Energy in Palm Springs

There are constants in Palm Springs.

A statue of Sonny Bono, who was once mayor of the city. Date Shakes at Hadley Fruit Orchards. Palm Trees. Mid-Century Modern Architecture. Misters in outdoor restaurants to keep patrons cool.

And what appears to be a farm growing windmills as far as the eye can see.

Only they are really wind turbines and they produce enough electricity to power the city and beyond!

Charming Laguna Beach

There are many coastal towns in Southern California but Laguna Beach, regardless of the summer crowds and traffic, holds a special charm, even if you are not there for the annual Sawdust Festival or Pageant of the Masters.

But just want to swim in the ocean, lick coconut gelato, browse the shops and check out a bit of art!

Collecting Rain Water

Due to drought conditions and constant reminders about the drought conditions and lots of water cooler talk about drought conditions, we all have water on the brain.

Not actual water on the brain as we are in drought conditions.

Everywhere we look or listen, there are postings, articles, news stories.

And the water department provides pop ups as well:

So when the thunder and lightning and deluge showed up this weekend, we thought:

COLLECT THE WATER, STORE THE WATER, DON'T WASTE ALL THAT WATER!!!!

Treating the rain as if gold was pouring from our darkened sky.

So that is what we did:

The rain kept coming so we moved from little containers to bigger buckets to wheelbarrow to recycling bin and then fashioned some tubing to direct the runoff from the gutters out toward what had been 'crunchy' grass the day before.

And today it is bright and sunny and we are feeling very water-wise!

Fourth of July Parade

At 9 am, Uncle Sam and his entourage made their way from the Del Mar Powerhouse down Coast Boulevard.

There were many many many more people in the parade than watching the parade!