Mojave Light Musing

Summer! For those of us in the northern hemisphere,  it means sun and heat and longer days and being outside as much as possible. As a girl growing up in South Carolina and Wisconsin, summer meant riding bikes until dark and evening BBQs and seeing who could catch the most fireflies and counting mosquito bites. Summer mornings, always on a Saturday, started to the sound of lawnmowers and the smell of fresh cut grass the fans blew in through the windows - open before the heat and humidity of the day set in and air conditioners needed to be turned on. The cicadas trilled in the heat of the day; the crickets took over at night. Taking a shower only helped you to smell better because the humidity never allowed you to dry off. No one noticed. We were too busy telling stories and building forts and stealthily wandering from one house to the other in pursuit of whatever good guys vs. bad guys game we had concocted - while our parents sipped beers and martinis and bourbons on someone's pa...

Just playing around in old files this evening. Sebatian's Groceries. Or it was. Now it's Sebastian's General Store and Cafe.  Same building that Randolph Hearst owned back in the day in San Simeon, California -also home to  William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach . I remember it being a true general store with camping goods and the like when my kids were small. Beautiful, weathered old wood floors that creaked and local knick knacks among the necessary lamp batteries, camp stoves, and spam..... Thankfully, they left the character of the original building intact in the trendier redo. Although, I'm not sure this 'groceries' sign is still on the side of the building anymore. Hmm, might need a roadtrip to check it out.... And then there's Linn's Farmhouse  and olallieberry pies and Phil, the pie-maker.... Oh yes, summertime is near....

June. Speaks of flip flops, loose dresses, and big sun hats. Fresh fruit smoothies and green, crispy salads - all collected from 'real' gardens and local farms. Early morning-just-as-the-sun-rises desert walks and late evening strolls. Mid day is for inside stuff - reading, working on projects, visiting museums, a decadent nap. Time to regroup and reprioritize. Below, one of my favorite roads in Joshua Tree National Park.  It was a full moon night - nearly midnight. A quiet so deep, my ears hurt. Pinto Basin in moonlight....

Yesterday, my good friend, James, treated me to a new place to hike in. The late May day couldn't have been more perfect. Abundant sun. Cooling breezes. Vistas to every horizon. The sounds of happy birds and the wind rustling the dried, tall grasses and old oaks. We didn't cross the path of too many people on the trails but those we did were friendly and some enjoyed chatting up a bit. A great place to let your mind clear or enjoy time outside with friends and family. They even have horse and bike trails and areas to let Fido stretch his legs, too, though they keep those trails separate from the walking trails. A very well orchestrated preserve. Kudos to Riverside County for setting aside this little jewel of a place. This 9000 acre preserve sits surrounded by citrus ranches and vineyards and suburban sprawl, but you wouldn't know once you are engaged on one of 36 miles of trails. It's a bit of a drive from me (about an hour and a half) but totally worth it. I am pret...

13 days. 13 days and a big window of time will open for me - enough to dive into some creative projects I am chomping at the bit to work on for the next couple of months - one of which is playing with different means of presenting some of my favorite images. It takes me awhile to figure out how they want to be. What kind of paper to use. Do I even want to use paper? Maybe fabric. Maybe wood. Maybe metal. Maybe a little of everything. Here is one of many images I am looking forward to seeing off my computer screen. I was walking down a street in Little Italy near downtown San Diego when I looked up and saw this. The tree was thinking about breaking out in blossoms. Late winter / early spring. I particularly like the starkness of bare branch against rough, weathered stucco and a simple, startling blue window frame with a hint of a chair. Who lives up there? Where they watching me watching the window? What scenes have been witnessed from above? I think this one wants to be on fine matt...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, mommies, moeders, makuahine, and mutters out there. When I looked up 'Mother' in different languages, 'Mama' or something very much like it dominated the field - even in an obscure language like Quechua...Mama. A rather universal word. There are so many quotes out there surrounding motherhood. These are some of my favorites and pretty much sum up my own personal experience: “Motherhood is a choice you make everyday, to put someone else's happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing even when you're not sure what the right thing is...and to forgive yourself, over and over again, for doing everything wrong.”  ~Anonymus And then, there is: “There's no bitch on earth like a mother frightened for her kids.”   ― Stephen King And finally, one I am sure my own kids would wholeheartedly agree with: “Mothers are all slightly insane.”   ― J.D. Salinge...

My heart is heavy today. Our community lost a beloved friend and artist early this morning. Fly with the angels, Mike. You've left a mark on many with your infectious laughter, warm bear hugs, and soulful art.  Never an unkind word escaped from your lips (not that I ever heard....). Your beloved Betty and family will be encircled in healing light  As only this desert community can do. How grateful we are  To have crossed paths with you. FIrst Rays of Morning Light

This weekend has found me finishing up projects and perusing old files. I was ecstatic when I discovered the first ever photo shoot/slide show of a group of women I was privileged to photograph a few years back. The dozen artists spent a year creating altered art books.  Each woman designed her own altered art book with a unique theme and then circulated the book among the others in the course of a year. Each artist added her own perspective to one another's theme so all the books actually were complied efforts of the entire group of women. I spent one afternoon, the one before their creations were to go on display at the Palm Springs Museum of Art, photographing them in action. Inspirational. Camaraderie. Sisterhood. What a wonderful experience just to be there... (Please click on the link below to see the production.) Altered Art Books: A Collective Journey

A little quick shot tonight. This one is for my local peeps. Recognize where these used to hang? ©Diana Shay Diehl

One of the refreshing things about my trip to Austin, Texas was all the green  and creeks and lakes and ponds to wander around.  Don't get me wrong, I do love my desert with its ever changing light and grand vistas that involuntarily expand your chest to the deepest recesses of your soul. But every now and again - it is so nice to wander among lush green things with running water - lots of it. I particularly like this photo because it captured the essence of what shared my path along the Barton Springs Creek trail on a most wonderful morning walk.... What do you see?

Back. From several days in Austin, Texas - visiting a good friend my daughter and I met a few years ago while on a trip to Australia. I'm in the midst of unpacking and a multitude of other to-dos on my list so this will be a brief glimpse into my days there. Austin is the capital of Texas - surrounded by rolling green hills, trees, trees, trees and lots of creeks and  rivers. It is also home to UT - University of Texas @Austin. Quite a sight for these small town desert eyes. But what impressed me the most - besides their incredible music venue that seems to run 24/7 - are the colors of old amidst the impending new. Everywhere I looked, there was some intriguing, cozy spot to eat, hear music, or both at the same time. And everyone is warm, open, and friendly. Particularly interesting, to me, was the use of trailers as eateries. I hear the older, funkier buildings are quickly being torn down and replaced with high rise towers. Now I wish I had spent more time photographing the icon...

I was happy to have recovered some files I thought were lost forever with our theft episode. Here are a few photographs from a series I did on 'rust'. I find the patina on ancient things rather fascinating...so much texture and nuances of color.  If these things could tell stories.... Two of these shots were taken in Joshua Tree National Park at the Desert Queen Ranch. The other is from my other favorite place to hang - the idyllic village of Cambria along the Central Coast of California. Coastal rust verses desert rust....

Just a quickie today. This is a yucca bloom. A Mojave yucca to be exact. Did you know there are over 40 species of yuccas all over the world? The Mojave yucca, indigenous to my desert region, have these curly fibers that peel off of the spear-like leaf. The Cahuilla, Serrano, and Chemehuevi peoples of this area used those fibers in baskets, clothing, roping, etc. The fibers are stiff and sharp. They must be soaked and repeatedly worked over in order to soften enough for weaving and braiding. If I can find my project bag of yucca fibers braided into roping, I'll show you some plant-to-product samples - from gathering to stripping fibers to processing to braiding. It was a LOT of work for just those few strands. For now, here is a photo taken along my walking trail of a Mojave yucca (aka Yucca schidigera or Spanish dagger) in full bloom. Spectacular.

I'm a happy camper. Got my workflow tools up and running. The studio space is getting a facelift. Tufts of dog hair have been sucked up with the vacuum - again. Now, if only I can get a little respect for uninterrupted 'Me' time. I can get pretty grumpy..... Things that make me smile: (or at least distract me from things that don't......) This guy didn't flinch, no matter how close I got with the camera or how much noise I made. There was a fisherman on the bank below.  No doubt it was holding out for some freebie morsels. On the other side of the causeway was a pack of ferral cats (are they called packs?). They lived in the rocks near the water. Water? Cats? Aren't they supposed to not like water so much? People left them dishes of water and food as well as blankets. The cats looked really healthy and didn't mind me around - probably hoping for some tidbits as well. This shot only shows about half of them. Since I didn't have any offerings for...

Hello dear Readers, I am still alive. Can't believe myself it's been 2 months since my last post. I'll keep the reason simple: technical difficulties. iPads are useful tools for many things but they do not replace the capabilities and ease of a "real" computer. Therefore, photo posting is a bit awkward.... These two months have been an excellent purging and sorting time. It is spring after all...a time for renewal, resurrection, hope, letting go, making room, rebirth. And I feel like I've been through all of those things in this transitional season of the year. It's all good. I really appreciate those of you who quietly wrote and inquired. I missed you, too. In a few days, I will have more photos and stories of recent adventures and discoveries as well as some cool stuff on the horizon. This spring, in my desert, the Joshua trees and yuccas are blooming, blooming, blooming! I managed to capture a few keeper shots. Mostly I just gawked and admired...

In trying to think of a title for this post, the following words come to mind but none capture fully the essence of how I am feeling after the events of this past week.... Unscrupulous behavior Desperate actions Disrespectful Sly Predatorial Bewilderment Violated Maybe all of the above..... When my son returned home from school one day last week, he texted me and said our dog was shut in my bedroom and did I not realize that when I left for work? My first thought was that he and the cats were chasing each other around during the day and one of them accidently bumped the door shut. That has never happened before of course, but it wasn't unlikely. I gave it no more thought. Neither did my son who later said, as the course of events unfolded, that everything seemed pretty usual when he got home - key in it's 'hidden' place, all doors to the house locked, everything in its usual place. After dinner, he wanted to show me a video on Youtube and went to get m...

Hello dear viewers, near and far.... Just a quick post today. I am blown away by the responses to this image. I posted this on my studio Facebook page, Mojave Light Studio , and within 24 hours it received over 1,300 views and over 200 likes! Wow. A weather front blew in rain and fog to my desert this past weekend. We lost power on Friday night from around 10pm to nearly 6am Saturday morning. Luckily, this weather front did not include sub freezing temperatures! The sounds of the house coming back to life with the power surge awakened me earlier than I would have liked on Saturday morning. However, being that I went to sleep at a decent hour the night before, I awoke refreshed and ready for the day - before the sun rose. The fog floating by my windows intrigued me. The distant mountains were playing peek-a-boo as the rising sun lightened shades of gray. My daughter, also a shutter bug enthusiast, was game to make a few mugs of hot tea and venture out to explore the foggier parts of...

The temperatures finally hit comfortable here in my corner of the desert. My daughter came up for part of the weekend and we went out to play. Expanses so wide you could feel it in your chest. The warmth of the sun heating up the boulders. Quiet so quiet your ears ring. Textures. Subtle colors. Winter stillness of the earth. It was a grand day.... Pencil Cholla / JTNP Fence Post / JTNP Shadow Dancing 2013 ©Diana Shay Diehl / JTNP

Today is my birthday. My oldest kids couldn't be home due to their work schedules but our hearts connected anyway. My youngest son and a close friend treated me to a movie followed by dinner. The movie was Life of Pi . I had not read the book and sort of had the gist of what it was about. Sort of. It made me laugh a few times but mainly it tugged at my heart - in a big way. Actually it was perfect for a birthday movie...especially one that is nearly square in the middle of the path from 50 to 60. While I have always been one to ponder the meaning of life and my role in it, never more so than these past couple of years. Life of Pi was a good reminder of many things....and the main message for me is it all depends upon our perspective. Our perspective and our attitudes are about all we can control - really. I am so blessed with a beautiful family and a multitude of friends who love me just the way I am. The rest - doesn't matter so much. Here's to 54 richly lived years. ...

Oh goodness. What a year, what a year... First of all, let me wish you, dear readers, friends and followers, a happy new year filled with good health, many doors of opportunities, and warm embraces from those you love who love you back.... After all, isn't 13 a lucky number? This date also marks the end of the first full year of  Mojave Light Musing . One year! As I review past posts, the path has certainly ended up somewhere completely different from my original intention. I'm glad I've allowed the energy to unfold in its own organic direction. Never would I have thought I'd have readers from all over the world! I am most grateful to the encouragement, responses, and sharing of your own thoughts as we journeyed, vicariously, through a very tumultuous year. How would I sum up 2012? As I sit here, cozied up by the fireplace, hot tea by my side, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride comes to mind (if you've experienced Disneyland, you'll know what I mean) . Or, doing l...