Category Archives: Palm Springs

Melancholy memories

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women's swimming meet poster
My daughter on a Utah Utes women’s swim meet poster

Every morning my husband and I get ready for our walk around 5 a.m. to avoid the heat. We don’t make it out the door for at least 30 minutes, needing clothes, clean teeth and coffee!

Consistently, we see one other couple out early. We say “Good morning!” “What a beautiful day,” and usually walk on.

During the weekend, my husband stopped to ask about their granddaughters who are swimmers. They told us their oldest signed with Northwestern and their youngest is getting calls across the country at top colleges. They talked about how they did at CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) where swimmers compete for their high school teams and how they were top finalists.

“Our daughter was a multiple CIF Champion,” my husband mentioned. Yes, she was. That’s a memory I’ll look back on with pride.

Our neighbors talked about a meet they just returned from in Northern California, the George Haines International Swim Meet. Yes, we’ve been to that meet, too. It’s filled with top swimmers including Olympians from the USA, Europe and Mexico.

Here’s a video I took of warm up from the George Haines International meet in 2017:

The conversation with our neighbors brought back so many memories from the days our kids swam. Busy days traveling to meets, staying in hotels, sitting with favorite parents on the stands. Each morning we wondered what the day would bring.

I felt a little sad and melancholy after talking to our neighbors. I’m glad we were a swim family. But there’s no going back to those days. On a sad note, the team our kids swam with from kindergarten through high school folded a few weeks ago after more than 50 years. I couldn’t count the hours we spent volunteering and supporting our team.

My daughter celebrating with her relay team at the end of a swim meet.

What memories from days past do you think about in a happy or melancholy way?

Letting go

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Our yellow lab Angus (RIP) on our chaise-and-a-half lounge.

I finally let go of our chaise lounges. We moved them from Palm Springs at my insistence. My husband wanted to leave them behind.

I recently wrote about my mom’s unnatural attachment to her flute and her reluctance to let it go HERE. Then I realized I was doing the exact same thing with two chaise lounges we’ve owned since the kids were little. For sentimental reasons, or for what those chaises represented, I couldn’t let go.

The chaise lounges in our Palm Springs backyard.

For the two-and-a-half years we’ve lived in Arizona, we’ve never once sat on our chaise lounges. They’ve been sitting under waterproof covers. Their fabric was deteriorating. But someday I was going to do something about that.

I watched as a chipmunk made trips across our patio, back and forth, with something white and fluffy in its mouth. I finally figured it out. I lifted the cover to a chaise lounge and there was a one-foot hole in the cushion. The chipmunk was using our chaise lounge to “feather his nest.”

Because of harsh desert weather, I’ve had the chaises recovered several times through the years. One of my best friends has an upholstery and sewing business. She recovered them for me at her cost. We used to live close enough to drive them to her.

I shopped online and the chaise-and-a-half cushion is not a standard size. I’d have to have them made to order and now it’s no longer the fabric, but the stuffing is ruined too. For a little more than the cost of new custom cushions, I ordered two standard-size chaises from Costco. We’ll even be able to lounge on them!

What did the chaises represent to me? Why couldn’t I let go? We got the oversized lounges so our young children, dripping wet from the pool, could snuggle in next to us. Angus our lab would spend evenings laying by my side as we watched the sunset. That was one of his favorite things to do. Mine too.

Those years are gone and nothing will bring them back. Not even holding onto chaise lounges that hold my dear memories.

It is bulk trash pickup week. I finally let go and my husband took the chaises to the curb.

The chaises were picked up from our curb — before the bulk pick up truck made it to our neighborhood! I hope they found a nice home and the new family enjoys them as much as we did!

Have you ever been attached to a physical object for sentimental reasons? Was it clothing, art, chaise lounges or something else?

Back in the Swim

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Palm Springs City Pool
Our old hometown pool at sunset.

On again, off again with swimming. Looking back through my old posts, I see I’ve been in this loop before. I try to be consistent with swimming, then something — mostly weather — gets me off track. This year it was called winter. Last two times I went lap swimming, I was cold the entire time. I felt it in my bones. Then I was up to Seattle and back home with COVID.

I wrote “Consistently Inconsistent” HERE. It’s one of many similar posts I’ve written since I began lap swimming and US Masters after my kids left for college. As a dedicated swim mom, I missed being around the pool and my swim friends. I dove in scared to death and learned to swim four strokes with my kids’ team, but at noon Master’s, which is for anyone over age 18.

My first practice, I was terrified and thought I’d sink halfway across the pool. I couldn’t breathe. I was about to have a panic attack when the coach assured me he wouldn’t let me drown. He gave me a drill called Six-Kick Switch. It evened my breathing, gave me something to focus on, helped my balance — and basically calmed me down. He told me to use that drill anytime in practice I needed. He also let me use fins, which is akin to training wheels. (You kick on your side, take a breath after six kicks while taking a stroke to switch sides and repeat.)

Later today, I’m back in the pool at the YMCA. I tried to go last week and as luck would have it, the pool was closed due to filter and pump issues. I’m feeling flutters in my stomach and a bit shaky. But I’ve got the tool of Six-Kick Switch. I’ll let you know how it goes.

What activities are you consistent with and which ones do you start and stop?

Strange weather day

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I saw these beautiful flowers at a neighbor’s house. I’d like this plant in my yard.

Does anyone know the name of this flower?

After feeling stronger, post Covid, I’ve been enjoying my morning walks. I’ve also spent time in my backyard reading and enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Sometimes we walk in the morning and afternoon. Yesterday was a very windy afternoon. Then this morning the temperature dropped to the high 30s. That’s after a few days in the high 70s.

Adding to the blustery cold temperature, my iphone told me the air quality is dangerous. That must be due to the particulate matter in the air because of the strong winds.

So, I am skipping my walk today.

I’m anxious for the weather to get back to normal — warm sunshine and no wind.

Random thoughts:

I stretched and did my crunches this morning for the first time since I was sick.

I broke a three-day streak of Wordle in three tries. Today it took five.

Yesterday, I got a pedicure and was shocked at the price. I paid $24 in Palm Springs, but I was charged $47 yesterday in Scottsdale. I did agree to a “deluxe pedicure” so there is that.

I’m trying to get a hair appointment because I don’t want to drive five hours to my old hairdresser. A neighbor recommended her hair dresser. I’ve been texting this new hair dresser for more than a week and don’t have an appointment yet. Apparently, she’s very busy and doesn’t usually take new clients!

I’m reading “Our Last Days in Barcelona” by Chanel Cleeton. I normally love her books, but this one is dragging. I liked “Next Year in Havana” and “When We Left Cuba.” It has the same characters, so you’d think I’d be enthralled, but it’s slow on action and long on dialogue.

What books would you recommend?

Have you read Chanel Cleeton and are you a fan?

Talk about weather!

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Yes, they had an avalanche in Palm Springs. I’m not kidding. My daughter texted me this photo yesterday from a Twitter Account called Coachella Valley: An Insider’s Guide.

Here’s a LINK to their website.

We lived in our Palm Springs home for 28 years. Both my kids were born at a hospital a few blocks away. We had a spectacular view of Mt. San Jacinto from our backyard. Only one time did we see snow reach the valley floor. It was during a swim meet our team hosted for Southern California Swimming. It was raining at the pool, while at the base of Mt. San Jacinto it snowed.

I’ve been whining about the cold weather in our new home by Carefree, AZ. Yes, it’s cold. Yes, we may get snow tonight but no avalanches! At least not here. I think I’ll stay away from Flagstaff though!

View of Mt. San Jacinto from our old backyard.

This was our view of Mt. San Jacinto from out backyard when we lived in Palm Springs. Mt. San Jacinto is home to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.

Is anyone else getting hit by this current winter storm? What’s your weather like?

Dining out or eating in

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For New Year’s Eve, my husband and I indulged with burgers and fries at Big Earl’s Greasy Eats.

What’s in a name? We’ve driven by Big Earl’s Greasy Eats for two years. Finally, we took the plunge and ordered the Big Earl Burgers and fries to take home.

They were just as delicious as a place named Greasy Eats promised. But then I felt sick for the rest of the day. Too much food (or grease) that I ate too fast. I couldn’t eat again for that day.

This was my burger and fries from Big Earl’s.

While we were celebrating Christmas with the family, we cooked and mostly ate in the VRBO. One of the special dishes I liked was roasted vegetables cooked by one of my son’s fiancee’s sisters. It was so delicious I made it at home.

Brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, bell peppers and carrots tossed in olive oil with fresh rosemary. Roasted in the oven at 400 degrees about 45 minutes.

The roasted veggies made me feel so much better than the burger and fries!

What are your favorite things to cook or what do you like most when you dine out?

Another year without

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Robolights sculpture

Robolights

The holiday light display, previously staged at Kenny Irwin’s home on Granvia Valmonte in Palm Springs, had been open to the public for more than 30 years. But it became the subject of litigation regarding neighbor complaints about trash, crowds and traffic.

https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2021/11/18/another-year-without-robolights-artist-planning-pop-up-exhibition-february/8672519002/

We used to go to Robolights a few blocks from our house as a Christmas tradition. Once we took the senior group from our swim team. The last time we went, we took our current Christmas Crew. It’s a very different type of Christmas display made with recycled goods to aliens, microwaved microwaves and a carousal of toilets. The highlight in my opinion is touring the one-acre lot with millions of white lights dazzling above.

Someone moved across the street from Robolights and complained to the city. I heard they even stole some of the million lights that were in storage bins. The city decided it was a fire hazard and shut down Robolights.

This year we walked during the daylight to Robolights and I took photos of the sculptures around the perimeter of the estate.

Irwin and the City of Palm Springs reached an agreement in November 2018, ending a two-year legal fight. Irwin agreed to move the exhibit to a commercial location, and the city agreed to provide $125,000 to help cover the move.

In 2019, Irwin purchased two parcels of land— one 7.5 acres and another 2.5 acres — in Desert Hot Springs behind Cabot’s Pueblo Museum off Miracle Hill Road for $350,000 and hoped to begin developing the site. At present, the land is home to an abandoned structure and the road leading up to it is blocked to the public.

The cost to begin development is estimated at $1.5 million, including $300,000 for the first phase of planning and there is no projected opening date. 

https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2021/11/18/another-year-without-robolights-artist-planning-pop-up-exhibition-february/8672519002/

sculptures at Robolights made out of recycled parts.

Photos from our walk around Robolights.

What are your thoughts of moving into a neighborhood with a 30-year-nationally known exhibit and complaining to the city to shut it down?