October is here and finally the temperatures are going down to manageable levels. No longer does the mercury try to escape the thermometer by day, no longer does the sunset presage the accumulation of humidity. There’s a comfort in knowing the worst of the heat is over, there is a satisfaction that comes with surviving the extreme.
We would like to thank all those people who stopped by in September and weren’t so lucky. We admire your effort and dedication. You’re the people that keep this endeavor going even more than those of us living here. Without your contributions, without your eye popping awe, without your love we wouldn’t have much purpose other than basic survival.
Mike James stopped by for some B-roll for his film that he shot here on the night the cops shut down The Range. He’s looking to submit for the SXSW film festival and we made some tentative plans to have a debut party here at the East Jesus movie theater.
Big thanks to Ben Wolf and Joe Holliday for a work filled weekend visit where they erected our latest addition to the sculpture garden. Fainted Foundation might look like a twister deposited it on our doorstep but I can assure you that it was dismantled after a show in Los Angles and transported in the dead of night to the desert. Doesn’t say too much about our security that a large box truck can sneak into the compound without waking us but we caught them with breakfast the next morning.
Luckily the canal is full of cold water to dip into after working up a sweat and we had a couple extra hands to help with lifting. Joe stayed an extra day to finish the details and now the house looks right at home.
We had the return of two of our favorite guests with Rhombie and James from L.A. Rhombie has been taken with the idea of a bicycle gang and so brought her freshly detailed pink bike out to see if she could recruit some members. Her luck wasn’t that good so the next weekend they returned with two more of our friends Dan and Heather. All was going well with music and laughter and ice cream when the night was broken with screams. Seems a desert tarantula had entered the living room on it’s way home. We forgive the guys for losing their cool but after that it was kind of funny when the plastic spiders kept everyone guessing.
We lost one of our writers and contributors when Phil completed his year long stay and decided it was time to move on to new adventures. We will miss his dry wit and macabre imagination. Just as we were trying to imagine how boring it was going to be without him we had the arrival of another small shy guest. Cat, for lack of a better name, was obviously the runt of the litter and looked to be starving for not only food but attention. It took a couple of days but she has filled out physically and now spends a good portion of the day and night exploring all levels of her new playground. She is slowly adjusting to the idea that there is a steady stream of dogs and people trekking through her new home.
We also welcomed Max and Derick, two of Charlie’s friends from Burning Man and the Art Car Community for a one night stay as they headed cross country. They graced us with a private performance in the music room of a song they wrote about Charlie and Cinnabar Charm.
And on the other hand we have the usual occurrences of meeting interesting individuals who somehow find our destination. Just the other evening I glanced at the clock and realized that it was near sunset. I walked outside the office and glanced over to see a RV parked in front of the garden. I walked back to the bottle arch to see who was here and if they needed a guided tour and noticed someone climbing on the new house. Took a second to realize that he was almost naked with only a feathered mask and towel and that he was being photographed by a naked, masked woman. Oh well, still a beautiful sunset. They were quite amazed with the space and exchanged dinner for a place to park for the night.
And since it’s just about time for the sun to set again I will end here. We look forward to seeing more of our friends in the coming months. Our next big thing will be in November before the election causes everyone to go crazy.