As we come to the close of another month in the desert, it is with mixed feelings that we prepare to return home. We look forward to getting back to our regular routine but will miss the freedom and flexibility of fewer responsibilities down here. The weather has been mixed this year: the first week in the 80s, the second week in the 70s and the last two weeks in the 60s. There was no rain.

Our home this year was a two-bedroom bungalow just off the Pines to Palms Highway. We had a great view of the desert at the back of the house and a view of the valley from the front. We still haven’t quite found our preferred home yet. This one lacked a patio, a barbecue and had some internal idiosyncrasies that were tolerable for one month but might be annoying if we stayed longer. The location was ideal and we continue to look around the area for something a bit better.

I was quite busy with Foundation work as we were in the midst of selling the Lynde Creek property during our first two weeks here. The time difference worked in our favour though as I was able to deal with a multitude of emails early morning and then again late afternoon and evening. This meant that we had most of the day to ourselves.

We played golf at Tahquiz with two guys who thought they were on their way to the PGA Tour; with a French Canadian couple at Woodhaven, where she shot a hole-in-one on the 6th hole; with a sports hall of famer from Winnipeg and his wife at La Quinta; and then with George at Woodhaven. In between we played tennis four times at the public courts. Happily, Nancy experienced no discomfort. We visited the heated pool a number of times although more at the beginning of the month when the weather was more cooperative.

During Modernism Week, we did a walking tour of El Rancho Vista Estates, a small enclave of mid-century homes that are gradually being refurbished and modernized without sacrificing the original unique designs. It was quite interesting to tour inside the homes and see how spacious they are, even though they look quite small from the outside. Of course, storage and laundry facilities are all accessible from outside given the weather.

We attended two concerts: a noon-hour organ concert at St Margaret’s, which was part of their lenten concert series, and Cameron Carpenter, at the McCallum Theatre. He travels with his own digital organ and played a variety of organ music, including Bach, Vierne, Schumann and his own improvisations. He spoke at some length about his theory on the organ and its place in culture – quite interesting.

During week three George Jr came to visit, biking from Santa Ana to Palm Desert, some 133 km. I followed him on my iPhone, which helped to keep the angst at bay. Aside from the boring sightseeing trip around Palm Desert, we enjoyed an afternoon in Palm Springs touring the wind turbine farm and taking in the street fair in the evening, a day at Joshua Tree and Salvation Mountain, and a day of golf. It was fun having him with us for five days before he drove back to LA by car to visit a friend and return home. In between all this activity, we watched the NBC coverage of the Winter Olympics.

We don’t know too many people here but we did make a point of meeting up with the Porters from Uxbridge again this year. They’re actually friends of Ron and Heather Hunter, George’s cousin, but we enjoy catching up with them down here.

During the month we made an effort to dine at our favourite restaurants: Spencers, Cafe des Beaux Artes, Pacifica, Olive Garden, Daily Grill, Cafe Italia, and Woodhaven GCC. For George’s birthday, we celebrated with the best steak dinner either of us have had in many years, at the Cliff House. A new establishment made its way onto our favourites list this year: Wilma & Frieda is a new breakfast/lunch spot on El Paseo. It is so popular the wait is regularly up to an hour long. Fortunately, they’ll text you when your table is ready so we just go off and do something else while waiting. We’re looking forward to French Toast before leaving tomorrow!

We enjoyed two Sundays at Community Presbyterian – one a hymn festival and the other a communion service. When George was here we attended the contemporary service at Hope Lutheran.

We aren’t sure we’ll be here next year since we’re planning a South American cruise in early February 2019. It’s quite possible that the next time we visit the desert we’ll be able to stay for 6 to 8 weeks, which would be wonderful!