February 11th – At 82 – 84*, California is definitely having a heat wave. Temperatures are about 10* warmer than normal for this time of year and it is the topic of conversation with most people who live here year-round. The rest of us are just loving it and enjoying the ride.
On Sunday we went to the early (8:30am) service at Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church. It was advertised on their website as a traditional service with organ and choir, whereas the 10:30am service is blended. It actually turned out to be their annual Festival of Hymns Sunday with choir, soloists and a small orchestra. They did about six or seven pieces in all, with the congregation singing portions of the opening and closing hymns. It may have been where we were sitting, the building acoustics, or poor sound system operation, but we found the choir sound quite poor – almost tinny. We plan to go back this Sunday to the later service.
Monday turned out to be a really interesting day out in the desert. We signed up for a Wind Farm tour and were taken by a small coach out to the Coachella Valley where the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Park is located. Ken Huskey, our tour guide, was very knowledgeable and still works as a consultant in the industry advising on wind farm projects throughout the world. He had both the science and the technology background and was able to explain things in a way that made them understandable. This is the oldest wind farm in the country and has about 2700 wind turbines, owned and operated by various companies. The older turbines installed in the 1980s stand about 65′ high and make about 600 – 700 rotations per minute. The new turbines, installed recently, are 400′ high and make about 45 rotations per minute. Each turbine generates enough energy to serve 250 – 950 homes depending on their size and the wind velocity. The turbines are set to work when the wind ranges from 8 to 55 mph. They have an automatic shut off system which kicks in if the wind gets too high so they don’t get damaged, or worse yet…have various parts start flying off. One of the interesting facts he gave us is that out of 100,000 birds killed annually, only three are killed by wind turbines. A much greater preponderance of birds are killed by the common house cat. He also indicated that there is absolutely no scientific evidence that wind turbines cause health problems for those located within close proximity and the industry has worked hard to mitigate against some of the concerns raised by the naysayers.
Of course, one of the questions asked was what happens when there is no wind. They are currently producing more power on a normal day than is needed so there is margin. They also use solar and a natural gas plant that can be fully functional within seven minutes shutting down the wind farm operations.
Tuesday was golf day and will be memorable. Our tee time was 1:30pm which made for a quiet morning, a quick lunch and then off to the club some 20 minutes away. We arrived to find that my golf shoes were inadvertently left sitting in the front hall. Since the club was completely booked for the afternoon, there was no time to go back home to get them…so I did the next best thing and bought a new pair of golf sandals! Fortunately, they were on sale and the pro shop gave me an additional Canadian discount. We golfed with two women from South Dakota farming country. It was an enjoyable afternoon until it got dark. We got to about the 15th hole as the sun dipped below the mountains. Our golf mates assured us that we could probably get two more holes in. The 16th hole was fine but our tee shots on 17 were completely blind. Fortunately, since we all landed in the fairway we were able to find our balls easily for the next shot. By the time we putted out, it was so dark we had to use the flashlights on our cell phones to light the way back to the club house.
We spent most of yesterday here at the house waiting for the handyman to come and install a new light/fan fixture in the master bedroom. Today we played tennis and did some grocery shopping before trying out the pool. Unfortunately, it’s not heated so only the ankles got wet in the big pool. The hot tub was quite refreshing though!
A few things I’ve noticed about life in the desert:
- there are virtually no bugs because there is no standing water
- because we’re at altitude, some activities such as climbing stairs require more effort
- 84* doesn’t feel as hot as it does at home since there’s no humidity
- sports activity, such as playing tennis, doesn’t make you sweat like it does at home – I assume it evaporates before you feel it
- one’s skin gets dry very quickly – a different type of moisturizer is required
Scrabble update: Nancy – 4 games won; George – 2 games won.
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