califlora and friends pt.iii

Okay, enough already.

Last batch, just as dee-lish as the last two.


First, I just want to sneak in some of these wild vantage points we found in Malibu. Very chill, very sunny. I would often forget either one of my cameras or a bunch of film when we were headed somewhere like this, but Airin was patient and I made do.

And now here we are, back to the place that has my heart, the town of Joshua Tree. I spent a mere three days there, but walking around just a few blocks of the town after the rain, in the smell of creosote, I found some kind of peace, one I hadn't known in many moons...

  

Talk about low ceilings!

This man really loved the Tragically Hip, we chatted in the road for a long time. He made the weird leathery thing you'll see if you keep scrolling! It's his art, he says. 

vacant house. a bunch of these. 

This was a special spot. Just in front of the house we stayed in. This felt like a very special moment, though the photograph itself isn't particularly thrilling. 

This is a Woodrat nest! It's massive, maybe 5' in diameter. Woodrats collect the crazy spiny pieces of Cholla cacti that fly around- among lots of other debris (they're also known as packrats) and are totally immune to their quills. These nests are sometimes as old as 10, 000 years old or some crazy thing. When one family dies or vacates, another one takes over the empty nest. Cool.

Last photo of the Cholla garden in the park. We crossed the boundary of high to low desert to get here for sunset. The light was totally surreal.

and here we are, back to the beach. This is the ocean in Santa Monica.

Airin Mcguinty folks, wonder woman, master of snacks. I remembered today when we ran into one another (but not literally because she was driving and I was cycling) how many hilarious and weird things we found we had in common on this trip. What a time! What a time...

To end this journey I'll show you this place which I covertly photographed with the waist-level focus of my Yashica T4 which focuses with a mind all its own. It's the top-most level of the Museum of Jurassic Technology. This place and Joshua Tree remain the most tranquil and magical places I've been this in a really long time. 

Thanks everyone! It's been nice to share. You'll be able to find prints and other iterations of these images in coming months.

xo

bo