Shows
Desert Lady DiariesDawn Davis In this final episode of the Desert Lady Diaries podcast, Susan Henry (Ep 146) steps in as host and queries Dawn about her first experience with desert, the inspiration for Desert Lady Diaries and her shoppe, Soul Connection. Born & raised in New Jersey, Dawn Davis was drawn to the desert after lengthy careers in banking, project management and media. After 14 years in the corporate scene, she spent more than 20 years as an actor, voiceover and producer. Dawn moved to the
2021-11-1637 min2021-10-0534 minDesert Lady DiariesBarbara Gothard Barbara Gothard, artist and educator, was born and raised in the landlocked agricultural community of Springfield, Illinois. Growing up in the middle of lush, green farmland, Barbara says she first experienced the desert while turning the pages of National Geographic. Barbara’s first visit to a desert came through a cultural exchange program. Barbara recalls flying from the UK to Israel and the image of the blue green waters of the Mediterranean Sea giving way to the oranges and yellows of the sand. Through corporate travels, Barbara often visited the west coast of Africa – Namibia - where she experienced some of th...
2021-09-2126 min2021-09-0732 min2021-08-2424 min2021-08-1030 min2021-07-2727 min2021-07-1332 minDesert Lady DiariesJillian Sauter Jillian has lived in the desert since 1992. Her experiences have included family trips for hiking, camping and off-roading. With little development in the desert at that time, it was easy to see big horn sheep, desert foxes and a plethora of bird species – Jillian’s continued love for the desert sprung from these experiences in nature.
2021-06-2935 min2021-06-1531 min2021-06-0128 min2021-05-1835 min2021-05-0429 min2021-04-2029 min2021-04-0636 min2021-03-2335 min2021-03-0927 min2021-02-2339 min2021-02-0933 min2021-01-2631 min2021-01-0540 min2020-12-0836 min2020-11-2332 min2020-11-1035 min2020-10-2732 min2020-10-1322 min2020-09-2929 min2020-09-1530 minDesert Lady DiariesKaren HarperBorn and raised in Queens, New York, Karen Harper came west at the urging of a friend. Looking down at the landscape of the Reno, Nevada desert from a hot air balloon, Karen loved it. While in Reno, Karen was accepted in the Job Corps vocational program where she tried her hand at welding and culinary arts. Upon graduating, Karen started work with one of the local casinos and thought her cooking skills would take her places. Karen left the casino kitchen for institutional cooking in skilled nursing facilities where she found less pressure. Karen was introduced to 29 Palms by her...
2020-09-0135 minDesert Lady DiariesMelissa GrisiOriginally from New Jersey, Melissa Grisi was living in San Francisco and working at Ameoba Records when she got into listening to alt-country. She and her boyfriend - now husband, Ben - were digging the music and history of Gram Parsons. So, before moving back to the east coast in 2002, the pair decided to make a pilgrimage to Joshua Tree - to visit where Gram had partied with the Rolling Stones and would ultimately die, at the Joshua Tree Inn. In this episode, Melissa describes what the area was like in 2002 - an undiscovered, gritty haven with an eclectic mi...
2020-08-1836 minDesert Lady DiariesJennifer JungwirthTwenty years ago, Jennifer Jungwirth was just wrapping up her college education when she got a call to interview for a teaching position in Baker, CA. Then, the Morongo Valley Unified School District called. Jennifer came out to Yucca Valley and after 45 minutes of what Jennifer assumed was just friendly, casual conversation, the folks at YYHS offered her the job - and she accepted. This was Jennifer's first experience with desert. In this episode, Jennifer says her friends thought it was 'cool' that she was moving to California, though Jennifer had not let on that she was moving to the M...
2020-08-0329 minDesert Lady DiariesJanis CommentzJanis Commentz is a southern California native who grew up near the coast and began drawing and painting early in life. As the daughter of an artist, she was surrounded by art materials and enjoyed trips to galleries and museums, as well as seasonal trips to Laguna Beach and Carmel. Commentz moved to the Mojave Desert in 1977 to teach art and English at Sky High School, now Black Rock High School. At the University of Redlands, she earned a B.A. in art and English and studied printmaking with John Nava, well-known for his tapestries at the Cathedral...
2020-07-2134 minDesert Lady DiariesBobbi FabianBobbi Fabian's first experience with desert was with the Warner Brothers Roadrunner cartoon. Growing up in Melbourne Australia, Bobbi made her way to America looking for more opportunities as a photographer, finding she felt more at home in the U.S. than in her home country. Bobbi moved to the U.S. in 2003, settling in Los Angeles. With an MA in Photography Bobbi was a freelance photographer and educator for most of her working life – commissioned by brands like Timex, Penguin Books, Audi and other household names. On a road trip through America, while working on a project, she and a fr...
2020-07-0730 minDesert Lady DiariesMarylee McIntyreBorn and raised in the Tri-Cities area of Detroit, Michigan, Marylee 'Boo' McIntyre grew up gathering bushels of berries, apples, apricots and what ever other fruits were in season with her siblings to be used in the creations her grandmother and mother would bake from the day after Thanksgiving through the December holidays. Over the years, baking became a way to relieve stress and get grounded. Marylee's first encounter with the desert was visiting neighbors from Royal Oak, MI, who had a place in Lake Havasu, Arizona. Marylee and her then husband loved it so much, six months later they w...
2020-06-2330 minDesert Lady DiariesJody CurtisAfter 20 years in Los Angeles and a career in the film industry, Jody Curtis was guided to the Mojave desert in 2008. A seeker of deeper spiritual understanding from an early age, her first experience with desert was visiting her Mom and step-dad during one of their annual stops in Slab City. Taking several days to wind down from the stress of the city, Jody often found she didn’t want to leave the desert to go back home. Just after leaving her job at NBC, Jody was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. A defining moment for Jody, her first thought was 'I h...
2020-06-0924 minDesert Lady DiariesRosa Ficara | Ep 128At the age of six, Rosa Ficara had her first experience with desert - her family had just moved to the desert from Waterbury, CT. Rosa doesn’t recall much about the move other than the fact that the desert was much warmer than those Connecticut winters. As the first-born of Italian immigrants, Rosa spoke Italian (two dialects) before she spoke English. At that time, this area of the desert wasn’t extremely diverse and in school, Rosa found herself befriending schoolmates in a similar situation – one was Japanese-American and the other was Korean-American. At 17, Rosa was ready to leave the dese...
2020-05-1928 minDesert Lady DiariesShaney Jo Darden Born and raised in San Diego, Shaney Jo Darden's first experience with the desert was traveling to visit her grandparents who lived in Palm Desert. About ten years ago, Shaney Jo started coming to the hi-desert to visit a friend, who owned Rimrock Ranch in Pioneertown. Rimrock became a place for Shaney Jo to bring her staff for annual employee retreats: learning about new programs, receiving training and enjoying some off-site downtime hiking, taking in a sound bath at the Integratron or having a social night out together at Pappy & Harriet’s. After a number of trips to the h...
2020-05-0530 minDesert Lady DiariesJacqueline GuevaraForty years ago, stifled by life in a small Michigan town, Jacqueline Guevara's vibrant, fun-loving mother loaded her 1972 Cadillac Coupe de Ville and hit the road with her teen-aged daughter for a new start in Palm Springs. Driving into this desert oasis was Jacque's first experience with desert. In this episode, Jacque describes working in the Palm Springs hospitality industry in the 1980's and the life skills she acquired in those jobs. A change in ownership lead to a subsequent lay-off from her job at the Palm Springs Country Club leaving Jacque jobless for the summer. With her sons out o...
2020-04-2128 minDesert Lady DiariesCathy SnodgrassCathy Snodgrass was born and raised near Galveston, Texas. Her first experience with desert was watching western movies. In 1976, driving through what was then Joshua Tree National Monument, Cathy rounded a mountain and found herself looking down on the 'quaint' town where she and her then Marine husband would be stationed. Cathy knew immediately this was home and made it a condition of her second marriage that they never leave 29 Palms – that was 40 years ago. Cathy will tell you, “I’m very heart bound to the area”. Describing a time she went back to Texas to visit, she says she couldn't wa...
2020-04-0731 minDesert Lady DiariesSharon DavisArtist and founder of Earth House Studios, Sharon Davis creates colorful art and installations at her home in Morongo Valley. Sharon and I bonded as two Jersey girls, so you might get hungry listening to the beginning of this episode. Sharon left NJ for the first time in in 1974 and came to California, landing in Huntington Beach, moving on to Moreno Valley, then Palm Springs. After that she's moved between the east coast and Texas, Virginia and Maryland, with a few stops back to California in between. Her first desert experience was in Palm Springs, which Sharon found to be way...
2020-03-2436 minDesert Lady DiariesRobin KobalyLike the roots of the honey mesquite and creosote, Robin Kobaly's desert roots go deep. Her immediate family moved to Morongo Valley when she was 2 years old. At six, Robin had an extraordinary experience with desert wildflowers - an experience she was hesitant to share, being part of a scientific community, fearing her work would not be taken seriously. In her studies of plants, Robin also came to appreciate the ways in which Native Americans used plants dyes for basket-weaving, textiles and ceremonial paints and tells a story about the dye found in prickly pear cactus. Studying plants with her mot...
2020-03-1031 minDesert Lady DiariesCarol 'Dusty' SeddonCarol 'Dusty' Seddon's first desert experience was in and around the Mojave near Apple Valley in the mid-90’s accompanying a group of friends from an Orange County college, who were coming out to perform archeological digs. Dusty immediately fell in love with the feel of the desert – the dry air, the quiet and so much different than what she’d know in the suburbs. On these digs they mostly found tools, stones used in cooking, and maybe bits of pottery. In October of 2005, returning from a Mitchell Caverns trip, Dusty was looking for a more adventurous route back home to Orang...
2020-02-2532 minDesert Lady DiariesMary Addison HackettFirst trained as a painter, artist Mary Addison Hackett also practices in photography, video and other time-based projects. Mary Addison first experience with desert was on family vacation – three of them – from her hometown of Nashville to the Grand Canyon, Tucson, Mexico and other natural desert wonders along the way. Even then, Mary Addison had a camera and to document her trips. Though impressed with the natural and cultural aspects of these desert trips, Mary Addison doesn’t recall having any aspirations of moving to the desert. Mary Addison’s next desert encounter came in the late 90’s while working for a post-pro...
2020-02-1132 minDesert Lady DiariesCynthia Marie Born in New Jersey and raised in New York's Hudson Valley, Cynthia Marie loves to drive cross-country - she's done it six times. On one of those trips, she found herself nearly out of gas and calling Roy's in Amboy, CA, asking them to keep the pumps open for just a bit longer so she could gas up and make it to Joshua Tree for the night. As is the desert way, the obliged. Still working in graphic design, Cynthia went to art school to study Printmaking. The school required their sophomores to take one class that felt out of the...
2020-01-2830 minDesert Lady DiariesDLd | Happy 2020 | EP 119Here we are at the start of another new year where, as with life, change is the only constant. And it snowed in the desert! A quick 15 minute episode welcoming you back and highlighting what to look for as the podcast launches into it's third year. Happy 2020!
2020-01-1416 minDesert Lady DiariesAsk the HostFor this episode of the podcast, listeners were invited to send in one question they wanted me to answer. Here's a sampling of some of the questions answered in this episode: "What makes Dawn Davis produce the Desert Lady Diaries?" "When and how did you become a voice over artist?" "Would you talk about the process of how each episode gets made from start to finish?" "Why do folks here keep the hood of their car raised while it's parked?" "Did you move here to be close to the park?" And several more. I hope you enjoy it - and if you...
2019-12-1035 minDesert Lady DiariesJulia EhretOn being in retirement bliss It was a lunch hour trip to the California Museum of Photography in Riverside, where Julia first experienced Joshua Tree. The exhibit was the result an annual photographic expedition to Joshua Tree National Park. Finding out it was an annual event, Julia put it in her heart to attend and take photos the next year - and she did. During that weekend, Julia says her soul shifted and, “I felt really connected to the area for reasons I couldn’t explain.” After a number of trips back and forth to visit from her home in the Coron...
2019-12-0329 minDesert Lady DiariesCheryl Kandel GimsonCheryl's first experience with desert was in the early 80’s, driving to Palm Springs for Spring Break with a friend - and her friend’s grandmother drove them around Palm Springs to see the sights. After that, Cheryl started coming out to the desert on her own, not really knowing about Joshua Tree until a former boyfriend suggested they visit a place he used to rock climb. On arrival, Cheryl was so taken with the place, she asked him to stop the car, so she could get out and take in the unique landscape and wide open space. Eventually, LA traffi...
2019-11-2629 minDesert Lady DiariesKathleen Lowndes Kathleen Lowndes is proof that attitude is everything. Kathleen's first experience with desert was on a family move from Upstate NY to Inglewood California via the infamous Route 66 – Kathleen was eight years old. She recently found a black and white photo from 1955 of her family under a Joshua tree in Kingman AZ. After Kathleen's mother died in 1998, Kathleen grieved for a year - sitting in bed, knitting and crocheting. After grieving, her roommate had a stroke and decided to take their recovery in their homeland of Sweden to take advantage of the lifetime healthcare. Having been invited to stay wi...
2019-11-1933 minDesert Lady DiariesMary Sojurner Imagine driving into the desert, a place of wide open spaces where you can see for miles, and not being able to breathe. This was Mary Sojourner's first experience with desert, somewhere between Parker, AZ and 29 Palms. Mary had moved west in 1985 from Rochester NY ‘to write and fight for the earth'. It was Edward Abbey’s ‘Monkey Wrench Gang’, which spoke to her loud and clear. In 2007 Mary felt Flagstaff changing – gentrification as we know it today was happening. Mary was living in a small cabin with a wood stove, no running water, sharing a shower house and outhouse w...
2019-11-1241 minDesert Lady DiariesDawn RoweDawn Rowe's first experience with desert was driving to Las Vegas for a Marine Corps Ball. Alan, her late husband, needed something for his uniform and decided they would drive the back way to Vegas, passing the Marine Base in 29Palms where he would pick it up at the PX. Driving up the Morongo grade and then down into the valley, Dawn remembers her first thought was "Who lives out here?” And now she does – falling in love with a community where she's become a very involved and active citizen, all the way to her current position as San Bernardino Third...
2019-11-0538 minDesert Lady DiariesJanelle PietrzakJanelle Pietrzak's first experience with desert came while driving cross country from Philadelphia, to a new job in LA. Traveling with her partner, Robert, it was July and they made a stop in Marfa, TX, then on to Joshua Tree for two nights – most of which was spent at an aquatic center in Palm Desert (40 miles away from Joshua Tree) to escape the heat. Janelle has always working in textiles and even though she spent 10 years in the fashion industry doing fabric sourcing, she knew as soon as she began working in the industry, it wasn't for her – the roles in whi...
2019-10-2831 minDesert Lady DiariesPatti BrownPatti Brown wisited Yucca Valley for the first time in 1989 to meet, who would become her future mother-in-law and real estate mentor. That first trip Patti felt like she might be going on adventure that she wouldn’t be coming back from and her first impressions of the desert were that it was barren and somewhat far removed from what she considered her ‘normal necessities of life.’ It was very different from the lush green she'd grown up around in Northern California. After a number of visits to Yucca Valley, Patti began to feel the peace and serenity that came with each...
2019-10-2133 minDesert Lady DiariesJane Spider Fawke SMLXL Born in England, Jane 'Spider' Fawke grew up watching American Westerns at a Saturday morning program near where she lived. It wasn't John Wayne who captured her attention, but the beautiful vistas of Monument Valley in the background. Growing up poor, Jane gravitated to the fashion scene in Paris after graduating from the Royal College of Art with a Masters in Fashion & Textile Design. After some encouragement from a friend, Jane moved to New York. Jane came to America after 10 years in the ready-to-wear industry in Paris, France and speaks fluent French and Italian. She designed in the US for ano...
2019-10-1530 minDesert Lady DiariesPatty DomayPatty Domany exemplifies the term 'entrepreneurial spirit'. Patty was introduced to the desert by her Los Angeles neighbors, who had land in Landers. After spending a number of weekends with them and driving the desert roads to find a place of her own, Patty had a brief conversation with a 'Landroid' over coffee one day at 'Johns', now known as La Copine, who was a 'caretaker' for a local cabin whose owner had passed. Patty reached out to the owner's son and, after a bit of negotiation, got a 10-day escrow and closed on her little piece of desert heaven. Com...
2019-10-0830 minDesert Lady DiariesSusan Lang At eight months old, after being born in Hollywood, Susan was brought to her mother’s burnt homestead cabin in Pipes Canyon. The family first lived under the stars and later in an Army tent. Susan was raised in upper Pipes Canyon – in what is known today at the Wildlands Conservancy. She attended a one-room schoolhouse, collected bottles for coins from Hollywood cowboys in Pioneertown and set pins at the original bowling alley there. Walking from school, Susan would walk through the movie sets of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, though the excitement was lost on her as she wat...
2019-10-0129 minDesert Lady DiariesKarmolette O'GilvieKarmolette O’Gilvie, born and raised in Houston, Texas, has lived in 29 palms for 27 years. She and her husband of 38 years moved to 29 as part of his military career. Karmolette's first experience with desert was in California. She and her husband were stationed in Camp Pendleton and discovered 29 Palms by riding up to visit other military families. They immediately noticed the night sky, the peacefulness and low crime. Over the years, Karmolette has witnessed many military folks come here to the desert with great uncertainty about remaining, then sees them leaving for the next assignments, tearful and sad to be lea...
2019-09-2430 minDesert Lady DiariesShana RhodesA native of Wisconsin, Shana Rhodes says she didn’t feel the connection she was hoping for in Portland when she decided to move there. Intrigued by a documentary about dancer Marta Beckett, who landed in the Mojave desert under interesting circumstances and spoke of the wild horses and amazing sunsets, Shana said to herself, "I have to see this place". She packed her camera and paints and drove to the Mojave to see Death Valley for a two week exploration. Like Marta, proprietress of Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley, Shana was immediately taken with the unique beauty and soli...
2019-09-1633 minDesert Lady DiariesHeather VescentHeather recalls her first experience with desert was on a road trip with her grandmother and says that wasn't the one that put the desert in her heart. At 14, on a Nile river cruise to Egypt with her mother and grandmother, the desert set her soul alight. Years later, living in Silicon Valley, Heather traveled to LA for work and planned a solo motorcycle trip back through the Mojave, up through Tahoe. She’d camped in Joshua Tree National park overnight, waking up to the sound of coyotes. Heather tells us as she drove out of the park into 29 Palms and...
2019-09-1032 minDesert Lady DiariesJanet Armstrong JohnstonOriginally from the Philadelphia area, Janet became enamored with the desert while traveling through New Mexico on a family vacation to visit her dad’s one and only uncle in San Diego. Driving through the desert she thought, “I have to come back to this place.” Attending school for architecture in Cincinnati, Janet decided she wanted to get into the construction side of the business and through a co-op program at the college, she'd heard about Habitat for Humanity and landed a co-op in Atlanta, GA. While there, she caught Albuquerque architect Antoine Predock on the cover of Time magazine - this w...
2019-09-0340 minDesert Lady DiariesMarie BobinBorn in France, Marie Bobin's first experience with desert was a trip with friends to Death Valley. It was a last minute, 'let’s get out of LA for the weekend' kind of trip – in August. Marie says they drove a lot, got out of the car to snap a few photos, then jumped back into the air conditioned car. Marie's family moved to California when she was in her preteen years. With a background in performing arts and producing, Marie started her career in London with a pub theatre, producing shows for four years and then came back to the st...
2019-08-2729 minDesert Lady DiariesGay Smith | Ep 102Teaching brought Gay Smith (left in photo above) to California, as after college graduation there was a glut of teachers on the east coast. She’d read about a fellow student who came to Corona, CA to interview, she followed suite and got the job on the spot. Having been in teaching for over 40 years, Gay talks about the changes she's witnessed in the students over the years. Gay's first experience with the desert was during the December holidays in the early 60's with a group of friends she’d met through teaching. The place they visited was her soon to be...
2019-08-2032 minDesert Lady DiariesElizabeth Campbell Crozer PT 2 In part two of the 100 episode milestone celebration, I read the remaining excepts chosen from 'The Desert Was Home', by Elizabeth Crozer Campbell. Elizabeth describes the beauty of the landscape, shares some stories about desert friends and neighbors and laments the changes she and Bill witnessed in the time since their initial arrival to the desert. The last passage describes a moonlight drive and concludes this love story between Elizabeth, Bill and the desert. If you'd like to read more about Elizabeth's history and see more photos of her beloved Campbell House, check out the Campbell House Inn website. And once...
2019-08-1330 minDesert Lady DiariesElizabeth Crozer CampbellIn this special celebration episode, I'm reading excerpts from 'The Desert Was Home', a book by an original Desert Lady, Elizabeth Crozer Campbell. If you’re unfamiliar, Elizabeth, or Betts, as her husband called her, she was born in Beach Haven, NJ – so of course I felt an immediate kinship with her. Elizabeth Warder Crozer, was born the youngest of four daughters, in 1893 and died in 1971. She was raised in Upland, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a wealthy family and her education through her post graduate studies were in private schools. She met Bill, an orphan from Los A...
2019-08-0639 minDesert Lady DiariesKim Fulleman | Ep 99Kim Fulleman's first experience with the desert were as a Girl Scout, visiting Joshua Tree National Park to camp and hike. Kim and her friends would find the biggest rock formation they could – and climb it. After 20 years in a 400 square foot Hollywood apartment, Kim was ready for a change. She was feeling like it was time to get back into nature and heal from some things she’d experienced in her life. After looking for and bidding on a place in Joshua Tree, only to be outbid, a friend suggested she take a look in Landers - where she found...
2019-07-2931 minDesert Lady DiariesChristine AnthonyChristine Anthony’s first experience with the desert was on a commercial shoot at the Glamis sand dunes in southern California. She’d picked up this commercial production job after arriving in LA on a greyhound bus from Cleveland, OH with $7 in her pocket, having followed her rock-n-roll boyfriend to the West Coast. The romance fizzled and Christine found her self reaching out to a few folks she knew in LA, also from Cleveland, one of whom became a roommate. Deciding to remain in LA, Christine navigated her way through a few jobs, producing television commercials, then moved to the agency...
2019-07-2331 minDesert Lady DiariesCarmen MendozaA lifetime of careers with Parks and Recreation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service, as well as being a Jazzercise instructor, radio ad executive, secondary social studies teacher and director of a youth drug prevention program, Carmen Mendoza is finding her soul back in the Mojave desert, returning here after spending over half her life in Colorado. In this episode, we talk about the ways the light travels along the mountains during a desert day, which leads us to a discussion about Carmen’s training in using Harmonic Light Frequencies, which she found through searching for other met...
2019-07-1631 minDesert Lady DiariesBrenda LittletonBrenda first visited the desert as a young girl on family camping trips and those visits continued into her teen years as a destination for soul-searching and wandering the space. Needing a change, Brenda made the move to the desert with her horses. Upon arriving, she found she had many friends here and immediately found her way into the community. Brenda loves the diversity of the weather, the beauty of the landscape and talks about the differences of living in Idyllwild and the desert, particularly the inconveniences of being locked in - or out - for events like fires or sn...
2019-07-0933 minDesert Lady DiariesLisa Rae BlackLisa Rae Black remembers her first experience with the desert as a visit to Grandpa's house - he lived in Morongo Valley. As a five-year old, she recalls jumping out of the back of her dad's 280Z, feeling like she'd landed on Mars. Fast forward about 50 years, Lisa inherited the property from her now deceased brother, Jim, who’d lived there for many years with his three thoroughbred horses. Her grandfather purchased the property in1931 and built the 300 foot homestead in 1951. In this episode, Lisa talks about the little bits of history that have come her way from her grandfather durin...
2019-07-0238 minDesert Lady DiariesAnn CongdonWhile working at a print shop in Pasadena, news came though that the government was giving homesteads to World War I veterans. After his shift, Ann’s father Bill Underhill , got in his car with a shovel and a sleeping bag and headed to 29 Palms to stake his claim. After moving to the area permanently, he recognized he needed a job and started The Desert Trail newspaper. After her own jobs in the various Underhill family businesses - the newspaper, movie theater, roller rink - Ann felt the urge to expand her horizons beyond the desert. She shares memories being at...
2019-06-2533 minDesert Lady DiariesKim MartinGrowing up, family summer vacations in a rented Winnebago meant traveling to the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico among others. In this episode, Kim talks about playing games with her siblings on the drives and running around in the open space. 'Wanderlust' is a word she uses to describe her family, "We were always going somewhere." Her love of photography grew from taking trips to all the places Huell Howser featured on his California's Gold television show. Though coming to live in the desert was a dream come true, Kim experienced anxiety about work and money early on, which at ti...
2019-06-1830 minDesert Lady DiariesMiriam SegerExperiencing a lunar eclipse at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon was Miriam's first experience with desert. She shares a memory of standing in the open space, and having the realization that she was living in outer space. Not viewing it as something 'out there', but as something she was a part of. Art school brought an interest in film and the next thirty years were spent as a freelance art director for television commercials. The job took her from Portland to New York City to Los Angeles. And though she'd made friends and built community in Portland and NYC, M...
2019-06-1132 minDesert Lady DiariesMeilani MacDonaldSixty miles into her trip moving from Florida to Los Angeles, the car radiator sprung a leak. Meilani MacDonald and a friend pressed on to Los Angeles, with a jug of water in the trunk to keep the radiator full. Once they got to the desert, they took to driving at night where the cooler air was kinder to the vehicle. This was Meilani's first experience with desert. Meilani's first brush with Joshua Tree was weekend camping trips to the national park to escape LA's urban environs. Though she doesn’t get into the park much these days, the feeling and...
2019-06-0431 minDesert Lady DiariesKajiel SullivanPulling up to their new desert home in the dark, Kajiel Sullivan and her husband were greeted by a coyote. Now living on base, Kajiel misses the privacy and quiet of the desert and sadly feels less a part of the 29 Palms community which she'd grown to enjoy. In the meantime, she also a busy full-time mom to her and Reginald's daughters, Rosie (4), Millie (2) and baby Rain who enjoy time in the park near their new home on base. Kajiel hopes to take a ride with them through Joshua Tree National Park sometime soon. 29 Palms is the Sullivan family's first mi...
2019-05-2829 minDesert Lady DiariesAdriene JenikBorn and raised in NJ, Adriene's first experience with the desert happened after moving to Los Angeles in the late 80's. She and a friend took a trip to Baja, CA. Adriene says she immediately felt, 'this is where my bones will end up." and has been in love with the desert ever since. After returning to the east coast to obtain her graduate degree, Adriene returned to the west coast and having visited Joshua Tree with friends from Los Angeles in the late 80's, decided the hi-desert would be a great place to have a sanctuary in which to w...
2019-05-2133 minDesert Lady DiariesJuliette TworseySince the age of six, Juliette Tworsey knew she wanted to sing. Growing up in Chicago, she attended a small Catholic school with a really small choir. As she tells it, "there were like three kids in the choir". In her teens, Juliette worked up the courage one day to sing with the 'basement band' in her neighborhood. A group of kids, playing for other teens in her neighborhood. That lit the fire and Juliette began the process of trying to start her own bands, which she describes as difficult, being a woman, particularly a woman who wants to sing ro...
2019-05-1432 minDesert Lady DiariesJessica DaceyAn American citizen, Jessica Dacey was born in Canada. Her family left the U.S. when she was nine years old, living in South Africa for a few years before heading to England. After finishing her schooling, Jessica got the travel bug which lead her to Mongolia where, on the last day of her visit, she saw and applied for a job as Editor of the local newspaper. Jessica got the job, moving and living there for a year. On a month long van trip traveling through the southwest with her husband, Jessica landed in Joshua Tree, one of the l...
2019-05-0729 minDesert Lady DiariesPetra Cimbalova From the age of nine, Petra Cimbalova dreamed of leaving the Czech Republic and traveling to exotic places. Growing up she kept a book of photographs, cut from magazines of islands and other distant lands. Inspired by cousins, who'd returned to the Czech Replublic after living in Germany for many years, Petra embarked on a trip to the United States at the age of nineteen. Landing in Newark, New Jersey, Petra made her way to Grand Junction, Colorado, staying with a friend who was a church caretaker, eventually making her way to Denver and landing a job in f...
2019-04-3031 minDesert Lady DiariesJane JarlsbergA native of Michigan, Jane and her then husband moved to Southern California in the late 60's. A trip with her young family to Indian Cove, near Joshua Tree National Park, planted the seed for Jane's love of the desert. Jane first came to live in the desert in the 80's under very different circumstances: divorced, homeless, seeking affordable housing and running away from LA's cocaine scene. Then, to escape a partner who'd entered the desert speed scene, Jane headed to the coast of Northern California and would not return to live in the desert for nearly 25 years. She came b...
2019-04-2334 minDesert Lady DiariesMary Bell CassleAt the age of eight, Mary Bell Cassle's father handed her a carburetor and it's schematic and said, "Put this back together." And she did. Now Mary finds herself in her second semester of the Automotive program at Copper Mountain College, with the goal of adding to the female ranks of the automotive industry. Mary was twelve when her mother passed away and her life didn't stabilize until a few years later when she was adopted by last week's guest Annelise Kuiper. At the age of 18, Mary graduated high school and immediately joined the Army, but was discharged nine months lat...
2019-04-1631 minDesert Lady DiariesAnnelies KuiperAnnelies Kuiper is of Dutch descent, born in Kenya, Africa eight years before Kenya received it's independence from Britain. With no rights to Kenyan citizenship, it was difficult to find work so Annelies made the difficult decision to leave and has only been back to Kenya twice since 1974. Annelise found work with a large hotel chain, which took her to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Johannesburg, eventually landing in 'romantic' Palm Springs where she lived for 11 years, playing golf and enjoying the resort hotel amenities. After ending a second relationship, Annelies wanted to 'fall off the earth' and a friend recommended she move...
2019-04-0929 minDesert Lady DiariesKat JohnsonA native of Los Angeles, Kat Johnson says her first trips to the desert in the 1970's were inspired by the desert sounds of The Eagles. She wouldn't come back again until six years ago at the suggestion of a then boyfriend. Kat wasn't really excited about a trip to the desert, but the vacation rental close to the park sealed the deal - Kat wanted to continue to commune with the wildlife, particularly the desert cottontails who made their presence known each morning of her stay. And seriously, if you've seen them, who can resist? From that moment on, Ka...
2019-04-0232 minDesert Lady DiariesPam Anders Pam Anders first experience with desert was after a drive from Oregon. Pam's first husband suffered with asthma and his mother, who was living in Twentynine Palms suggested they move down to improve his health. Arriving in the dark, they were a bit off course. With no signs or lights, they pulled to the side of the road and Pam got out of the Volkswagen to take a look around. She looked up and almost fell... the star-filled sky was like nothing she'd ever experienced. And the silence was nothing like she'd ever heard. After a few years th...
2019-03-2628 minDesert Lady DiariesAlyce Herrera Swimming at Thanksgiving and Christmas while visiting her mom near El Centro, CA are Alyce Herrera's earliest memories of the desert. . In this episode, Alyce will tell you she moved to Joshua Tree for the vegan pie and carrot cake at what was then the Ricochet Cafe in downtown Joshua Tree. The Ricochet is no longer there, but Alyce is and she's making a big impact on her community. Alyce became a vegetarian about five years ago while running a chicken and rooster rescue on her own property. She began to feel hypocritical, not being able to slaughter her...
2019-03-1927 minDesert Lady DiariesWanda Stadum Before a long trip road, Wanda Stadum brought her dog to stay with a friend in Yucca Valley. After her trip, Wanda returned to retrieve her dog only to find he had gone missing. Wanda looked around, liked what she saw and decided to move to the desert. Wanda was no stranger to the Hi-Desert. She and her sister had tagged along with their Scoutmaster Dad when he'd bring his troops to camp and hike at what then known as Joshua Tree National Monument. With a background in graphic arts and a knack for hand-lettering signs, Wanda opened a sign busin...
2019-03-1227 minDesert Lady DiariesJane Gnoza Jane Gnoza is not only a dear friend... she is an amazing person. Her deep calling from childhood has been to be of service to others in what ever way she can assist. Jane ventured to Southern California to leave behind the harsh winters of her home state of Minnesota and at first glance found desert to be a barren place - now, the Seussical Joshua Trees make her smile. After some time in San Diego and the low desert, comprised of the areas around Palm Springs, Jane found her way to the Hi-Desert. In this episode, we focus mostly on J...
2019-03-0540 minDesert Lady DiariesKaren Tracy Karen Tracy's first experience with the desert was the destination of one of her father's Sunday drives. Her dad had a friend whose parents had retired in Joshua Tree and were doing some farming... not the type of farming you might expect. That house is still there, as is the little shed that housed the farms product. Karen recalls her feelings around the 'farming' and also remembers the owners proudly demonstrating their toggle switch operated window blinds. It would be a number of years before Karen returned to the desert. A marriage to a fellow student at dental sch...
2019-02-2632 minDesert Lady DiariesCheryl EricksonIn 1970, with a marine husband in Vietnam, Cheryl Erickson was tasked with coming to 29 Palms to look for a home for herself and her husband. After her initial trip, Cheryl decided not to tell her husband she was not moving to the desert - 50 years later, she is still here. Having a life-long love of books, Cheryl worked in libraries at the University of Minnesota, Fairfax County, Virginia and Cal State Long Beach and immediately, upon getting settled, took a job with the 29 Palms Library. A marine officer's wife, Cheryl learned the other Marine wives were a bit unhappy t...
2019-02-1932 minDesert Lady DiariesMimi MitzRaised as one of five girls in a suburb of Boston, MA, Mimi had never seen a desert until her plane landed in Palm Springs in the late 70's. Mimi was coming to southern California to see about jobs with the Riverside and San Bernardino school districts - her real goal was to eventually get to San Francisco to live and work. After being shown around by the school district, Mimi went back to Atlanta, thinking the desert wasn't going to be her next move. Shortly after her return, the school district called back, aware of a job opening in th...
2019-02-1232 minDesert Lady DiariesDLD| Kit BrooksKit's family moved to the desert in the early 60's from Duarte, California. Kit was youngest of four kids, spread out over a number of years, so two of her siblings had already left home by the time the family made the move to the Mojave. Kit spent time riding horses barefoot and bareback and made a few bucks to spend on school clothes sweeping and washing curlers at Barbara's Beauty Salon (now known as 'that blue building' next to Ink & Steel in downtown Joshua Tree. After being voted 'Queen of Landers', Kit married at 17, had a child and moved t...
2019-02-0527 minDesert Lady DiariesDLD| Karin SkibaKarin has been an artist her whole life, from drawing as a child to, more recently, creating an eight foot tall work combing aspens and redwoods with a women with a fractured face. Her solo show opens at Joshua Tree Art Gallery (JTAG) on February 9, 2019. She's been creating art for 44 years. In this episode Karin talks about living in Detroit and Canada and moving to California in the 1970's. Her art career started with drawings of fashion, some of which still informs her art today. Karin worked as an art instructor at Riverside City College and at Norco (CA) for tw...
2019-01-2931 minDesert Lady DiariesDLD| Amritakripa Watts-RobbAmritakripa was introduced to the desert by her partner, Robbie and was immediately taken with the place on her first trip, feeling like she’d landed on a new planet. Subsequent trips brought thoughts of buying property as an investment and after nearly a year of weekend trips looking at properties, they came to a decision to just leave Malibu and reside in the desert. As with most stories of desert moves, there were no impediments and the move was both rapid and smooth. Kripa believes the veil between the visible and invisible and much thinner here. The landscape, the...
2019-01-2236 minDesert Lady DiariesJenelle WeisskopfJoshua Tree has long been known as a place that accepts all comers. Seekers, hippies and the generally eccentric are welcome to come and be... well, themselves. It is a community of people, particularly the artistic community, who will accept you as you are. A late transitioning transwoman, Jenelle Weisskopf has found acceptance here - and reasonable rent. A former member of the Air Force, Jenelle is a software engineer mainly working from home. Jenelle first came to the desert presenting as a man and lived in Yucca Valley - her life was very different then. Work and life took her...
2019-01-1533 minDesert Lady DiariesJTNP Shutdown Community SpiritWell, we're all over the news here in Joshua Tree - government shutdown - COMMUNITY SPIRIT! In this abbreviated episode, I talk about the impact of the park being closed and what local residents are doing about it and how you can help. I also talk about a new segment of the podcast and how your support helps keep it going. Guest interviews will return beginning next week - Happy New Year! Read about recent impacts to the park that are causing it's closure: https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-01-08/joshua-tree-national-park-to-close-due-to-damage-in-government-shutdown Donate to Joshua Tree volunteer community effort...
2019-01-0910 minDesert Lady DiariesMelanie BuckMELANIE BUCK, In Memorium Photo credit: Freequency Media LATE NOVEMBER, 2017 ~ FURSTWURLD, Joshua Tree, CA On this beautiful fall day, a group of loving, talented Morongo Basin locals met at a local community gathering place to talk to Janelle from Freequency Media and be part of her new project. Melanie is second from the back, with the short brown hair. After a bit of conversation about what brought some of us to Joshua Tree and the spiritual allure of this place, Janelle and her production team set up a meditation area, Melanie sat behind me and Gabriella Nagy led us...
2018-12-1132 minDesert Lady DiariesDanielle WallA San Francisco Bay area native, Danielle Wall's introduction to the desert came at a young age with visits to her Grandpa's house in Yucca Valley. Fast forward to 2015, with a week to go on her lease in San Fran, she called her Grandpa and said she was moving to Yucca Valley in a week. Danielle didn't know anyone but her Grandpa when she moved here, but spent a year working for herself, catching odd jobs like pet-sitting or secretarial work, which helped her get the lay of the land and it's people. Danielle is now a General Manager at...
2018-12-0434 minDesert Lady DiariesJennifer Ruggiero An independent study project at a local high school fueled Jennifer's passion for photography. Frequent trips to protest and social justice meetings in NYC with her older sister had her snapping photos of the likes of Abbie Hoffman. A gifted musician, Jennifer put her camera down, picked up the alto sax and flute and was playing alongside jazz greats in NYC. While at Leonard Davis Center for Performing Arts, Jennifer met her husband, also a musician. They moved out to Los Angeles, initially staying with family. In this episode, Jennifer describes they racism they faced as a mixed raced couple i...
2018-11-2738 minDesert Lady DiariesDLD| Susan Rukeyser |Ep 66Susan Rukeyser describes herself as 'difficult company at the cookie swap'. She's aware that she doesn't like the things your supposed to like and talks about the things you're not supposed to talk about. Which is why, after growing up in Connecticut, it was so hard to find her people living in places like Georgia and Texas. About eight years ago, visiting family in Los Angeles, Susan decided to see what was east of the city and drove to Desert Hot Springs. She found out there was 'some kind of park' in a place called Joshua Tree and took a d...
2018-11-2033 minDesert Lady DiariesDLD| Mia TorresIn tracking down some family history on her Dad's side, Mia's first desert experience was in Sedona, AZ. Later, frequent travels with theatre companies or just her own wanderlust seeking out a place to call home, Mia began using Joshua Tree National Park as her 're-set' location. She'd stop in on her way out of Southern California and again on her way back to enjoy the peace and quiet and get some balance and focus before heading back to the city. Right out of high school Mia was hired to work for the California State Park Service and was s...
2018-11-1300 minDesert Lady DiariesDLD| T. HammidiThe first time T. came to the Mojave was for a performance boot camp and now T. combines their love of performance with education, producing artistic, informative events like 'Queer Salon, Joshua Tree', which is a combination potluck, art salon and discussion event for LGBTQIAA+ folks in the Mojave. Known to some Joshua Tree locals as the 'Date Lady', T. graciously accepts the moniker, as the person who has become known for selling dates at the Saturday Joshua Tree Farmer's Market. Even though T. identifies more butch and queer than lady. If, like me, you're confused about handling gender i...
2018-10-3034 min