Transmitting from the Mojave Wilderness in Joshua Tree, California, now is the time for Desert Oracle Radio, the voice of the desert.

Night has fallen on the desert. A rainy night in the generally dried up old desert.

The wind howling.

The leaks appearing in the ceiling.

Drip, drip, drip.

All this rain, after all this snow, all year long, we wait for a little bit of weather out here.

And when it comes on a night like this, a year deep into the global pandemic and global reckoning.

Well, that's what you call a mood.

There are always joyful things, little delights, if you can keep yourself open to them.

The roadrunner pecking at the glass door.

You want in, buddy? The coyote who gives you a sideways glance before vanishing into the brush.

The dainty little desert kit fox prints and the snow up by Black Rock Canyon.

The guy at the liquor store who always recognizes you beneath the hat and the bandana and make some friendly

conversation.

But hanging over all of it, there's some gloom, there's no use denying it.

Dear Lord, give me the serenity to avoid cheery optimism, etc.

All systems are on the edge worn out.

Worn out like the past century that reluctantly gives way to the new century.

The Great War and the Spanish flu and the Great Depression created the world of the 20th century as our very different but not entirely

dissimilar earthquakes and global shakeups seem to be making the 21st century start for real

in our current year of weird times.

All hands on deck.

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