Transmitting from the Mojave Wilderness in Joshua Tree, California,

now is the time for Desert Oracle Radio, the voice of the desert.

And night has fallen on the desert, once again, and it's the time of year when the night does not

bring quite enough relief it's the humidity an unwelcome late summer visitor to our

generally dry lands it's the time of year when the doors won't shut all the way without a

struggle the wooden frames expanding

with the moisture. Instead of the cool nights we thrive upon, everything swampy and vile like the

Gulf Coast of Alabama or a theme park in Florida. There's something disheartening about checking the desert weather and seeing 80% humidity.

But we survive it most of the time and soon the air will be crisp and dry once again.

Pretty soon.

Meanwhile, once again. Pretty soon.

Meanwhile, there are yellow wildflowers blooming on the desert floor,

tricked into life by thunderstorms.

You might find you can smile

or wrap your fingers around a pencil without the skin cracking and splitting

as it tends to do in the wintertime. You may also notice how bad people smell as water in the air

carries the odor of rock climbers and European tourists right to your nose, which is mostly unaccustomed to such things.

It's used to inhaling dust storms and can be thrown into a mild state of shock when assaulted

with so many smells. It's a time of year when everything feels a little bit more ridiculous.

When a glance at the local news is enough to suggest the heat has gotten the best of people,

when weird schemes come to life and you can't help but wonder how tragically they'll fall apart.

A marijuana company in California paid a $200,000 deposit to purchase the very little town of Nipton,

...