La Quinta, California: First, a hummingbird update: the first fledgling spent her/his first day out of the nest learning flying skills. Momma must have shown the baby how to find our hummingbird feeder, because she spent hours flying between the nest and the feeder. (Avian version of a teenager driving to 7-11 for a Slurpee?) Momma Bird is still hovering and feeding Baby #2, who shows no interest in leaving home. Since hummingbirds lay their eggs a day or so apart, hopefully this is egg #2, and s/he isn't quite sturdy enough to fly? The mother will continue to feed her young for several weeks after they have flown the coop.
Now, back to our usual program.
Dave learned there was a display of photographs of Yosemite National Park at the La Quinta Historical Society museum, so we went to have a look. (Dave spent a lot of time in Yosemite as a child.) The exhibit, Yosemite People, is a unique look at the relationship between Yosemite National Park’s natural wonders and its visitors. The photos, by Jonas Kulikauskas, were mostly captured in 2014-15, and are in black and white.
One photo is of the dead and fallen (2003) Jeffrey Pine on top of Sentinel Dome. This pine was famously captured on film (below, left top) by Ansel Adams in 1940. Lisa gave her dad two gelatin silver prints of Adam's Yosemite photographs over 20 years ago. They still hang in our house today:
After enjoying the photographic exhibit, we went to see a mural depicting the history of La Quinta, painted by H. Andre Blanche (1925-2010), a year before his death:
So much of the Coachella Valley history involves the Cahuilla (kuh-wee-uh) natives, and the tribe is still very active in the valley. The Cahuilla are one of the very few native people to dig wells, and are famed weavers. The Cahuilla are a sovereign nation, and have a casino in Anza which provides income for the tribe.
must have a taxidermified mountain sheep
The last exhibit we visited was about the history of the city of La Quinta. Did you know our new home town was only founded in 1982, and that the word Coachella is from the Spanish word conchilla, meaning small white snail shell? Zillions of teeny bright-white snail shells are found in the local sandy soil, as our valley was once a lake.
(The now defunct Desert Club, above)
We learned so much today and enjoyed our visit. The museum is open 10-4, Tuesday through Saturday and there is no admission charge. It is "downtown" La Quinta (really just a small village), across the street from the community park. As we left the museum, DT tested the exercise circuit in the park.
Speaking of sports... look who went to a National's game in DC:
The kids are visiting Lenny's family in DC and will see the fireworks from the Washington Monument!
Until my next update, I remain, your historical correspondent.