Paul Lester Photo

Anita’s backyard!

As shown in the photo, these elk were just moseying through Anita’s back yard! Yeah! Seriously. They were on her property!

Many of you who read Anita’s blog know about Galen and have seen his photo. You also know about the entity known as “The Husband”. Personally, I wondered if “The Husband” really existed. LOL – Well, I am here to tell you that he does and he is everything that Anita claims him to be. He’s a fantastic guy. I really liked him and spent lots of time talking to him, Anita, and playing with Galen.

My first night there, I arrived at around 2:30 in the afternoon. We sat down, they fixed me a lunch, and we started talking. And we talked, and talked, and talked. I’m an introvert, as is Anita and I imagine that Jim is as well. However, the 3 of us, and Galen, sat there and talked from 2:30 until 9:00 PM! We had a lot of catching up to do, Anita and I. After all, she’s been visiting my blog for 5 years. I think that we did pretty good in condensing it into 6.5 hours!

When I first arrived, Jim answered the door and told me that I had the wrong address, but that was proven wrong by the presence of Galen barking behind him. When I came in, Galen gave me a good once-over with his nose and stayed just out of arms reach. I was able to win him over, quite handily by using my not-so-secret dog ear scratching techniques. By the time that I left on Friday, I was his new favorite toy and he had taken to demanding that I go outside with him and play! It was always great fun to me to tell him that I wasn’t going to do it. He would, of course, keep insisting by barking and jumping up and down until I relented. He’s so cute; who could say no? He had Jim and I wrapped around his little paws, but not Anita. LOL – She’s the boss around there!

As I sat on the back porch watching the deer, hummingbirds, and the horses, the horses were kind enough to show me the true meeting of horseplay. They give serious meaning to ‘horsing around’ and ‘horseplay’ – Wow! They pester each other relentlessly. Play! Play! Play all day.

On Thursday, Jim took us out to shoot in Red Rock Canyon and throughout the desert. We stopped at one small town, that probably should have been a ghost town, but was still surviving. When we entered the General Store, Anita and I started clicking away, but we were admonished by the owner: Did you ask permission to take pictures? I said: No. I didn’t know that I had to. She replied: Yes. It is a private business, so you have to ask permission. (Everyone thinks that they’re a lawyer when it comes to photography). Anyway, we explained that we were not professionals, just tourist. She was fine with that and gave her permission for us to continue. Ha! Now, as Anita said, had we walked in with Leica’s or something small, she wouldn’t have even noticed nor said a word.

Friday, we went into town and I got to see Anita’s gallery exhibit. The prints are even more beautiful in person! Just … wow! We spent a bit of time looking through the gallery, Anita letting me know who the various local artists were and small insights into their personalities. Nothing like inside information to bring additional life to the arts and crafts!

Friday afternoon, I said my goodbyes and headed across the desert to Yucca Valley, which is where I am now. I’ve been out this morning to Joshua Tree National Park and am back in the hotel room. The sun rises early and it gets hot early here in the desert!

During a few conversations, Anita said that although she didn’t grow up in the south, she’s a southern girl at heart. I can attest to that. She and Jim both really understand the meaning of southern hospitality! I felt very welcomed!

Thanks Anita, Jim, and Galen!!!

More later ….