This year we started the year in Palm Desert with some friends. People we didn't know all that well and found so much in common we have become friends that will do more than exchange cards and silly email garbage. We rang in the new year at a local country club dressed in our wedding outfits - they don't look like wedding outfits (our intention) and according to our friends - we charmed the old folks that night.
The best surprise for me however was staying in a mid-century coop, viewing mid-century architecture and the scene that surrounds it. At one point we dropped in on the Riviera in Palm Springs for a beverage of the alcoholic variety. The pool was surrounded by the trendy glitterati who happened to be young and gay on New Years Day. Some were celebrating more effusively than others - there was an attempt at changing the Muzak with a chant but it failed for lack of support. Getting a beverage while viewing the patio also failed for lack of support and we left after waiting for 15 minutes to even get the attention of a waitress. This after 10 minutes of attempting to find someone to seat us. One suspects the Riviera is not long for this world not wholly due to it's lack of enthusiastic or attentive employees. Open less than a year to say it was trendy is an understatement. Mirrors, glass, vinyl and more mirrors, glass and vinyl will lose their appeal quickly - especially given the average age of the local residents.
Continuing our wandering we reached the modern classic by Albert Frey of the Palm Springs Visitor's Center - an old gas station. There we also discovered a phone. It had been lost by
Abdool. No emergency numbers. No easy to read contacts. Strange messages.
"There is great pleasure in the blood letting of animals".......or something like that as a greeting for the new year. This discovery really turned the conversation into something quasi-religious and explored the different religious traditions worldwide.
A
quandary in our sunny day of discovery. We discussed what to do with this found object - dropping in a mail box, the local police station, out the window and ultimately decided upon a T-Mobile Store. A car full of enlightened, liberal, educated, open-minded people faced with the inability to call
Abdool (who had neglected to provide any information anywhere on his phone to help us out) and all slightly stymied because we did not want to call any of his friends to tell them we had his phone. If we could have even pronounced the names right. It's amazing how much conversation this phone caused. Even after we dropped the phone off.
After we had disposed of the unwanted object in an ethical way our brains finally kicked in with waves of creativity -
- Abdool's phone camera could have taken photos of it's adventure like the lawn dwarf in Amelie's father's yard;
- A photo tour of Palm Springs since it was found at the Visitor's Center and he was at some level interested in visiting the area;
- An anonymous blog post somewhere outlining the phone's adventure.
Something, anything besides just returning a phone we were not going to call. So we wrapped the weekend with a 3-D journey to the center of the world and breakfast at Keedy's. All the while discussing the possibilities which are seemingly endless.
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Fall has started. Here it is mid-January and the leaves are finally dropping off the trees in our yard. So begins the annual migration of wandering souls to our part of the world to enjoy the weather, car auctions, horse shows and golf tournaments. 
