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Things don’t always go as planned. Nothing major, just a bit of extra time spent waiting for a package to arrive in Joshua Tree. Going crazy waiting in Palm Springs, a city I didn’t intend to spend any time in.

My friend Simone and I flew out of Seattle this morning at 6:40 AM and got to Palm Springs around 9AM. We left Seattle in the rain and arrived in the desert to 70 degrees. Knowing we had to wait for our transportation, we decided to walk from the airport into town. A poor choice, as it was much further than we were told, but at least we got to see some common desert birds.

Flying in we couldn’t help but admire the stark desert mountains of Southern California. As we descended into Palm Springs, our thoughts turned to climate change and imagining the building below us sinking into the sands. Despite not wishing ill of people who live here, it’s obvious this place isn’t sustainable. How can these strange oases stand in what seems to be ignorance of the desert around them?

Still, despite having to wait it out in a strip mall Starbucks, it’s great to be in the desert again. Hopefully tomorrow will be a smoother day. (But don’t expect these updates from me regularly.)

My next post won’t be so bleak!

(here’s where I’ll be putting up photos as I have time: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendanmcgarry/sets/72157641177410495/)