This past weekend we were in Palm Springs (well, technically speaking, Palm Desert) for a wedding. The highlight for me was the morning I slipped away from the festivities and went for a hike by myself in the gorgeous Joshua Tree National Park.
The drive to the park was a pleasure in itself (and that’s saying something, because I hate driving). I passed through huge wind farms (here they are in Google Maps), and then left the highway to climb into the mountains. I drove through a series of tired small towns–a pleasant change from the middle-class no-place that is Palm Springs–and then into the picturesque badlands of the park.
In the park, I tried to pick a less popular hiking trail. I took the 7 km walk into Lost Horse Mine (again, here’s the shaft house on Google Maps). The terrain reminded me of sections of Morocco, as we drove out of the Atlas Mountains and into the desert. In terms of wildlife, I saw a few other humans, a red-tailed hawk, some ground squirrels and sundry lizards. And, of course, lots and lots of Joshua trees.
I learned sundry things about the Joshua tree, but this is my favourite: the loggerhead shrike uses the spines of the tree to skewer its prey (lizards, insects, small birds and so forth).
A desire line is the abstract line that represents the shortest route between an origin and destination, and shows where people want to travel. The width of the line represents the amount of demand. Desire lines were used in early transportation planning, prior to the advent of computerized models.
They are manifested on the surface of the earth in certain cases, e.g. as dirt pathways created by people walking through a field, when the original movement by individuals helps clear a path, thereby encouraging more travel.
It is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country with an archaeological sequence that runs from the Bronze Age to the 19th century. A number of major monuments are still extant, the city walls, late-antique baptistery, Great basilica, theatre and Venetian castles. In addition to the archaeological remains the site is robed in natural woodland with a complex ecosystem that depends on the nearby presence of the feshwater Lake Butrint and Vivari Channel which drains the Lake into the Ionian Sea.
Of course, pretty much every time I hear the word ‘Albania’, I must think of Willie Nelson trying to find a rhyme for it in the brilliant (and freakishly prescient) Wag the Dog.
Albania is more or less randomly selected as an antagonist for the US, to deflect attention from a domestic problem concerning the President and a girl scout:
Winifred Ames: Why Albania?
Conrad ‘Connie’ Brean: Why not?
Winifred Ames: What have they done to us?
Conrad ‘Connie’ Brean: What have they done FOR us? What do you know about them?
Winifred Ames: Nothing.
Conrad ‘Connie’ Brean: See? They keep to themselves. Shifty. Untrustable.
I’d forgotten that Kirsten Dunst had a little role in that film (in an incredibly funny scene). Here’s a good clip from the YouTubeSphere.
