The Joshua Tree

Day 263

At the far end of Palm Springs where the big galleta-grass grows and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows and no birds ever sing excepting the mourning dove... is the Trail of the Minerva Hoyt

And deep in the big galleta-grass, some people say, if you look deep enough you can still see, today, where Minerva Hoyt once stood just as long as she could before somebody lifted Minerva Hoyt away.

Who was Minerva Hoyt? Any why was she there? And why was she lifted and taken somewhere from the far end of Palm Springs where the big galleta-grass grows? The old Once-ler still lives here.

Ask him, he knows.

You won't see the Once-ler. Don't knock at his door. He stays in his peublo revival behind the store. He peeks out of the shutters and sometimes he speaks and tells how Minerva Hoyt was lifted away. He'll tell you, perhaps... if you're willing to pay.

On the end of a rope he lets down a tin pail and you have to toss in fifteen cents. Then he pulls up the pail, makes a most careful count to see if you've paid him the proper amount. Then he hides what you paid him away, then he grunts. I will call you by you cell phone, for the secrets I tell you are for your ears alone.

Ring! ring, your cell phone erupts, to your ear you take it and the old Once-ler's whispers are not very clear, since the reception where the big galleta-grass grows is feint he sounds as if he had smallish bees up his nose. Now I'll tell you, he says, with his teeth sounding gray, how Minerva Hoyt got lifted and taken away... It all started way back... such a long, long time back...

Way back in the days when the cheatgrass was still green and barker lake was still wet and the clouds were still clean, and the song of the black throated sparrow rang out in space... one morning, I came to this glorious place. And I first saw the trees! The Joshua Trees! The spiky tufts of the Joshua Trees! Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.

And under the trees, I saw Yellow backed spiny lizards frisking about as they played in the shade of the Joshua Tree. From the ripples on barker lake came the comfortable sound of the Bluegill humming while splashing around.

But those trees! Those trees! Those Joshua Trees! All my life I'd been searching for trees such as these. The spiky leaves and white rounded flowers. And the faint flutter of the Yucca moths as they dance around the trees. 

The Joshua Tree National Park was founded by Minerva Hoyt who petitioned the government to protect this natural area and unique trees that look like there right out of a Dr Seuss book.  

Joshua trees grow fast for a desert tree. The trunk consists of thousand’s of small fibres and lacks annual growth rings, making it difficult to determine the trees age. The tree has a top-heavy branch system, but also has a deep and extensive root system, with roots reaching down to 36 feet. In the rigours of the dessert the tree can life for hundreds of years; some are believed to have survived a thousand years. 

Watched these two guys leave the park with large square backpacks on their back. Curious about them, I reached out to a friend who informed me they were crash mats for rock climbers who used no gear. 

On our way home we stopped at the visitors centre and a roadrunner came out from under the truck.