More postcards
Palm Springs was such a surprise. David had been there before, but I had no idea what it would be like. I imagined a small town with some wealthy-looking houses and shops, and in some ways that's what it's like.
You drive north-east from San Diego along the freeway that skims the eastern suburbs and satellite towns of Los Angeles, and then you climb up, up, up into the mountains, watching as the temperature outside falls by degrees (I do so love how my car tells me the temperature outside — I only wish there was an altimeter as well).
Up here there are tiny two-bit towns, ranches and several Indian reservations — California is home to about 90 tribes — and a lot of scrub. And on Monday it was only a few degrees above freezing, with occasional blobs of snow on the side of the road. But then, all of a sudden, you come to the other side of the mountains and there before you, spread out way in the distance below, is this (click on it for the full monty): Palm Springs, visible sprawled across the valley (above), is a city of over 300,000 people with over 100 golf courses! Right out there in the desert, where the summer temperatures soar to well over 45C (113F), which is hot, even by Perth standards.
We stayed in a gem of a hotel ... built in 1947 by one of the city's famous desert architects, William Cody. It had only sixteen rooms and the current owners are doing a great job of conserving it and restoring it, with brand-new bathrooms, comfy beds ... and great retro-style decor. Even though I am not a retro fan, I loved the look and ambience of this place. We spent Tuesday at the Joshua Tree National Park — spectacularly beautiful with the snow-capped mountains in the distance. From this vantage point (above), right in the heart of the park, we could see Palm Springs in the valley, way below (off to the left of this pic), and, interestingly, the low ridge line that you can see in the middle distance is actually the San Andreas fault — spooky!
The park is high desert, and despite the sunshine and blue skies, it was freezing. It is immaculately and cleverly maintained, with plenty of hiking trails, well-marked parking sites, campsites for tents and RVs, plenty of free composting toilets, and great roads.There's also a fantastic visitors' center which gives clear and fascinating information about the wildlife and geology of the area. The only thing that struck me as odd was that they call this wilderness — two hours out of LA, Palm Springs visible in the valley below, the sky criss-crossed with con-trails and helicopters, and people everywhere! Plus, at the entrance, a big public sign informed visitors of the day's air quality (it was good, yesterday!), which to me was telling evidence of the park's proximity to big cities. It's 2600 square kilometres (1000 square miles) though , so I guess there's room to get out and get lost!

Going bush
You'd think spring had sprung down here in SoCal, looking at this pic of blossom from a couple of days ago. But it's still wet, wild and windy — it's fantastic! I woke up in the night with the wind howling and the bedroom curtains horizontal — and then couldn't get back to sleep for a while worrying about what the hummingbirds do when the weather is ferocious. Cling on, I expect.
Dave, Will and I are off to the Bondi this arvo for Bondi's first big birthday party. Then tomorrow, we're going to Palm Springs for a couple of days.
See you later!

Big night at the Bondi
Just have to brag a little about what a great few days we've had the Bondi. The popular ASR (Action Sports Retail — surf shops, skate shops, etc) convention started on Thursday, and while Thursday night was good for us, by Friday night, Bondi was definitely the place to be. Especially as we had an LA band, HyperCrush, performing.
We had 500 people inside, and a queue of about the same waiting to get in. So popular were we that we were also visited by the police, the fire department, Vice and Health, all of whom left reasonably happy after issuing the odd warning, noticeably about overcrowding. It turns out that people were jumping our front porch balustrade to get in. Astounding.
The convention finishes tomorrow, but we don't think tonight will be quite as frenzied.
After the doldrums of December and early January, it's such a relief to pull a crowd again.

Happy Australia Day!It's still the 25th here, but it's already the Big Day in Australia. And Bondi's been open a whole year — yay! Big party on Sunday ... avagoodweegend!

O beautiful
David reported he could see snow on the mountains as he drove Will to school this morning. That would be the Cuyamaca Mountains, about half an hour east of San Diego: Don't we live in a fabulous part of the world? This glorious picture (click on it for the full experience) was taken two years ago this month by some clever photographer on the San Diego Union Tribune. I never exepected to be able to see snow down here, and the sight still astounds me.

Between showers
It never rains in Southern California — except this winter we're getting a treat. And it's wonderful — the air is fresh, the gardens are waterlogged, and the sky is full of drama. (Australian viewers, look away now — this kiddies' playground, above, has no shade whatsoever. Not even in summer, when it's full of kids. No wonder so many Californians need plastic surgery in their 30s!)

This tree at the park was full of little birds, all looking south. What did they know about?We were out in the park between showers, walking the dogs. 'Let's do three times round,' I said.
'Well, we ought to do four, really,' David replied.
'Okay,' (trying to keep a straight face) 'Let's jog the last one!'
'Great! Shall I run home and get your weights?'

Booking through Thursday

What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

:: Since 1966-67, when we read Flora Thompson's Lark Rise to Candleford in English class at school, I've always thought that no-one but my fellow students had ever heard of it. Shows how much I know: the TV series is now screening on English telly. I so loved this book, even after wading through it in school, and I've always owned a copy.

:: I'm always surprised when I get a strange querying look in response to mention of the short stories of Saki, the pen name of H.H. Munro. A boyfriend introduced me to Saki in the 1970s, and he's been in my collection ever since. These are brilliant, witty and often acerbic pieces, many of them satirising Edwardian life. They're full of eccentricities, bizarre happenings and weird characters — I just love them. Munro died aged 45 in 1916.

:: I'm going to take this opportunity to mention Rhubarb, by Craig Silvey — an absolute jewel of a book that hardy anyone outside of Western Australia will have ever heard of. It's a big-hearted story — a love story, in fact — about a traumatised blind girl, her seeing-eye dog, and an agoraphobic cello player.
Had this book been written anywhere else but in Perth, or set so firmly in Fremantle, Perth's port city on the Indian Ocean, it would have been a worldwide hit. I'm cheered to see amazon.com lists it — can I persuade some of you to try it?