Mad Dogs, Englishmen, Golfers, and the Occasional Writer

In the last post, from far out in the desert, I promised pictures.

Above is a picture that is not from the desert, but from my little town of Huntington Beach just before we left. The jacarandas are in bloom, and here's the parking lot at a local school. (I always like the jacarandas a little later than this, when they have covered the ground in solid purple, but I didn't have time to wait for that.)

It was a lovely 75 F when I snapped that shot in HB, but out in the desert it got up to 112 F, which is a bit on the warm side. Rancho Mirage is just a little inland of Palm Springs, and Palm Springs is a lovely place to visit in December, but why anyone would live there year-round is a mystery to me.

Nonetheless, there are people out there in the summer. Not only out there, but engaging in physical activities such as golf. Not I. All I could manage during the daytime was to sit in my airconditioned room and tap fitfully at my keyboard.

To give a point of reference, here's a shot of the grounds of the Rancho Las Palmas Hotel. (The writing retreat was originally set out here, a quarter-century ago, because it was so cheap during the summer. No more. Now there's golfers, and that involves money.)



I admit it's a nice-looking facility. And those mountains to the rear are part of the huge Santa Rosa Wilderness Area, where you can travel for days and see nothing but a few Bighorn Sheep. But, once again, not a place to go in the summer.

But, enough of trivial matters such as recreation and geography and physical survival. On to important issues such as publication. As I mentioned, RN Morris has bullied his way onto American turf once more, making a mockery of our Revolution and exposing us once more to the threat of taxation without representation. And the people at Penguin USA have seen fit to distribute his book far and wide--even unto the uninhabitable desert.

And here's visual proof: Two admiring fans at the Rancho Mirage Borders...



...and a half-dozen copies sitting on the New Mystery shelves at the Barnes & Noble's in Palm Desert (third shelf down in the pic).



Congrats, Roger. Your plans for World Domination are moving ahead smoothly.

(At least they didn't insist on retitling it "The" Vengeful Longing...)