Desert Lady Diaries

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 with friends in Banning, California, Kathleen gave up the apartment in Laguna Beach, put her things in storage until she decided how she wanted to move forward with her life. With a plan to take day trips, try to get her old job back, get her things out of storage and move on – Kathleen says her car had other plans, bringing her regularly to the hi-desert. Kathleen entered the park, where she explored places she'd previously visited in the park and after two or three weeks of this routine, Kathleen decided to get all her things out of storage and found a house to rent in Joshua Tree. In this episode Kathleen talks about the medical condition – that she later discovered ran in her family – that began to present itself in various ways, until finally taking her down in July of 2003, which lead to a diagnosis putting her on a journey to her enormous medical miracle: a surgery that could potentially rob her of her abilities to think, walk and talk. Kathleen says she went for the miracle because she couldn't stomach the thought of becoming permanently disabled and says, "I trained for this surgery like an Olympic athlete trains for a gold medal". After successful surgery and months of physical therapy, rehab and a short stint in assisted living, Kathleen found her self at home in the desert silence, where she says she experienced an onslaught of ideas. Kathleen says she is pretty convinced it was the silence and the solitude that really helped her recover and that she was somehow positioned in this desert for all of this to play out as it did. Since having the surgery, Kathleen is thriving, doing all those things and more including writing a book about her experience. The only thing left to do is get back behind the wheel of a car. Kathleen's book, 'Facing the Ultimate Fear: A New Future', is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and locally in the desert at Joshua Tree's Space Cowboy Books and in Yucca Valley at Cactus Wren Book Exchange and Rainbow Stew.

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 with other cabin dwellers. The landlord cashed in and rents were to be raised significantly. At the same time, a chance encounter with a representative of Mojave Desert Land Trust brought Mary to Joshua Tree to conduct a writing workshop and do a joint reading with previous podcast guest, Susan Lang. Mary's accommodations turned out to be a small cabin, on Yucca Mesa and the experience of the Mojave desert while staying there found Mary leaving Arizona three weeks later to live in the Morongo Basin. Mary stayed in the Mojave for about a year, finding magic on walks through washes and the trash blowing over from the local landfill, eventually taking her leave due to her body's unwillingness to manage the summer heat. Mary has written three novels, 'Sisters of the Dream', '29' and 'Going Through Ghosts' and 35 years of her life has been fighting to stop uranium mines near the Grand Canyon, getting a pumice mine off the sacred San Francisco peaks, stopping developers from putting a gated golf-course community around wetlands in Arizona, and the ongoing struggle to get a local ski resort to stop making snow on the sacred mountains with reclaimed water. Her activism stems completely from the deep connection she feels with the earth. We talk about the idea of 'owning a piece of the earth' and where this drive 'to have' in our current day and age has come from, why it seems more prevalent than ever and how it's affecting our relationship with each other, the earth and it's resources. Find all of Mary's books available here Learn about Mary's writing workshops and coaching

Dawn 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 District Supervisor. Prior to coming to the desert, Alan's military career found them spending a lot of time in the San Diego area, then Virginia and on to 29 Palms. After landing in Yucca Valley, Alan, was killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 - their children were five and three. When Dawn moved to Yucca Valley in 2003, there was no Home Depot, Starbucks or Applebee's. She and her husband decided to live on the east end of Yucca Valley, giving Dawn, then a young mother with two small children, access to more people and places. Dawn's community developed through volunteering in the schools, her church family and interacting with military wives. One of the reasons Dawn decided to stay in the hi-desert after the loss of her husband was her connection to this community and proximity to the base. Dawn says she and her children transitioned to civilian life in a place she calls, 'peaceful and beautiful'. Dawn talks about getting through the loss of her husband with the assistance of the Marine Corps. While the Corps itself assisted with the logistics of her new life, she never imagined her own experience as a volunteer shepherding young military wives through losses would apply to her. Dawn enjoys the connections that she calls 'small town wonderful' – in a place that provides opportunities to not only have social connections with your neighbors, but to sometimes even work with them, ultimately becoming people you can lean on in times of crisis. Raised in a volunteer-oriented family, Dawn gravitated to public service very naturally. An experience in land development spurred Dawn's interest in public service, leading her to commit to making San Bernardino County a business-friendly environment. Having built a new home with her family, she decided she'd enjoyed the process so much, that she would purchase another piece of property, subdivide it and build two more homes. Dawn experienced a number of issues in the subdivide process and it was that frustration that spurred her to go into the Town offices and ask some questions and gain some clarity around the bureaucracy she was experiencing. She introduced herself to, then Mayor of Yucca Valley, Chad Mayes, who suggested she become the Planning Commissioner for Yucca Valley, where learned about land use. This role eventually lead her to a seat on the Town Council and eventually Mayor of Yucca Valley. In the meantime, she'd also obtained her substitute teaching credential and while doing so also worked part-time job with then Assemblymen Paul Cook. In this episode, we also talk about a law suit filed against the SB BOS challenging the process of Dawn's appointment and the large territory of nearly half a million people that she covers as 3rd District Supervisor. We also dig into a few local issues like affordable housing, looming Airbnb regulations, limited rural area law enforcement and code enforcement issues. If you live in the Third District and have issues or questions, reach out to Dawn and her office here.

Janelle 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 which she found herself were did not allow her to be hands-on or a maker of things – except coffee and files. Janelle started weaving as a hobby and became obsessed, making mostly wall hangings and art. She's built a community of friends in weaving through Instagram as the craft fiber movement began to take off. As a result of the success of a month-long pop-up shop in LA, Janelle quit her job after 11 months and began her weaving business, having received commissions for her work from private and corporate clients. Los Angeles was not agreeing with either Janelle or Robert, so they began looking at places where they wanted to live, which could be anywhere, since both of them work out of their home. After some searching and the consideration of Roberts children living in LA, Joshua Tree felt like the right place with the space and affordability they needed, while still remaining close to the kids. A collaboration with women's lifestyle brand Anthropologie, designing pillows and throws, really opened up Janelle's business. We touch a little on the time that Janelle spends running her business, versus being hands on in the creating. Janelle has lived in many places, typically for no more than three or four years at a time - she talks about her current struggles with desert living and the ways in which she copes. Janelle would like the accessibility of a city, but doesn't want to live in a city. To ease that feeling, she makes trips to Palm Springs, still having the desert feel without all the sand and dirt. At the same time, making the drive between her home and studio, she can't help but feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place. In this episode we also talk about the challenges of living in a tourist economy, the difficulty of carving out a living for oneself that pays the bills and the transient 'community' in which we find ourselves and the energy that brings with it. Janelle says her work has been influenced by the colors of the desert, particularly the golden light and the spring wildflower bloom. And we talk about the wind and the wildlife of the desert and the changes of seasons we see here. Take a look at Janelle's weaving and other products available at All Roads Studio or visit their store location in Yucca Valley at 7319 Acoma Trail - be sure to check their Instagram site for open times.

Patti 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 desert visit. Driving in the snow, down the Morongo grade, heading home after a Christmas visit, the conversation turned to, 'why wouldn't we just stay here?" Before they knew it, Patti and her now husband, had a cabin in Flaming Heights and were moving to make the desert their home. Patti admits it took her a few years to really fall in love with the place. Having to travel down the hill an hour and 15 minutes each way, each day to go to a job using her retail expertise, she didn't have much time to get involved in the community and make connections with her neighbors. But, once she left retail and started working in real estate, those relationships started to form very quickly. Patti's interest in retail came from her dad who had worked for Nordstrom before starting his own business. Patty followed in those footsteps working for department stores; she likes retail and working with people. When Patti arrived to the desert, the only non-Mom & Pop store at that time was old K-mart. And after driving down the hill working retail hours, Patti found her self wanting to be closer to home and her kids, so she started helping her mother-in-law - the realtor - eventually leading Patti to become a licensed realtor herself, before moving into escrow and eventually her own hard money business, launching 'The Loan Lady' in 1996. In this episode, Patty explains a 'hard money' loan is, who may need it and how that money is used. Once Patti was able to work here in the hi-desert, she came very involved in the community. She is a committed Rotarian, involved in many business networking groups and is currently the Board Chair of the Yucca Valley Chamber of Commerce. We also talk about the changing landscape of the real estate market in the Morongo Basin and the types of jobs and income currently in the area and what may be necessary to sustain the growth. Patti also gives some advice on how to prepare to make a home purchase here.

​​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 another 15 years. Then, sensing the onslaught of 'throw-away' fashion, Jane pursued her second dream, to become a Park Ranger. She started by volunteering to be on a team that spent long hours daily creating defensible space - clearing weeds, grass and brush. The first day she came home exhausted and after a good night sleep, woke up excited to return and continue her work the next day. Soon a permanent position opened and Jane was hired by the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency in Thousand Oaks in 2002. Jane and her husband, Alan, bought their desert home in 2005, and moved here full time in 2015, two years after her retirement. Jane received her Desert Naturalist Certificate from UC Riverside in May of this year and does a lot of volunteer work with kids – and recently worked with the JT Clean Team, cleaning up Tortoise Island in downtown Joshua Tree. In this episode, Jane also tells a story about an early tortoise sighting at her property and the interpretation from a friend, a Hopi Chief.

Patty 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. Coming out every weekend from Los Angeles since 1990, Patty retired in 2015, making the cabin her permanent home. A fairly new member of the Moose Lodge in Landers, Patty has covered a lot of ground in her life. She married at 17 and was mom of two by 21 and divorced 18 years later. She's taught macramé, raced motorcycles, cooked on yachts in the Carribean, hitchhiked across Europe after a free plane ride and went to UCLA at night to educate herself for a job as an export manager for a car parts company. Patty definitely has the entrepreneurial spirit, selling macramé kits, owning a Mexican take out and a high-end breakfast catering company. The only think that may have slowed her down a bit was beating breast cancer in 2000. At nearly 80 years old, Patty recently purchased a chain saw - to cut the wood you see her pictured with above - and after a high-cholesterol warning from her doctor, continues to working on her vegetarian diet, which has reduced her cholesterol exponentially, without the use of pharmaceuticals. Patty loves all the desert creatures around her home and has a contingent of bunnies who come for breakfast daily.

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 watched them doing the same thing over and over. Sometimes she'd ride her pony to and from school. Susan tells us about the community that at that time included the Golden Stallion Chinese restaurant (9:21), the Red Dog, the Hollywood influence and the rodeo grounds. By the time she was 23, Susan had five kids and was still running around the desert barefoot, even on the campus of College of the Desert in Palm Desert and UC Riverside – it was the late 60's and early 70's. In those years she'd read Tolstoy, Freud and Dostoyevsky and though she felt a kindred spirit with these authors, because all of them were men, the thought of being a writer herself didn't come until later. Looking back, Susan believes writing was in her blood as her mother wrote a column for the Pioneertown paper and Susan's sister has also written a book. On her way to a mid-term just before graduation, Susan was in a car accident, which left her unconscious for 30 days . Her sister arranged with Susan's professors to give her incompletes and she was able to graduate later, after writing one essay. In the midst of this, her husband left her. These days, Prescott, Arizona is home for Susan where she founded and directed the Southwest Writers Series and the Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing at Yavapai College. Currently, Susan is Faculty Emerita at Yavapai College, teaches courses at Prescott College, and serves as Event Coordinator at the Peregrine Book Company in Prescott, Arizona. Susan still has ties to the Pipes Canyon area, visiting her brother who still lives in Pioneertown. This month (October 2019) Susan will be reading and selling her books at the following venues in the Morongo Basin: October 4 at 7 p.m. at Black Rock Nature Center, Yucca Valley October 5 at 4 p.m. at the Sun Alley Stage near Space Cowboy Books Monday, October 7 at 7 p.m. at Kip's Desert Book Club at The Palms Wonder Valley You can find Susan's books here. Or, visit Susan's website here.

Karmolette 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 leaving a place that crept into their souls. After three years stationed in Corpus Christi TX, she and her husband had an opportunity to choose 29 Palms or return to Camp Pendleton – they chose 29 Palms and have been here ever since. Karmolette's children still live nearby – one in 29 Palms, the other in Indio. In this episode, we talk about the changes and differences in the base and the city of 29Palms over the 27 years Karmolette has lived here, as well as the changes in local government including the recent institution of district elections. Karmolette has a nursing degree and a PhD in Biblical Studies. The decision to go into nursing came from Karmolette witnessing her mother's health struggles, often hospitalized due to issues with Type 1 diabetes. Karmolette admired the health professionals and at a young age, made up her mind to become a nurse, enabling her to take care of her mother. Karmolette's nursing career started in the delivery room and now she shepherds patients and families through the process of hospice. Karmolette credits her parents with her civic-mindedness. She says they encouraged her and her siblings to run for officer or leadership roles. At 16, Karmolette became a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) and held a position representing her class to a state level nursing organization. She identifies herself as a change agent and citizen who cares about her city. Karmolette walks us through how she 'applied' to get on the 29 Palms City Council ballot, the campaigning and finally, the slightly nerve-wracking process of the counting of the votes, leading to her eventual win of her district. Karmolette went to bed on election night feeling she'd done her best, and accepted, what she thought was her loss, until she received a phone call the next morning, advising her the mail-in ballots had not yet been counted. There were days the votes separating her from the opposing candidate were actually four votes or two votes. She points to her own election experience to demonstrate that every vote really does count. Now part of the City Council, Karmolette talks about the learning curve of getting up to speed with the the scope of the council and past history – and she feels she has grown in ways she could have never expected. Last, we also talk about the first Juneteenth Celebration held in 29 Palms earlier this year and the plans Karmolette sees for future events and importance of passing the history to our youth.

A 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 solitude of the desert. Wandering through abandoned homestead cabins in Wonder Valley, she became fascinated with things weathered by the desert. Six months after a third trip to the desert, Shana committed to leaving Portland in six months. Without a job or knowing anyone here, she found a house to rent on Craigslist, moved to the Morongo Basin and was immediately hired on at Crossroads Cafe in Joshua Tree. Shana continues to serve locals and tourists at Crossroads. She talks about 'hangry hour' and how the crew works so well together in a small space with lines waiting out the door during busy season. At the end of her shifts, she loves going home to recharge in the silence, with a good book and her dogs, Billie and Henry nearby. Shana has been painting for 10 years – she uses it as a form of meditation. Only recently she began to share her work publicly through local art exhibitions. Initially, she was reluctant to show her work, feeling perhaps she wasn't strong enough to take any criticism. As it turns out, her experience was completely the opposite - feeling tremendous support and encouragement from the women in the community and other artists. Shana is also a new first time homeowner and taking in all of the excitement – and responsibility – that comes with that milestone. She even put in her own concrete floors, taking her dad's advice of, "what ever you can do by yourself, do it." And now, every time she looks at the floor, she says she feels the satisfaction of having done it herself, in true desert 'get it done' fashion. Shana's advice for folks looking to move to the desert is to be ready to deal with the silence and solitude, which makes you face your fears and hangups and to understand we move with the sun. PHOTO: Carly Valentine - listen to Carly's Desert Lady Diaries episode here.