find me in the fields

penquin and i spent the day exploring the "charming" little town of lancaster. we drove past penitentiaries and barbed wire spaces just to behold our state flower in all its golden glory. and i'm glad we did.

the above average rainfall we got this past winter made for a spectacular wildflower display - splashes of color washing over hillsides, sprinkling the desert with rainbows of blooms. even stretches alongside the roads and freeways are showing off their spring fashions. it really is a wonderful time of year.

we arrived at the poppy reserve sometime after noon. cars were lined up waiting their turn to find a spot in the dirt field parking lot. the line looked daunting, but it moved quickly. in the meantime we ate part of our picnic in the car - a small tony's special from the awesome italian sandwich shopdeli near our house and a tumbler of diet coke. which explains what was to happen next.

as is my usual style, i had to pee before we did anything else. (damn you tiny bladder!!) there were four port-a-potties in the lot. thinking this was my one and only chance of doing my business before hiking, i took a deep breath and held it before braving the claustrophobic shit box. i had to kind of tip toe and brace my heels against the side of the base so as not to come in contact with the toilet while making sure i didn't pee all over my shoes. it was such a foul experience. *shudder* sadly, if i had just walked 100 yards from the parking lot, i would have been able to pee in a proper restroom, with a stall, and toilet paper, and oh i dunno, maybe even a toilet with flushable water!!!

it gets better from there.

no really, i mean it.

penuqin and i spent some three hours strolling the orange and gold fields. we climbed a summit to get a 360 view of the poppy reserve, taking pictures of all the bouquets and floral arrangements nature set up before us. it was nice spending time enjoying the sun and breeze of perfect califronia weather. 29 years of living in this state and i had not once stepped foot on this lovely landscape.

we even ran into some co-workers present and past on this visit. i guess everyone was soaking in the scenery, taking time to smell the flowers as it were. some people being a lot louder about it than others.

maybe i shouldn't be surprised by how quickly the masses can annoy me. and really, it's unfair to say "the masses" in this case, because it was more like a small group of people. a small group of loud, obnoxious, unaware of the volume of their voices and not caring kind of people. they were rude foreign tourists. not only were they shout-talking at each other from 1 foot away, but they were stepping off the trails, trampling poppies to get a better picture. penquin and i were following them along a trail for sometime before i couldn't stand it any longer.

we then left to visit the joshua trees a few miles further up the road from the poppy reserve. and lo an behold! the same obnoxious loudmouths were there too! they must have got ahead of us while i was in line for the running water, flushable toilets. grrrrrrrrr

we hastily walked through the little park, trying to avoid their idiotic picture poses and blabbing. it was such a pity to have another moment communing with nature spoiled by these senseless fuckwits.

still it was a nice way to spend the day, frolicking the fields of wildflowers, picnicking on poppy scattered peaks.