The desert for me is beautiful sunsets.
It also can be colorful rainbows when it rains on the other side of the mountain.
The desert also changes people. Most visitors to Peg leg Smith come from cold climates, like Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba, and the Northern United States.
People from those regions appreciate the climate near Borrego Springs and do not complain about the occasionally strong winds. Thirty inches of snow on the ground is a lot worse.
Most of my neighbors are Canadians. There is Heather and Dan. They are from British Columbia and still working. They work eight months and spend the rest of the year in Southern California.
Dan is self employed; he does concrete work, and Heather works in a vineyard. They are very active and took their mountain bikes up the mountain. This was no small task. It is very dangerous to get up there and then riding on the narrow trail takes courage. They also invite their neighbors to play bocce ball.
They live in a small van and have their toys in a trailer.
At home they moved from a 3,500 square foot home to a 750 square foot house. After living in a van for four months their little house appears to be large.
My favorite neighbors are Coleen and Gordon. They come from Brandon, near Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnipeg was my first home town on this continent. They sold their house in Brandon and bought their big motorhome. They plan on moving to British Columbia to be near one of their daughters. Their other daughter lives in Ontario, on the other side of Canada. Coleen and Gordon were teachers in Scotland. They saw an advertisement in a newspaper in Scotland. Brandon was looking for teachers. They applied for the job and got it. They were teachers in Brandon for over thirty years.
Gordon seems to work a lot on the electrical system on his motorhome. Dwight assists him.
Dwight is one of the old timers at Peg Leg. I know him for many years.
Norman and Gatsby are from Saskatchewan. They have a big truck and pull a big fifth wheel. When they arrived here, in the night, they did not pull the trailer. A tow truck pulled their truck and the trailer. Their
Truck has a blown head gasket. The truck has 450,000 kilometers on the odometer, this is about 300,000 miles.
Larry and Marilyn come from Oregon. Marilyn knits and does fine bead work. She uses tiny beads. Gordon reads a lot and cooks on his solar cooker.
Nancy and Don are active too. They like to play horse shoes.
Jim and Jane are also Canadians. The bought a bigger motorhome while they were in Texas. It is a Texas sized rig. He is still working on wiring the solar panels to the batteries. Getting the wires to the controller and then to the batteries is a big job. I have done it now on three motorhomes.
Here is another Rick and his friend Dave. Both are Canadians. Rick was a teacher and Dave a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. Their wives must have been shopping while I took the pictures.
Jim is parked next to me and he keeps me laughing with his antics.
Another Rick and his wife Virgie also come from the San Diego area, but they will stay only for a few days.
Several groups have happy Hour in the afternoon.
Mike always has a can of beer in his hand.
There is also a short time visitor from Austria. The lady brought her motorhome across the Atlantic. She has been in America and Canada several times and has been in all the provinces and States.
Besides interacting with my neighbors I go to the Senior Center in Borrego Springs on Tuesday and Friday for lunch. Normally George, who is 102 years old, and I are the only men.
George is still mentally sharp and comes on an electric scooter. Because of his eyesight they took his driver’s license away. He is angry about this.
The lunch is catered by Kendall’s restaurant. It is one of the best restaurants in town. The donation is $ 5.20.
The group exercises before lunch.
I come just for the lunch.
Every day I spend some time at the library.
People have put solar Christmas lights on bushes and one couple brought a tree.
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