Time moves differently in the desert. Moments burst into life and last as long as the laughter holds out. Days go by in the blink of an eye or slow to a crawl and you have to be reminded of what month it is, what day. Weeks seem to be highlighted by one or two events when you know more than that occurred. Weekends seem to happen more often than anything but that might be because they start so early and end so late.
This weekend started on Thursday when first Matt, our I.T. Department head, returned from LaLa land with stories of his adventures. Then our first WWOOF’er, Sarah, arrived from England. Technically she arrived from Tucson, AZ, by bus to El Centro and then another bus to Niland; but in the end she did set foot down on East Jesus sand.
(On a side note it must have been the strangest interview for her to search the internet for our new phone number and upon calling for information to be greeted with questions like: You want to come here and work? Do you know where we are? How did you find us? You know we aren’t really an organic farm? Are you an artist? Can you call yourself an artist? Do your friends refer to you as the ‘crazy one’?)
Not much seemed to phase her though and she fit quite nicely into the mix. Just this morning after breakfast she asked about shooting guns on the range so she could get a feel for America. Sorry we didn’t have a chance for her to try the chocolate martinis but we thank her for all the work she did to straighten up the library. We’re also sorry we couldn’t get her to try the hot springs naked but the English have their peccadilloes. In the end we sub-named the library in her honor and when people ask we can say she passed on to that misty land on the other side (of the Atlantic).
Phil Holland, cinematographer extraordinaire, stopped by on Friday night with some beer and a fantastic piece of filming hardware. It had Ken, our video department head, all excited and on Saturday they spent some quality time filming each other as well as sneaking up on everyone else trying to get any work done. Phil brought some friends over to be amazed and we did our best. By the end of the weekend they wanted to buy a trailer and move in with us.
Saturday night was the music from the Range and went a little late as we had to return to the stage and rescue our guests from Moth. We also were waiting to hear from our friend Holiday who had been in a car accident on his way to the Cacophony celebration. Luck was good and so were the hospital tests so Joe gets another near-death experience to add to the list and some cool cell phone pics.
Sunday and while some guests were leaving others were just arriving. Royce and his friends Leslie and Bob on their way back from L.A. to Arizona with a drop off for the Tower of Barbarella. More importantly, to stop my whining, they brought some animal skulls included the much sought after WARTHOG. The presents kept coming when Big Steve came bearing a truckload of plastic toys from the knock off company called China. Action figures, guns, bullwhips, tiaras and wands, helicopters and robot hands, poor Royce had to be dragged away on Monday after erecting a new level to the Tower. He promised to return for the March 24th Birthday Bash and Artist Challenge to add yet more height and motion to the continuing story of lost art surrounded by ducks.
Tuesday, Big Steve took a couple extra workers with him to help salvage some wooden concrete forms and after taking all the bolted lumber apart we split the haul. A dozen more 4×4 posts and 2×12 boards to help in the construction of roofs for solar panels, among other things.
Hump day and we’re getting ready for the weekend and looking forward to more visits from old friends.