Mt. San Gorgonio

bald mountain is
old volcano - smoke makes
coyote cry

Ruth Nolan

Palo Verde Tree, Part 2, almost resolved

the palo verde tree story really gets better. Confirming my belief that as Edward Abbey once said, to paraphrase, "everything in the desert, plant and animal, either sticks, stings, stabs, or stinks." frazzle frazzle, a desert "tree" is down in my driveway split in half and fell on one of my cars, with the other half also top-heavy with overgrown limbs that came outta nowhere somewhere in the night, and about to fall on my neighbor's house.


Alex (Tarah's boyfriend) in action

How true. I've had ear cartilage sliced by a palm tree saw-tooth, which resulted in 6stiches and a tetanus shot; Brindle the dog almost swallowing a huge wad of green, mean-spirited cholla cactus on a remote and unforgiving hike near Martinez Mountain/Santa Rosas; Tarah as a baby getting a handful of tiny tiny needles after touching a "pretty" cactus plant; and my arms gashed from the many times I've lopped back the three jabbing and stabbing palo verdes in my yard. The things grow like weeds and drop big needles. I guess the redeeming features are that they sport beautiful, scented yellow flowers for a brief time in May and June, before the deep heat settles in.

So. the tree fell sometime on Monday night or Sunday morning. In my usual rush-daze, backing the Toyota ("big rippy," the nice car) out of the garage on Monday heading to diverse appointments, I barely squeezed out of the driveway - wow, I knew those branches and limbs had been hanging low for weeks, but I could barely get out, and the car got scratched. Thorns of various sizes - thin newer limbs have small ones that stick to everything this tree touches. The trunk, limned in various giant twisted arms, has giant size thorns! Do any other trees, besides palms, have these mean-spirited weapons on their trunks? Mountains, authentic greenery, cool temps, forests, are sounding better and better. No time to deal with it Monday daytime, and of course with the air temp around 105, no way I'm going to blaze in the sun to cut the branches back.

So, at twilight, my neighbor across the street, catty-corner, came over Monday night to help me lift the fallen tree off my little red spare car, the Nissan ("little zippy," the fun car.) I managed to cut a bunch of branches away, and he lifted the mangled limbs up just so and I pushed zippy out into the street. I also forgot to say that the reason this fun convertible sporty car, a vintage 1989 T-top which isn't in prime shape but is still fun to drive, especially on curvey mountain roads, say, Highway 74 to Idyllwild, has been in the driveway for a few months is because the battery is dead and numerous push-start efforts haven't worked.

So. I got the Nissan parked on the street. And Tuesday, started making phone calls to tree trimmers. Nothing would would till Weds, so....by yesterday, wo tree people who had planned to come didn't quite work out. The one, a loan from my generous neighbor, is delayed until Saturday. The other, who came out yesterday for an estimate, wanted $450, which is kinda out of my price range. So. I sat on it, decided to write some poetry and see what transpired next.

So, yesterday, at 3 pm, I decided it was time to take a break from the computer. Perfect timing. A cop was on the street, parked behind the Nissan. A tow truck in front of the Nissan. The cop says I'm getting a ticket for having a car with expired tags parked on the street - illegal. (ok, I haven't been driving it, so I didn't renew tags yet, because that battery has been dead for a long time...) And, the tow truck was coming. Good god. I managed to talk her out of having it towed, but she said I was still getting a ticket, $50. I promised I'd have to car in the driveway by nightfall. So weird, she said nothing about the fallen tree, the danger to the neighbor's house, the whole oddball, lopsided shenanigan of the situation....I had to explain it and it was like speaking French.


Tarah and Alex, with Alex's camaro in the background

so, instead of paying $450 to have the tree trimming people cut this overgrown desert bush, Tarah and Alex came over. New gloves, a small hand saw, anvil loppers and a large axe, and the three of us went to work. Spongy, wet plant at odd angles with limbs. Halfway cut, they twisted and split, making it even harder to deal with. What a surprise, seeing the two of them taking charge and working so intensely. What a relief, letting them do more of the work than me. Of course, I had to teach Tarah how to swing an axe - overhead -, a skill learned from my firefighting days (of course, I rubbed THAT in, "when I was your age....I was building firelines...") and from having had a woodcutter boyfriend for a few years....going out to split wood with an axe and wedge was fun stuff, and the only way to heat our rural adobe cabin against the suprisingly cold high Mojave desert winters on a tiny woodstove - which I still have, but don't use. I wish I had a big pile of tree stumps in my yard now, because splitting wood is a nice stress release, an art form of precision, a workout, and, as Thoreau said, the act warms a person twice - when splitting the wood, and when burning it.

Hopefully, my neighbor's gardner will show up Saturday morning as planned and haul the mess away. For now, zippy is safe in driveway with a cover to hide the expired plates, and rippy has room to exit, barely, and I've called Palm Desert code compliance to give them the heads up so I don't get some kind of ticket for having a fallen tree, all cut up, in my yard. That's the kinda town I live in.

Playpen

sure....
kung fu walks on rice paper
without ripping it
he has no kids in store

and the baby
is almost 21
and planning her wedding

and I
the one left with an
old bag of flesh toys
I'll be paying for flowers

important / urgent
support - not having
to go at it
alone
plans, each day
understanding, knowing,
respecting limits

make sure you have
good relationships
with your doctors

hard work, keep calm
relaxed, focused vibe
yoga
exercise
meditation classes
in Joshua Tree,
bond with the stars,
accountability
not important / urgent

church = spiritual
we weren't used to this
we got heavily dosed
take time to integrate
remind reminder people
to remind me
important / not urgent

planning is key
hard transition
parents w/adult children
working
moving forward
clearing house/clearing
negative emotions
not important

live in today
practice it a lot
do and learn to do it
anxiety is
worrying about the future
depression is
living too much
in the past
not urgent, important

focus on
#1 vacation
how about a trip
up the coast
to hedge the fog

balance needed
everything in moderation
most urgent
is good for you
shopping around
you can stop by + say hello
crisis card
has the phone number
and important, urgent

tip...toe

you may not
be able to have kids
anymore says the old man gynecologist
and the young Harvard educated woman
doctor says, you never know,
either way, says a well meaning
therapist
you'll still have
the playpen

kick your legs and feet
through the wall
your next tantrum,
one blink blow

uh huh

by Ruth Nolan
copyright (c) 2009 by Ruth Nolan

Poetry Reading Palm Desert July 3rd

BARNES& NOBLE BOOKSELLERS
presents
V A L L E Y V O I C E S O F T H E M U S E
with guest poet PHILLIP ROSENBERG
reading from his poetry collection
RAISED IN THE SHADOW
on
FRIDAY, JULY 3rd, 6:00 p.m.
Barnes& Noble/Palm Desert/Westfield
HWY 111 at Monterey Exit
Hosted by Patricia D'Alessandro
This event is FREE and everyone is welcome.

Tree Rings and Biblical Eyes

ancient bristlecone pines,
their tree-rings old as Christ--
Biblical eyes

forthcoming from the Southern California Haiku Study Group 2009
haiku anthology.
poem copyright (c) 2009 Ruth Nolan

Creative Writing Class Tuesday Evenings at College of the Desert, Fall, 2009

Register NOW -- lots of classes are getting cancelled due to state budget cuts at colleges across California and as with all "cool" classes, it takes people to enroll in them....so they can be offered!

College of the Desert will offer a once-weekly, evening creative writing class, open to beginning and advanced writers, as well as traditional and non-traditional students, on Tuesday evenings from 6:50-9:55 pm during the Fall, 2009 semester at the Palm Desert campus. The class will begin on Tuesday, Sept 1, 2009.

The class will be taught in a workshop format by Ruth Nolan, M.A., Associate Professor of English and advisor to the COD Solstice literary and visual arts magazine, viewable at www.solsticemagazine.org - and also the editor of a forthcoming anthology of California desert literature, No Place for a Puritan: the literature of California's deserts, due out this fall from Heyday Books.

The class, which is offered concurrently as Eng 5A-5B (beginning and advanced creative writing,) may be taken for credit (3 units) is open to the writing community at large. Current students, as well as people who have already finished college, are welcome to take the class. NOTE - PLEASE CONTACT INSTRUCTOR RUTH IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH ENROLLMENT IN THE COURSE STEMMING FROM COD ADMISSIONS/REGISTRATION; I'LL HELP FAST-TRACK YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS!

According to Nolan, who is also an active poet, author and founder/editor of the new, desert-based literary magazine, Phantom Seed, "This course is ideal for local writers in our community, regularly-enrolled students, and all others who would like to participate in a supportive writing workshop meeting just one night per week for a three-hour session."

Nolan emphasizes that all writers, beginning or advanced, are welcome to take the course, including those who are undergraduate students at COD or elsewhere; have already graduated from college, here or elsewhere; and those who wish to take only a creative writing class and aren't enrolled in a degree-seeking program or other courses at COD.

In this course, the techniques of developing writing skills in fiction, poetry, and drama/screenplay will be explored, and students will be encouraged to develop themes in their writing that resonate with the local desert environment and region.

For the third time since last summer, Nolan is teaching and popular creative writing workshop at the Riverside Library this summer, in conjunction with the newly-formed Inlandia Institute (sponsored by Heyday Books,) in which participants are generating regional writing; she plans to use similar strategies to help writers in the COD course use the rich fabric of the local area as a building block in their own writing.

Writing produced in this class will feed directly into the 2009-10 issue of Solstice, and there will also be a reading of students' works at a to-be-determined location in the community in December.

Students will also learn about local writers communities and events; publishing opportunities; and transfer opportunities for creative writers to the CSUSB and UCR-Palm Desert undergraduate and M.F.A. programs, which include four-year degree programs with a creative writing emphasis, and traditional and low-residency M.F.A. programs that are accessible to local residents.

For more information, and to register, contact the College of the Desert admissions office at (760) 356-8041 or http://www. collegeofthedesert. edu Ruth Nolan can be contacted at: runolan@aol.com

sojourn to the Santa Rosa Mountains

summer wildflower scene...

This, right near a rugged and narrow, steep-edged drive along the ridgeline of a remote and close mountain-top....the southwestern sentinel of the greater Palm Springs area and matriarch of the new Santa Rosa-San Jacinto Mountains National Monument - almost touchable yet foreign and far-smote....


So...what is this? A lightning fire stricken tree on a high-mountain dirt road, at 9,000 feet, preaching the words of a long-gone desert prophet (and, by the look of it, recently refreshed by a latter-day wannabe with new paint...

So, it was, on June 19th, two days before the longest slant of summer solstice proper and accordingly a day filled with excess and long-limbed light, I took a drive and day trip to the Santa Rosa Mountains on a back dirt road, from 100+ degrees in the June glare to a cool, and potential thunderstorm-ridden cumulus cloud filled sky. I had invited a friend from Palm Springs and corraled the dogs - quite easily - from the yard and into the backseat of my Toyota RAV4. Amidst our pleasant conversation, I was suddenly careening back and forth on a long round of infamous hairpin curves of Seven Level Hill, which rises from Palm Desert at 200 feet above sea level to Pinyon Flat, 4,000 feet, in 20 minutes. It's also the road on which the crazy cliff-side car scene for the comedy, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was filmed, and the location of many car and motorcycle mishaps, i.e., people swinging a little too wildly and looping off the downhill side of the road. Bighorn sheep have been sighted numerously cresting the sharp and imposing rock cliffs, and there's a pullout where local kids park and drink beer and throw their emtpy bottles over the side.

And suddenly, at a topoff, and the road relaxes out. After following a flatter road for awhile that still uncurls and hugs mountain hips, Highway 74, a sharp turnoff onto the relief of dirt and sharp switchbacks, ruts, rocks, and bumps, I relax into my usual dirt-road repetoire, negotiating the frequent hazards with more ease and zone out than on the freeway....a very familiar traverse for me but a bit more shocking to my friend, a city-sort who's never been on a road like this before and protests when I work the cell phone to see if I have reception while barely avoiding a deep, car-sucking rut....I'm due, at any minute, to be interviewed via phone by a writer from the Inland Empire Weekly newspaper about my recently-edited desert anthology and also for my involvement in the Inlandia Institute, a nonprofit promoting all of the arts in Riverside & San Bernardino counties. No missed calls, so I grab my quart-sized bottle of Perrier (yeah, I wish it were a big fat beer, but...not today), look back to make sure the dogs aren't car-sick or jumping out of the open windows, and reach for a bag of snacks - ah, the relief from desert air-conditioning; the cool mountain air!

Yes, I assert, to reassure the concerned tremor in his voice, I've never had an offroad wreck although I have been stuck in some pretty rough spots but not on this pretty darned mellow, by comparison to other trips in my old VW Van and my white Jeep, jaunts. I CAN drive on roads like this with just a few fingers loosely manuevering the steering wheel and a thumb on the stickshift, a bit of foot on the top clutch, and still look around me, and still talk. I'm in charge, and this is my version of autopilot. The Toyota isn't 4WD, but it doesn't know it, and I'm taking full advantage of the naivete to "pretend." It's a good 10-15 miles and more than an hour to go till our destination, and no going more than 20 miles per hour at best the whole steep and demanding road. Uphill, at least. Coming down (I don't tell my friend this) will be an entirely different matter....

It's an awesome day and for a newbie, and even me, a landscape that insists on slowed-down travel and time, by dint of its remoteness and crag of accessbility, even while challenging the best off-road driver to be entirely in tune with the roughage or terrain. Yes, it's an adventure, especially, I concur, for my friend, who's taking this all in the expected awe and with, understandably, a bit of apprehension. I know we're okay, and I emphasize that we're not likely to see any psycho-killers on the loose out here, although I did once see a man walking down on a very hot day towards the highway, no water or supplies in hand.

Tarah and I managed to decipher, through a bit of mutually understood Spanish, that his friends, on a Tequila-blasted campout the night before, had left him at the top, and taken off. We gave him gatorade and pointed him towards....the road to Temecula. It's nuts and it's fun, to do this kind of thing, and doesn't cost much more than to fill the gas tank and pack the ice chest with cold drinks and a bit of food. It's scenic and it's memorable, but most of all, this, to me, this haphazard driving in a personal synchrony with the unpaved and barely-mapped and on the outermost ringtones of cell phone range, is what it means to relax.


a humanesque yucca forest gesticulating on a flank, as viewed from the car window, on a very long and bumpy dirt fire road, at around 5,500-6,000 feet in the chapparal region, just past Pinyon Flat, Santa Rosa Mountains


Shasta (left) and Brindle "Brindie Boy" (right) enjoy the top of a rock at Santa Rosa Spring, partway up the mountain


summer wildflowers emanating from bark, near Santa Rosa Peak, 9,100 feet


the same area as the flowers - who would believe that the top of Santa Rosa Peak, in arid southern California, situated on a narrow ridgeline with drop-off desert views of the Palm Springs/Joshua Tree area to the northeast, and the remote Anza Borrego Desert to the southwest, with temperatures searing into the 100's, could profer this green-tree sanctuary. Sort of like something out of coastal northern California!


Santa Rosa Peak, 9,100 feet, just north of El Toro Peak at 9,300 feet (fenced and covered with radio towers)...the chimney is remnant of burned-down cabin of "Desert" Steve Ragsdale, who lived there part-time and wrote about the experience for the old Desert Magazine, based in Palm Desert and quite famous in its time (1930's-1950's.)The gnarled trees at top tell the story of the intensity of effort they've spent to surivive harsh peak-top winters, massive windstorms and winter blizzards...while people bask in the January sun in the deserts below and tap little white balls repetitively into holes, an almost-vertical drop straight down to sea level on both sides...