Running Against The Wind!

In the words of that old Bob Seeger song “we’re still running against the wind” here in Desert Hot Springs.  It really howled overnight on Wednesday, blew up a storm on Thursday and generally has caused havoc with our normal daily routine(i.e. I have to read more inside instead of outside now).  Other than the wind, it would be quite nice as the skies are blue and the temperature is a very comfortable 70F. 

A little peek at Big Bear Mountain behind Desert Hot Springs’ desert hills

The weather forecast is calling for the gusts to die down on Friday morning so hopefully we can get back to normal and put away our surfboards when we go to the swimming pool.  In fact, by late afternoon yesterday, the gusts had subsided a bit and it wasn’t nearly so uncomfortable when we took the dogs to the park at 3pm.  And, it was fairly quiet Thursday evening, too.

Looking towards Palm Springs from the ‘end of the road’ in Desert Hot Springs

One thing the weather has helped me to accomplish is to finish “A Team of Rivals”, the great book by Doris Kearns Goodwin about Abraham Lincoln.  Again, if you’re interested in history and biography, I strongly recommend you read this book as it’s terrific.  I’m now back to reading mindless, mystery and adventure novels.  I can already hear Curmudgeon Al – harummph - “complete waste of time and energy reading any fiction!!” 

This is Sadie, a Weimaraner, and one of Molly and Rylie’s best park friends

This afternoon, we took a run into Desert Hot Springs and did a drive around up in the high desert area.  I thought there might be some trails or parks up where the road ends but no such luck – just a bunch of pretty nice looking homes with spectacular views of the valley and Palm Springs.  it sure must be nice at night with all the lights of the Coachella Valley towns.

Renee and Peter are leaving Friday to head back to B.C. and their home on Salt Spring Island.  It’s a perfect spot to spend the coming Spring and Summer and is just across the water from our home in Cowichan Bay.

It sure was nice to get to meet them while they were here.  Paulette is going to miss Renee for sure as they had quickly become pretty good shopping buddies.  It looks like Renee has picked up the “quilting bug” to keep her busy on Salt Spring.  They both went over to JoAnne’s this morning to pick up needed supplies.

The TV ratings are in for the just completed Vancouver Olympic Games and some of the numbers are quite interesting. A staggering 80% of Canadians watched all, or part of, Canada’s Gold Medal win in men’s hockey over the USA last Sunday. In comparison, 32% of U.S. citizens watched all, or part of, this year’s Superbowl in New Orleans. I’ll just let these numbers speak for themselves in showing just how important Sunday’s Gold Medal game was to all Canadians.

Have a great Friday, and thanks again for visiting!