We are now, currently, in Palm Springs... I think. I know we're near Joshua Tree because we went. I haven't been since I was a kid and it's more amazing than I remember. Em has made friends with twin girls who are traveling with their mom and grandfather for a year. They went to the park yesterday and came back with reports of wa-wa-waaaah. That made me nervous. Really nervous. So did the 105F heat yesterday. Trekking around a desert with kids in that kind of weather is just CrazyTown. But I sucked it up, and we drove up today hoping for at least a Junior Ranger Badge in an air conditioned welcome center, if nothing else.
We are currently planning at least two more days in the park... plus an overnight... or two.
I understand where some people see desert and piles of rocks and can be completely underwhelmed by the vastness, the sheer enormity of all the forces at work to make a place like this. Or they get overwhelmed by the sun and the heat. I get it. No judgements. Promise.
For us, however, the desert is a wild and harsh place that tests the metal, demands attention, and can render one completely breathless. I'm generally a heat-wimp. Most days, I get grumpy around 80F and just downright melt by 92F. I don't know where my Northern California soccer playing former self went, but she is clearly and most assuredly gone. Give me a chunky sweater and a cool breeze any day. That said, it was 83F today, solid breeze but not windy, and simply delicious. My only complaint is that we didn't have our climbing gear. The rocks just beckoned to be clambered up! We saw roadrunners, tracked a kangaroo rat a fair distance and generally rock-hopped around a small section of the park. We haven't gone to 3/4 of our "must see" list because we wanted to take our time, enjoy, and come back. A few thousand miles back, we realized we'd rather content ourselves to "come back" rather than try to kill ourselves to get the "been there" picture. Today, was no exception.
On one of our rock-hopping romps, I left Cooper, Emmerson, and Todd to climbing while I took the smaller girls back to the air conditioned car. They're still small enough for me to get fairly nervous about overheating and sunburn. Plus, their Junior Ranger activities take them longer. Writing is still not free-flowing at 4 and 6 years of age. A fair distance in the direction of the car, I hear my boy child whistle for me, and I see this-- him on top of a rock formation, waving wildly. This boy drives me to the brink of sanity more than once every. single. day. Without exception. But then there's this. This absolute fabulousness of my son, conquering the world (or a pile of rocks), pleased as punch with himself and wanting nothing more than to show his mama. Be still my heart, Kid. You're amazing! (PS If you need a magnifying glass to spot him, no worries, he's easier to spot when in surround sound anyways!!)
On that same trek back to the car, with two very brightly red-faced girls, this happened. This girl, my mini in so very many ways, asked what her older sister meant when she said, "I stood like Peter Pan on that rock!" I told her about the quintessential Peter Pan 'pose' and she ran ahead and said, "Like this mama?!?" Blue skies, clouds that were just cotton candy and feathery all day, giant Joshua Trees straight out of a Dr. Suess book and this girl.
Camping for almost 5 months has had it's moments of sheer mama torture. The washing, the dirt, the growing out of everything... it hasn't all been awesomeness and fabulous. This was pure wonderful and pure Harper. A moment for the books to make all the scrubbing over a spigot worth it times a thousand.
I packed every single thing that is currently traveling the country in our mini van. Amongst the items, I brought with me a whole crate of books and scraps of things I wanted to do this summer and fall. Things I've put off because of work and life and mending. I let myself fall into the trap of thinking this was "camping" in this one small, tiny way. In every other aspect, I remembered that this was life for us, not camping. But I somehow thought I'd have time on my hands to read a book, do some writing, maybe a craft or two. I should have known better, I know. There's no place in this world for a mama to accomplish things! *eye roll* Besides finishing the last 25% of art projects and handicrafts the kids leave, there's been no time for any of my crate. Most of the time, I don't even get a moment to remember to take pretty pictures of anything but the kids. Today, while on our hike in Hidden Valley, though, I took a few minutes. I took pictures of this amazing charred tree. I'm sure the thing has been the centerpiece for too many mass-produced pictures that find their way to Costco and World Market, but I couldn't help myself, it was beautiful. Even at the wrong time of day, with harsh overhead direct sun, it was still stunning. That might be a metaphor for the last little bit, even in the not-so-awesome-circumstances, it's still been stunning. Maybe.
