THE BRIGHT SUNLIGHT OF a Palm Springs awaits me outside my hotel room. Oh, and I am sipping a rum (Captain Morgan) and coke. Finally. After a slight detour from Salt Lake City to airline suppported sleepover in Los Angeles to then on to Palm Springs this morning we have finally arrived at the starting point for what amounts to a couple of weekend get-aways for me and ten days away from the book store for Patty. In other words, a vacation.
It is hot and very sunny for somebody still recovering from a New England winter. We have had a few days of Summer like Spring days (including the day we left Boston for the West Coast), but nothing like the gloriously, oppressive heat of Palm Springs. The mountains above the city are dusted with a haze of smog or something, and yet the skies are uniformly blue-grey. A breeze, or the ghost of one, push the palm trees around a bit. The hotel is empty except for Patty, me and the people who need to work through the day. My back sticks to the chair on the deck where I can view the mountains and feel the heat more directly. I want the heat though. I prefer it to the clammy chill of constant air conditioning.
The rum and coke has done its job and taken the edge off a long night and a frustrating day. Today, Patty and I were supposed to wake up in Palm Springs and contemplate heading out to the Joshua Tree National Park before retiring to the pool. Patty mentioned something about shopping that I was steadfastly ignoring and imagining a book in my hands, a drink by my side and a pool of water nearby. I never include other guests in this view of my Saturday vacation, but I can live with that.
Instead, we woke up in the Westin LAX to the annoying sound of alarm clock, which had gone off an hour early. The extra hour didn’t do much good and despite a shower and some weak tea, putting on the same clothes as the previous day due to the unknown location (supposedly already to go to Palm Springs) of our luggage I only had the clothes on my back. I had thought about packing some stuff in my carry-on, but decided against it. Bad choice, thank you Delta and United airlines.
My rum and coke glass sits empty and we are out of coke at the moment, but I am much more likely to get more rum and cokes than to see my luggage. Last check with the airlines and they don’t really have a clue where our suitcases might be hiding. My money is on SLC (last minute transfers tend to head fake the luggage handling systems of the modern airlines).
But why am I here in the desert? Ostensibly, this is a work trip, but I could flown into LA instead. I wanted to see the Joshua Tree National Park. A some times Gram Parsons junkie and recent U2 obsessive, I saw this work trip as an opportunity to see the joshua trees. I was also not sure I could take ten days of LA. California has not always been my most beloved of destinations, despite some good times in the state.
I have moved on to the Coronas now, at least until we get more coke, so things are all right at the moment. It is hard to complain too much when you can enjoy a day like today without having to work.
