). Beware: her "mild" is medium, and hot -- well yes, it is. The Mango salsa is our favorite of her flavors so far. This evening at the stable we could see storms coming in from both the south and the northeast. Rather ominous, but what a beautiful site. Later we watched the storm over Joshua Tree from our home in Yucca Valley, five miles away, where it barely sprinkled. The lightning was so constant I just aimed my camera at the storm and kept clicking the shutter until it happened to catch this: 8/28/03 We spent the day hand digging trenches at the stable to prevent further erosion and guide any more storm water around the stalls. I've never worked harder physically in my life. Just as we were leaving, we heard a ROAR and looked up in time to see a wall of water cascading down the wash through the property. SURPRISE! It wasn't even raining anywhere near us.
8/20/2003 Just Add Water How do you turn the desert floor into a massive field of green grass and flowers? Just add water. The average yearly rainfall in Yucca Valley is 3.34 inches. That was more than doubled early this year, which led to a gorgeous array of wildflowers and green lawns that nobody ever planted this Spring. The wildflowers were dead and we were back to normal today when we left for John to work and me to look at a horse in Orange County. Just after picking John up from work, we got a call from son Scott, saying not to come home for several hours because Yucca Valley was flooded and many roads were closed. Good excuse to go to Disneyland, right? So we did. We met our friend Deborah for dinner and spent the evening at Disneyland. We got home after midnight and found ourselves "off roading" on paved roads. It was clear and dry when we left town and when we returned. We'd missed the most action-filled day since moving here.
8/26/03 A River Runs Through It We were eating lunch at J.T. Country Kitchen today when it started raining. Within 10 minutes employees were moving their cars and John had to climb across our truck to get into the driver side without wading through six inches of water that had gathered at and over the curb. It took awhile to find a place to cross Highway 62, and then we were in a maze of streets full of flowing water trying to find any way to get back home. Click picture to see larger version. When we got to this intersection, Hillview and Alta Vista, we realized it was time to back up to high paved ground and just wait it out. The rain had already stopped. Twenty minutes later the river was gone and we drove through here.