A climate emergency
Plus open mic night returns to Pappy's, the Perseids meteor shower begins, and a fundraiser tonight for early childhood education
Hello from California’s high desert, and welcome back to the Dispatch! I am back from a few weeks off where I tried, mostly successfully, to check the news slightly less often than I normally do. I read a lot of books I’d been meaning to get to, spent a lot of time outside, and reached the summit of Mammoth Mountain. It was the rejuvenating start to summer that I desperately needed.
In thinking about what to spotlight this week, I have to talk a little bit about the climate crisis currently unfolding in the high desert and elsewhere. When Death Valley breaks an all-time-high record for temperature ever reliably recorded on the planet, well, that’s hard to ignore. Combined with the condo collapse in Florida being partially attributed to changes in the state’s shoreline and the fact that there are multiple fires raging in Northern Calfornia before fire season truly begins, it feels like the conversation around the crisis has really picked up speed the last few weeks.
There’s a new level of urgency, at least for me, that I had not felt before even as I recognized that the crisis had been worsening. There’s a sense that we’ve entered a new phase where things previously thought impossible will happen quickly and all at once.
After living through a pandemic, I’m not sure that I feel more prepared for this new reality, but I do feel an odd sense of calm. Things have been upside down and changing and stressful for nearly a year and a half. Any routine or expectation I had had before has been replaced by spontaneity, something I admittedly struggled with before.
During my time off, I had intended to go to Lone Pine for a few days and check out Whitney Portal. A few days before I was set to leave, a fire broke out just a few blocks from where I was planning to stay. So it was on to Plan B. Before 2020, I would’ve had to go back to the drawing board and stress out about finding somewhere new to go. Now, I just opened Google Maps and took a chance on heading up to Mammoth Lakes (worth it, 100%).
All that’s to say, the future still looks uncertain, albeit in a different way than it did a few months ago. Hopefully, we’ve learned how to come together as a community and ensure we can make it through this next phase as safely as possible. For our sakes, and of course, for the desert.
And now, onto this week's news:
Open Mic Night is officially back at Pappy + Harriett’s! The Pioneertown mainstay will continue hosting open mic nights on Monday evenings.
Things are finally starting to feel like normal. Pappy + Harriett’s hosted its first Open Mic Night in more than a year on Monday evening.
“Big” Dave Johnson was our host to kick things off, and the house was packed. I really missed the energy, and it felt great to be back!
Going forward, the venue will host open mic nights every Monday beginning at 7 p.m. Performers need to provide proof of vaccination to be included in the lineup, and patrons are reminded to wear masks when not seated if they are not yet vaccinated.
The Perseids are one of the longest and most prominent meteor showers visible to the naked eye on Earth. I envy dark-sky photographers this time of year.
The meteor shower peaks in mid-August, peaking this year on August 11, 12, and 13. Meteors will be visible starting in the mid-to-late evening hours, as early as 9 p.m., and continue to get better into the pre-dawn hours, after 2 a.m.
Skywatchers can expect to see up to 100 meteors per hour. The meteors are very fast and bright, regularly leaving long tails of light and color behind them as they streak across the sky at around 37 miles per second.
Perseid meteors, which are leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids, are also known for their fireballs, big explosions of bright light and color that last longer than an average meteor streak.
La Madatora is hosting an opening party for its youth art show tonight. The party includes a silent auction, which will benefit the Early Childhood Education Scholarship program from the Institute of Inquiry.
Doors open at 7 p.m. and admission is free.
Institute of Inquiry students will display artwork from the past two to three years, according to the Z107.7 report. Displays include natural dyes projects and group murals.
This weekend, La Madatora will also offer free drop-in art classes for children ages 3-6 from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.
La Matadora Gallery is located at 61857 Twentynine Palms Highway in Joshua Tree.
Pupdate of the week: Alice took her first road trip! She was an absolute trooper, although she didn’t acclimate quite as well once we reached our destinations. She was definitely impressed by the pine cones in Lake Tahoe and Mammoth, but I think she wasn’t super happy being in all these new places. She is definitely a pandemic puppy!
Trail tip of the week: Make sure to check conditions before heading out. What is the forecast temperature? How windy will it be? What are the fire risks? Is there storm potential in the afternoon? And if the answers to those questions aren’t great, don’t be afraid to bail and try again later. Forest management, National Park Service, state parks, and Bureau of Land Management all regularly post updates for hikers.
Book of the week: I was skeptical of Deacon King Kong by James McBride only because everyone that had read it couldn’t stop raving about it. I felt there was no way it could live up to the hype, but it did, and then some. It follows a crew of characters living in a housing development in New York City in 1969, and each character is more well written than the last. I haven’t felt like I knew characters this well in a long time.
Show of the week: Well, I finally bit the bullet and started Ted Lasso. I didn’t want to sign up for another streaming service, but the Emmy nominations came out yesterday and Ted Lasso couldn’t be ignored. It is as wonderful as everyone says, and the second season will be out soon.
Small business of the week
This week we have a community submission for Methods and Rituals Spa. The spa was founded by two women during COVID and focuses on mindfulness and health in skin care and body treatments.
Per the name, the spa offers facials, methods like facial light therapy, and rituals like reiki energy healing among its menu of services. Mobile and house call services are available to the high desert and surrounding areas, but require a $300 minimum in service fees for booking.
Check them out on Instagram or on their website. Booking inquiries are currently handled via those channels.
That’s it for this week! I am so happy to be back in your inboxes. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. Stay cool!
- Megan