Joshua Tree

“Desert sky

Dream beneath the desert sky

The rivers run, but soon run dry

We need new dreams tonight.”

    “In God’s Country,” U2 from “Joshua Tree”

Up at 4:15 to start the journey to Rancho Mirage CA.  Derrick, manning the Holiday Inn front desk, recognized me from past visits, as did Natasha at Appleby’s.  A Justin Bieber look-alike was the greeter at the door; and when I said to Natasha, “I see you hired Justin Bieber to work here,” she paused for a moment and replied, “That’s a really good one.”  Even friendlier was Andrea Aguirre, who was calling me “darlin’” by my third beer.  Across the bar a dead ringer for old softball teammate John Gilbert had an expression like he was surprised to see me, I did a double take until I realized he was greeting folks behind me.  Watched Joe Biden put it to Paul Ryan during the vice president debate; best line was when he called Ryan’s assertions malarkey.  Ray Smock compared it to a father/son disagreemant with the old man “having more wisdom and polish than the brash, edgy, ideologue son.”

I searched the web for restaurants in Twentynine Palms, CA near Joshua Tree National Park and came up with a winner connected to the 29 Palms Motel, dating from 1928.  Encompassing 800,000 acres of the Mojave and Colorado deserts, the area became a national park in 1994, seven years after the U2 album raised awareness of the trees (given their popular name by the Mormons) and unique rock formations within its boundaries.  It took us about an hour to drive from one end to the other, including several stops to gawk at the scenery.  When I took her back to the Mirage Inn, a geezer in a wheelchair near the entrance quipped, “Let me warn you; it’s pretty wild in there.”

Nephew Bob’s family arrived Friday around 9:30, and I played hide-and-seek with Addy and Crosby in their Hilton Garden suite located next door.  I took playing cards and taught Addie a rudimentary version of War (not distinguishing among face cards). Bob asked about the grandkids, so we logged on to Facebook on his computer.  As a security check, before it allowed me access I had to identify a half-dozen photos of “Friends,” including Lorraine Todd-Shearer, Beamer Pickert, and Colin Kern.

                                            Above, Jimbo with Addy and Crosby

Saturday we visited Sunnyland; last time there it was 115 degrees, but with the temp in the eighties we spent lots of time in the gardens before lunch.  The manager apologized for not having a kid’s menu and threw in cookies and extra chips for free.  When I said “just something light” in response to Midge asking what I’d had to eat the night before, Bob quipped, “What, light beer?”  Touché.

Sunday we all had lunch at the Yard House, a sports bar with plenty of room for the kids to roam and scads of TV sets.  An old-timer kept asking waiters to put the Minnesota game on, even though it hadn’t started yet, then left without apparently having anything to eat or drink.  I had a burger and salad plus guacamole and chips for an appetizer.  I gave Addy the deck of cards, and she remembered how to play War.  Vic taught me card games when I was young, so maybe his legacy will live on through her.  After hanging out in Midge’s room, I caught the end of the Redskins victory over Minnesota, as RG3 (Robert Griffin III) put the game away with an 80 yard run just seven days after suffering a concussion. 

Ripping Romney’s abortion flip flops, Bill Maher claimed that his mother considered aborting him when she discovered he was heartless and spineless.  Earlier Jimmy Fallon said: “Romney believes that marriage should be between one man and one woman, which is better than his grandfather, who believed that it should be between one man and five woman.”  Actually it was great-grandfather Miles Park Romney, who fled to Mexico to escape authorities cracking down on polygamy.

Awake at four a.m., I came across the low rent comedy “Black Sheep” starring David Spade and Chris Farley, who when stopped by a cop claims his name is Meoff, Jack, before turning to Spade and making a jerking off motion.  Gene Siskel claims the 1996 movie was one of only two he ever walked out of, but Farley can be hilarious, especially in his manic routines.

Waiting for my American Airlines flight I came within two clues of finishing the USA Today crossword puzzle.  Later I learned that the “Maximus to Gloucester” poet was Charles Olson.  Home in time for old master Peyton Manning engineering a victory after the Broncos were down 24-0.  Thanks to six TD passes by Aaron Rogers the night before, I remained undefeated in Lane Fantasy League.  I finished second in the football pool to Aaron Gearhart, the only one to pick Seattle to upset New England.

Hours before the second Presidential debate Dean Bottorff wrote: “Now that we know that Mitt Romney is for everything and against everything else, his position is perfectly clear.  He wants to be president.”  Obama’s latest TV spot makes brilliant use of clips and narration by actor Morgan Freeman. I watched the entire 90-minute debate and loved seeing Romney get his comeuppance when he claimed that Obama had not originally called the Benghazi in Libya an “act of terrorism” only to have the moderator contradict him.  Afterwards the networks ran Obama’s remarks where he used those exact words.