Borrego Springs to Palm Springs

The storm broke in the night and morning was as sweet as if nothing had happened. Only you could tell that something had happened – leaves and debris were everywhere, trees had blown over, palm fronds littered the ground. The sky was beautiful and blue, cleared of any pollution or hint of storm. I took a quick tour of the Palm Canyon Resort grounds to assess the damage and the beauty.

Palm Canyon Resort the morning after the Big Wind

We headed for our usual breakfast spot, Kendall’s Café, but it was too busy (lots of hungry folks after a night of power outages and storms). We ended up at the Bighorn Fudge Factory coffee shop for coffee and berry pie with ice cream (perfectly acceptable breakfast fare), and then went to Center Market to replenish our lunch supplies. We heard a lot of good storm stories at both places.

Ricardo Brececa - Elephants

Camel

Sloths

After packing up and checking out of the Palm Canyon Resort, we headed for Henderson Canyon Road stopping along the way to see more of the Sky Art sculptures by Ricardo Brececa, sponsored by Dennis Avery, owner of Gallata Meadows Estate in Borrego Springs. 

Wilderness and nature - in the desert

Henderson Canyon Road area

Strolling in the sunflower field

Then on to Henderson Canyon Road to see the fields of sand verbena, and desert primrose, dandelion, and sunflowers. The dessert floor seemed to glow with yellow and gold. Just as interesting were the White-lined Sphinx Moth caterpillars (Hyles lineata) that had descended on the desert evening primroses, and were eating their way through their tender flowers and stems.

Photographing the caterpillars

Foraging on desert evening primrose	Consumed desert evening primrose
Caterpillar tracks to a new patch	Group lunch

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Thousands of them hung on the desert evening primrose plants, systematically munching through anything edible, and then dashing across the hot sand to another batch of plants. They were discriminating though - the desert verbenas and sunflowers were untouched.

Palms of Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs Art Museum

We finally pulled ourselves away from the fascinating spectacle and headed for the Palm Springs Art Museum in downtown Palm Springs. We enjoyed seeing the latest batch of California Impressionist paintings on display from their rotating collection, and several newly acquired pieces.

Exhibits in the Palm Springs Art Museum

All Green, by Mary Abbott (inspired by the jungle vegetation of the Virgin Islands - green as light)

Osho, by Faig Ahmed (traditional carpet weaving dissolving into modern art)

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The Women of Abstract Expressionism exhibit was especially interesting (women have been underreported and undervalued in this art movement). I recognized a few names because of recent reading on 20^th century art – Helen Frankenthaler, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, and Joan Mitchell. Mom especially liked All Green, by Mary Abbott.

Sculpture garden with appealing statues

Alive!, by Jeffrey Gibson and Aaron Hansen

We also saw a second Dessert X piece in the outdoor sculpture garden – Alive! by Jeffrey Gibson, with hand lettering by Aaron Hansen. Alive! Is a found object, ready-made sculpture (a wind turbine blade to be precise) that celebrates the desert, the wind turbine form, and life.

Town and culture - in the museum

We ended the day at Maracas Restaurant in downtown Palm Springs, on the shady patio with delicious Mexican cuisine and conversation about all that we had seen and experienced. I love this kind of day - one that straddles wilderness and nature, and town and culture.