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Desert Oracle Radio

#035: A Voice Crying In the Wilderness

Desert Oracle Radio

Ken Layne

Places & Travel, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.9852 Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2018

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Joshua Tree has gone from turkey farmers to elaborately costumed weekenders, but the Old Testament view of the desert always comes true again.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Transmitting from the Mojave Wilderness in Joshua Tree, California,

0:10.3

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

0:15.0

Night has fallen on the Mojave greetings from this hot and dry desert, where the rain is rare and

0:25.3

the people are weird, especially out here around Joshua Tree and Landers and Wonder Valley.

0:33.9

It's like some great monster, some great titan, picked up the Los Angeles basin,

0:41.6

and sort of gently shook it towards the east, towards the desert, so all the flakes would drift

0:48.4

out and settle out here amongst the creosote.

0:55.4

People do embrace their eccentricities out here, which is fine.

1:00.7

Plenty a room.

1:02.3

Wear your weirdness like a cake, I suppose.

1:06.4

That's all a performance of a sort.

1:09.0

We are social animals, after all, whether we like it or not.

1:15.3

I hardly ever go to the local farmers market, not because I don't enjoy the nice

1:21.2

organically grown produce, but because it's held in the bright, hot midday,

1:29.6

when many desert creatures prefer to burrow down, hunker down,

1:35.1

and their nice, cool, dark dens.

1:38.8

But I did go a week or so back, and it had been a while,

1:42.7

and boy, I haven't seen people so dressed up for the farmer's market since I lived in Silver Lake.

1:49.7

They had feathered sun hats and accoutrements of every sort.

1:55.7

Enough crystals hanging off some of the ladies to build a couple dozen of those heaf kit radios.

2:03.9

High heeled sandals, cowboy boots, turquoise bracelets, caftans, and parasols.

2:13.8

Now, the boys were decked out in their own way, of course.

...

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