Category Archives: Palm Springs

You can never go home again

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This was the entrance to our Palm Springs home of 28 years. It was an incredibly beautiful, unique home built in 1937. I loved living there and it was hard to move. It may sound like I am bragging, but it was beautiful. Not that livable. That was was one of the downsides.

WARNING: This may turn into a rant.

You can imagine my shock when a friend sent me a video from an Instagram account for our former home. The buyers, who we thought loved our home and lived in an old Spanish Hacienda themselves, are turning our home into a short-term vacation rental. They told us they liked our house better than theirs because we had a spectacular view of Mt. San Jacinto.

They’ve totally gutted the house inside and it’s lost it’s rustic charm and is filled with white marble with gray streaks, dark glossy floors with a bizarre tile shape. They removed wood-beamed ceilings, the columns and the original Sausalito tiles and everything else I loved about our home. It no longer has any character.

My daughter and I were ranting to each other by phone. Absolutely horrified by what we saw. We felt violated.

I made a comment on their Instagram account, “That’s my old home.” My daughter added a comment, “Why did you remove the original tile floors?” We were blocked. I guess the good news is we don’t have to look at more videos and photos of how they turned an authentic 1930s Spanish Colonial into a Mid-Century Modern Hollywood Nightmare. Tacky without taste.

Living room in Palm Springs
Our living room, the way it was.
master bedroom
This was our master bedroom.

In our Master bedroom, they removed the columns, floors, wood beams, granite wall paper, tub (at the far end) and built a wall with three archways to cut off a large portion of the room. Now the master looks much smaller. The shower and bathroom were behind mirrored doors on either side of the tub. Now they are behind archways and they put in a modern circular white stand-alone tub.

When I ranted to my husband, he was shocked when I showed him the pictures. He didn’t recognize our home. Then, being level-headed he said, “We don’t own the home anymore. We sold it.”

I know he’s right. But I have so many memories of living in that home. When we moved in, I was pregnant with my first child. It’s the only home our kids lived in before they went off to college.

FYI, we moved out December 12, 2020. We asked the new owners if we could have a little extra time to move. Escrow was 30 days and we lived there for close to 30 years. They were gracious and agreed. Then, we asked if we could stay for one last Christmas with our kids and DIL’s family. They said, “Sure. For $7,000.” We moved and spent Christmas alone getting settled in our new home.

We are better off for moving out of California to Arizona, I will admit. I liked the downtown Palm Springs location, but it had a downside with a homeless guy living on the steps to our entrance. Also, my husband said he’d have to work until he died to support the expenses.

At least I have these photos to remember what once was.

I guess it’s true. You can never go home again.

Palm Springs Old Spanish home
Outside view of our former home at night.

Have you ever been surprised at what has become of a place you lived in before?

What changes have you seen to your old home or home town?

Beautiful Blooms vs. Invasive Plants

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Look at how beautiful this cactus in bloom is! Photo taken Thursday.

I am discovering flowers where we have never had flowers before. Take the cactus above for example. It hasn’t bloomed in the three years we have lived here. But this year, plants I didn’t know could flower are bursting with blossoms.

This is what the cactus looked like Wednesday:

It’s beautiful with buds. But I wasn’t ready for the next day and how spectacular it would be (photo above.)

What about invasive plants?

The front page article for my community newsletter was a request to get rid of invasive plants. The two species to eradicate were Globe Chamomile (also known as Stinknet) and Desert Broom. Although Desert Broom is native to the Sonoran Desert, it’s aggressive and takes over, hence the need to get rid of it. I researched Stinknet and Desert Broom and found photos online for the newsletter.

One of our neighbors received a letter from the Scottsdale Fire Department to clean up their yard and to get rid of Globe Chamomile. Apparently, it can be a fire hazard as well as taking over land from native plants.

I haven’t seen Stinknet in real life but I’ve read about it from Erin on Existential Ergonomics. Also my graphic designer friends who make up my “lunch bunch” talked about Stinknet at our last lunch. I’m keeping my eyeballs peeled for it. I mistakenly thought brittle brush was Stinknet.

I keep hearing, “It’s the little yellow balls.” Well, brittle brush looks like yellow balls, because the petals are falling off with hotter days.

Imagine my surprise when I was taking photos of the beautiful cactus blooms and looked at a pot next to it and saw this:

Stinknet took over a planter in my backyard!

I sent the photo to my lunch bunch and got this reply:

“It’s insidious and will grow anywhere….

“Masquerading as a plant worthy of a pot 😂 is taking it up a notch!”

Since yesterday, I’ve found it growing next to our trash bins. The plant originated in South Africa, made it’s way to Australia and Riverside County, California before heading to Arizona. I never heard of it when I lived in Riverside County — it must not have made it’s way into the Coachella Valley.

I’ve been instructed to wear gloves, dig it up, throw it in a plastic bag, tie it up tightly and throw it away. I want to thoroughly inspect our yard for Stinknet. But then I just got an email from my next door neighbor that he found a large rattler in his backyard! Yikes!

Have you heard of Stinknet before? What invasive plants do you have?

Hide and Reveal

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The stone lantern at the start of our exploration of Rohoen Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix which is designed in the hide-and-reveal style. I wrote about more exciting parts of the weekend with Japanese gardens, guests and fire HERE.

Our docent guide was in her late 70s, from Japan and was a foreign exchange student when she came to the US. She laughed and said she was into “rock and roll” and loved the West.

She explained the meaning of the garden’s name Rohoen:

The characters on the brochure are our gardens name, Rohoen (鷺鳳園), and represent the following:

鷺 Ro – Japanese word for Heron, a symbol of Himeji City. Shira Sagi Jou, or the White Heron, is the name of the famous Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Himeji City is the sister city of Phoenix.)

鳳 Ho – Japanese word for the mythical Phoenix bird.

園 En – Japanese word for Garden.

How amazing it is to have an authentic Japanese garden in the middle of a desert? The architect and designers from Japan had to find native desert plants and others that would thrive in a climate very different than Japan. Only 17 out of the 107 varieties of plants are Japanese.

From the Visitor’s Guide:

The Japanese Friendship Garden, Rohoen, is an authentic Japanese stroll garden designed by Mr. Nozomu Okita in the traditional miegkaure (見え隠れ) style. Miegakure, or hide-and-reveal design, is prevalent in Japanese stroll gardens where the entirety of the garden is never visible at once. Instead, the viewer is led to uncover intentionally hidden views of the landscape while strolling along its curved paths. New visual compositions are revealed as one moves through the various garden regions. Each rock, plant, and ornament has been selected and placed with skill and sensitivity. 

Kasuga-doro (春日灯籠, stone lantern from Kasuga) are the style of lantern most frequently used in Japanese gardens. They originated at the Kasuga shrine in Nara, Japan’s ninth century capital. Our ten-foot tall Kasuga-doro is our main lookout point, where the garden’s four distinct landscapes are easily viewed. These include the low-lying grasslands, the woodlands, forested mountains, and stone beaches. 

Out friends from our swim team days are into gardening. Especially Japanese gardens. They planned a trip to Phoenix from Palm Springs to visit the garden and stayed with us. They have flown to Portland, Oregon to see a Japanese garden. They are planning a trip next year to Japan to see more Japanese gardens and have invited us to join them. We’re thinking about it.

At their home, they have Japanese elements like olive trees pruned in the bonzai style. They are building a koi pond. Also, their amazing garden has mangos, peaches, mulberries, and other fruit and many vegetables.

Our guests brought us fruit from their garden:

Fresh peaches from Palm Springs. I never knew peaches grew there. I thought it was too hot.

Two of the basket of mulberries they brought us. I’ve never seen or tasted a mulberry before. They are super sweet and juicy, and filled with health benefits like vitamin C, iron, and mulberries help reduce cholesterol, blood sugar and cancer risk!

Here are photos from our tour:

Looking back at the lantern from across the koi pond.

A cormorant on a rock in the water.

Shachi, a mythical creature with a dragon head and fish body.

I learned that a true bonzai has to be in a pot. There were many trees in the garden that were pruned in the bonzai style.

One last beautiful view of the garden’s many shades of green. It was so special to visit the Japanese Friendship Garden with good friends.

Where have you visited Japanese gardens? What was your favorite part?

Have you ever tried a mulberry?

Four years ago…

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I wrote this post on April 7, 2020. We were living in Palm Springs and on shutdown. It was such an odd time. I’m not sure I really managed to get over it. I have more anxiety now than I did prior to COVID. I need more time to myself and less engagement with people outside our family. Those are just few things that linger.

IMG_5481
One of my favorite streets on my morning walk.

21 Days. Isn’t that something? My daughter came home a few days before we got the order. I’m so glad she made it here. She’s been a joy to have around along with her fur baby Waffles. We have plenty of room to have my husband, me and my daughter all working from home — together — yet apart.

Here’s a few thoughts I have about these strange days:

ONE
I go from super calm and productive to anxiety ridden from day to day.

TWO
I’m losing track of the days and the time. Twice I have woken up thinking it’s 6 a.m. and started the coffee only to look at the clock in the kitchen that reads 11:40 p.m.

THREE
My routine of daily three pages of writing, my three mile walk and Bible readings to start my day are more important than ever. All three help me stay grounded.

FOUR
I’m reading lots of good books. Sitting in my back yard in the sun reading is one of my favorite things to do.

FIVE
10,000 people have died in our country. My heart goes out to all the people suffering and losing loved ones.

SIX
We are now told to wear masks when we leave the house. I’m using a make-shift one from my quilting supplies. It’s hard to breathe during my morning walks, though, and my glasses fog up.

SEVEN
My writing jobs are completed and turned in and now I’m in uncharted territory without every minute of my day focused on meeting deadlines.

EIGHT
My daughter and I cleaned and organized the food cupboards and the laundry room. It feels good to have clean spaces.

NINE
I’m reaching out to family via phone and email. It’s important to stay in touch with your loved ones.

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My new morning walk look.

What are your thoughts about sheltering in place during the pandemic?

What things have lingered into your life now from four years ago?

Rent is Too Damn High

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Santa Barbara marina
A view of the Marina in Santa Barbara.

During our weekend in Palm Springs, I was shocked several times at prices. I know California is an expensive place to live and that is one of the reasons why we moved. For example, gas is at least a dollar more than in Arizona.

Take the beautiful photo above. Our friends have a sailboat in the marina and when they bought their boat, they had to pay for the slip, too. Then there was city tax to pay and a monthly slip fee. They don’t actually own the slip. They own the right to rent the slip. Often, that right costs more than the boat itself.

So back to our weekend. My husband was hungry on the drive and there aren’t many places to stop once you leave Phoenix. There are a couple little towns like Tonopah (population 23) and Quartzite (population 2,143). We stopped at a Jack in the Box, ordered two breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. The price was more than $20! This was still in Arizona, so it’s not California’s fault. But shocking all the same.

While we were in Palm Springs, we stopped at our favorite pizza place, Bill’s pizza. We ordered a large pizza and one small salad to share. We ordered the large, so we could take home pizza we love and can’t get in our new city. The tab came to almost $70 with tax and tip.

I was at a neighborhood coffee yesterday morning and a woman complained that she went to the dentist. She had her teeth cleaned, x-rays and one small filling. Total? More than $900.

Our biggest shocker was the gas bill. Yes, we’ve used the heat because we had some cold weather for Scottsdale. It was triple any bill we’ve had before. We turned off the heat and are wearing extra layers on cold days. Fortunately, the weather has gotten warmer.

This reminded me of a politician who used to be in the news:

Jimmy McMillan

New York City political activist

James McMillan III is an American political activist and Vietnam War veteran. He was a perennial candidate in New York City. McMillan is best known as the founder of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, a New York-based political party. McMillan ran for office at least six times since 1993, most notably in the 2010 New York gubernatorial election.  Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Do you remember him? I wonder if he’s still around and what he’d say about current prices?

What prices or costs have shocked you lately?

Walking along Frank Sinatra

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We took a morning walk down a street called Frank Sinatra this weekend while we were in the Palm Springs area. This is the view from Palm Desert of Mt. San Jacinto. The mountain is a few blocks from the backyard of our old home. Many of the streets are named after celebrities including Bob Hope, Gerald Ford, Dinah Shore, Gene Autry and Fred Waring. My kids didn’t know that Fred Waring was a person. But they heard of Dinah Shore when Leonardo DiCaprio moved into Dinah Shore’s old house — next door to one of their school mates.

Frank Sinatra’s compound is on Frank Sinatra Drive, which might be the reason for the street’s name. I once interviewed to be Sinatra’s assistant’s assistant and entered his property for an interview. One of my ballet friends had the job and she was asked to refer people for the position because she was moving to LA. It turned out the job paid about 25% less than what I was making in PR for a local developer, so working with the Sinatras was not enough of a pull for me to change jobs.

We had a busy weekend with my dad’s 92nd birthday, visiting clients and attending a friend’s funeral. That’s why we drove about five hours Saturday and five hours on Sunday.

View of Desert Willow golf course from a sidewalk along Frank Sinatra.

Mt. San Jacinto Palm Springs
The view of Mt. San Jacinto from my morning walks when I lived in Palm Springs.
This was a park a few blocks from our house.

What did you do this past weekend that you enjoyed?

Rain, rain, don’t go away!

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Rain in our swimming pool.

Rainy day on Thursday.

One thing I noticed about living in Arizona is the weather. We have more of it than in Palm Springs, where I used to live. How can you have MORE weather you might ask? There’s more variety. Look at yesterday. We woke up to rain while it was sunny and warm in Palm Springs. Then in the afternoon we had wind. The past few days we had lows of 28 degrees. Never had that in Palm Springs. We even get an occasional snow day. We had that once out of 30 years in Palm Springs. Plus, at our new home, there are monsoons and haboobs to mix it up.

When I first moved to the Palm Springs area, every morning I’d watch the weather forecast before getting dressed. My husband asked me what I was doing.

“Checking the weather,” I explained. In Seattle, I did that to know what to wear.

“Let me give you a hint,” he said. “Sunny and warm or sunny and hot.”

As a former Seattle-ite, I hated rain. After living in the desert for more than 30 years, I love every bit of rain we get.

There’s an area nearby us that doesn’t have water. The water pipes don’t make it there. Scottsdale was trucking in water to that unincorporated residential area. Can you imagine buying a home and running out of water within a few years? There was a big controversy when Scottsdale cut off supplying water. Residents were drilling wells, but instead of a few dozen yards deep, they were going down hundreds of feet with nothing. I read one horse rancher has a well 800 feet deep, and the water is only 100 feet above the bottom of his well.

Eventually Scottsdale settled with the area and they are supplying water again.

I wondered when we bought our home, why the address was Scottsdale, because it’s a little cutout north of Scottsdale and technically could be in another town. I don’t question it anymore, because I’m happy to have the water and city services Scottsdale provides. We did look at a few homes in unincorporated areas. I’m so glad we didn’t buy outside of city limits.

Palm Springs and the surrounding area is on an aquifer with supposedly unlimited water. Or at least a few-hundred years supply. They also have a number of settling ponds that capture rainfall which allows it to settle back into the aquifer.

I think one of the issues with water in the Phoenix area are the tech companies who have built facilities here.

Here’s a snippet I found about tech companies in the greater Phoenix area and water:

Water, one of the most important elements in the semiconductor manufacturing process, has always been a precious resource in Arizona. Its conservation and management have been a priority for generations, even predating statehood. More than any other state, Arizona understands the importance of long-term planning — it was the first to project its water supply 100 years into the future and remains one of the only states in the nation to do so. This proactive approach to water management ensures that any new developments have access to water for generations to come.

This commitment to transparency and resiliency in water management is vital for semiconductor manufacturers. Companies like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company chose to grow in Greater Phoenix because it provides a strategic location, stable energy grid and skilled workforce, but these location decisions also rely on the availability and reliability of water. Arizona’s commitment to resilient water management and transparency in long-term planning gives companies confidence in the region’s future.

https://inbusinessphx.com/technology-innovation/water-key-resource-in-greater-phoenix-and-the-semiconductor-industry
iphone weather screen

Thursday’s weather on my iphone.

Styrofoam hats on our cacti to keep warm

Our small cacti are wearing styrofoam hats to keep warm during our freezing nights.

What do you like or dislike about your weather?

Are there any issues with water in your area? If so, what are they?