Joshua Tree National Park - Artist in Residence Day 6

Wind

Still sore, I spent most of today taking care of my back, stretching, yoga, stretching, and some gentle hiking.  It's hard to look out my window and see the desert stretching invitingly off into the distance, luring me to go drive to places I've been waiting to hike for months.  Smarter is to take another day off from driving, so I kept my hiking gentle, sticking to the trails around Blackrock Canyon, which is next to my housing here.

It's been terribly windy today and yesterday.  I had my window open all day for the gloriously fresh air, and the sound of the strong wind in this desert is a fascinating thing.  The sound of wind on a warm day always brings memories of summers on my grandparents' old farm, a sense of contentedness.  Having grown up around primarily deciduous trees, I was struck by the strangeness when I first heard wind in a coniferous forest.  Here in the Mojave it has an entirely different sound than anywhere else I've experienced.  Even more interesting is the dichotomy between the auditory and visual effects of the wind.  The sound is intensely fierce, yet the Joshua trees outside my window barely move, their rigid branches offering only a slow sway. 

The wind brought interesting clouds, and challenging lighting conditions for decent photographs.  Another interesting thing I've noticed is that there seems to be virtually no bloom this year.  I was excited for my timing with this trip, looking forward to seeing the desert in full bloom.  So far, I've just seen two nolinas and two Joshua trees in bloom.  Granted, I haven't explored the entire park yet, but this is the least amount of flowers I've ever seen here.  If I'm lucky, perhaps it will rain during my stay... 

This long cloud had very sharp edges and traveled parallel to the mountain ranges.

A parry's nolina in bloom.

Looking west, down the trail.

Closeup on a densely-branched Joshua tree.

Joshua Tree National Park - Artist in Residence Day 5

A Day Off

It's only day 5 of this residency, and it seems strange to feel relief at having a "day off," I guess it's proof of the energy it takes to be engaged with adolescents all day in the process of producing artwork.  Elementary kids here have no art class in school, which I found quite surprising.  Some of these sixth graders really love making art, and are thrilled to be part of this project.  Many harbor significant self doubt and skepticism about the whole thing.  I see my job here as being equal parts painting instructor, choreographer, and counselor, coaxing away fears and striving to provide a memorable, positive experience with art.  While balancing all of this is something I greatly enjoy doing, if I'm honest, it's also mentally taxing.

And then there's the part where I'm standing all day, bending over paintings.  I don't usually talk about having chronic back pain, after more than 20 years of it, it's just part of my reality.  Recently, however, I've found that my beloved road trips are becoming more painful, and the effects last longer than they used to.  And so, I took today to try to do little besides work on healing reactive muscles and a misaligned spine.  Days like today make me miss my trusty medical support at home.  I'm hoping that a couple days spent on health will get me back to normal and able to do long hikes soon.