This blog is closed
Nothing but blue skies coming my way
I am moving.
I am moving to the Mojave Desert for a year, to finish the book. To finish the book is the reason for the choice of destination. The reasons for the move are too complex and personal to be gone into here.
I have no idea how I’m going to make it work. My friends at my part time day job will be considering the possibility of allowing me to telecommute and never show up physically at all, excepting possibly once in a while. They are good and generous people and I would not blame them if they don’t think it would work.
No idea what I’ll do for cash, no idea where I’ll live. The universe is thus replete with possibility. Nothing but possibility.
(Will I rename the blog once I move away from the creek? POSSIBLY!)
I have applied for a 7-week writer in residence gig in the northern fringes of Joshua Tree Land, outside of Big Pine. Room and board and nothing else included, and if they choose me it gives me a bit of a cushion, a period in which I won’t have to spend money to survive. After that, or if I don’t get it, I hope to find somewhere within an hour or two of Cima Dome to live. Beyond that desire, nothing but possibility. Laughlin has an odd pull: a short drive from six or seven notable stands of Joshua trees and high-speed internet and apartments for 500 a month with gym access included. And no garden, living with the ethical taint of irrigated lawns and casino-based economy, unlikely to make friends in a city based on short-visit-tourism. And ten minutes by truck from Avikwame. And soulless. And right on the Colorado River. And right on the Colorado River.
(Does someone have a small, secluded property they need caretook, ten miles off pavement but with enough electrical to run my computer and charge my phone, a well nearby among the Joshua trees and a nightly chorus line of coyotes? POSSIBLY!)
So I dust off the résumé and search my contacts for web addresses and search the websites for job announcements, and perhaps there is an NGO somewhere between Barstow and Flagstaff that has three days’ work a week, or two weeks’ work a month, that they would hand to someone not in his 20s. Perhaps there is a daily paper needing a weekly column. Perhaps one of the grant applications I write will find a nut, or it will turn out that the Needles BLM office has been looking for a poet for months. Or a desktop publisher. But probably a poet. The BLM will be hiring poets once Obama wins, I understand, as part of the new federal Everything’s Gonna Be All Right Now Go Back To What You Were Doing Before You Noticed Bush Was Taking The Country Down The Crapper Initiative. There is nothing ahead but possibility, and my leaving the place I’ve called home for a quarter century is a good thing.
This morning a crow sat next to the curb, bent wing mantling broken body, and it turned its rain-soaked head to watch the tires pass perilously close at highway speed. I could not stop without risking my life, and I thought yes, that’s it exactly.
Posted by: Chris Clarke
Note: A database glitch in 2008 ate a bunch of archived comments. Don't be offended if yours isn't here, or confused if the conversation seems disjointed. Thanks!
I thought you said you were moving the Mojave desert.
I thought, Fucking hell!
Then I thought that’s unlikely.
Then I thought to reread what you wrote.
Then I thought damn, that would have been awesome, the Mojave probably hasn’t seen the sea in a long time.
Then I thought that maybe the sea is the Mojave’s estranged wife.
Then I thought it was probably best that you weren’t moving it given the circumstances, the Mojave’s been through enough as it is.
Good luck with the move.
By: By R. Mildred on 2008 02 19
Yes, that is exactly it.
(really neat news, I’ll be watching)
By: By Tonya on 2008 02 19
Well, you can’t land without leaping.
You are brave and the universe can be kind.
By: By Megan on 2008 02 20
If anyone can, you can.
Best of everything to you.
Kisses
DD
By: By Devious Diva on 2008 02 20
For some reason, my url got cut off. Anyway, you know it’s me!
By: By Devious Diva on 2008 02 20
Things have a way of working out. Wishing the best for you always, Chris—and rooting for you in getting that book done!
By: By beth on 2008 02 20
Laughlin?
ew.
Although it might beat Barstow. or Ludlow.
Searchlight, now there’s a town.
I once lived in a motel (the Golden Choya, if memory serves) in Baker for a couple months. I don’t recommend it, despite the Mad Greek.
Amboy’s nice this time of year…
By: By Sven DiMilo on 2008 02 20
Way Kool
By: By Bruce on 2008 02 20
BLM will be *hoarding* poets after the Turning. A smart young man in Laughlin would be looking into poetry arbitrage as a means of monetizing the desert’s bloom.
By: By black dog barking on 2008 02 20
This is huge, Chris, and I hear you about the crow by the road. Boy do I. It hurts.
But like DD said, you can.
Yes, the book. Yes, grief. Yes, beginnings. And from all I know of you and your life, this is a profoundly good beginning.
Oddly enough, have been singing “Blue Skies” to Gilly for two weeks, on continuous loop in my head, and not annoyingly at all.
Wishing you them.
By: By Theriomorph on 2008 02 20
I have a buddy in Big Pine who probably knows something about the housing situation, and an old business contact in Lone Pine who’s in the publishing business.
I also have some friends who have a ranch near there, who might be open to a part-year sitter (be warned: they’re Republicans). They’re in the mule packing business, and are pretty busy all summer at their place near Mammoth. They lost a building in last summer’s fire, so they might like the idea of a caretaker.
Also have some contacts in Bishop.
I can give you contact info if you’re interested.
By: By Hank Fox on 2008 02 20
WILL pay a visit once you get settled. Best of fortune in your quest. And, you must visit Saline Valley for some R&R;from the dusty Joshua trail…
By: By Fred Levitan on 2008 02 20
I am glad and sad for you. Mostly glad. I have a feeling that everything will fall into place and you will do some terrific work. I’ll be thinking of you.
By: By nina on 2008 02 20
Are you familiar with Nipton? They have a couple artist residencies there.
By: By Satori on 2008 02 20
i can commit to sending $10 or $20 a month for the year. i wonder how many others of your hundreds of fans might like to match me.
it’s all about the abundance, isn’t it?
By: By siriosa on 2008 02 20
Good luck to you. I am keeping my fingers crossed that you not only land on your feet, but end up in a picturesque residence with accomodations for visitors.
By: By Dave on 2008 02 20
Big hug, my friend. Beginnings are scary (and endings are, too). Also, I know its the Sonoran, but Prescott College is looking for an editor for their lit magazine.
(And I, for one, like the subtitle.)
By: By Kat on 2008 02 20
Mildred wins!
Chris - how exciting! (In all senses, positive and negative, of the word.) I’d offer advice, but I’m not sure how much I have on tap. About the only thing I remember is that the campground in Joshua Tree NP near 29 Palms is freakin’ cold, with lots of wind, and that’s not the kind of practical advice you need/desire.
I eagerly await your reports from the field. :)
By: By Rachel Shaw on 2008 02 20
After my first “whoa!“reaction, this news suddenly seemed inevitable: oh that’s right, of course, Chris is going to the Mojave. And not coming back, for a long time anyhow.
You’ll be missed round these parts. But I love the way you talk about this: nothing ahead but possibility, indeed.
(I’ll second T’morph on the crow-ow.)
By: By embee on 2008 02 20
Sometimes you’ve just got to take that scary step to be with what you love. My family misunderstands my need to find a place that I can fall in love with; they keep telling me, “No place is perfect.” But that is not the point, is it? Neither is your lover. Places have character like any person. I hope the writing helps to pave a path to a homecoming, and that the place further grows inside you.
By: By miguel on 2008 02 21
Now I have Willie Nelson’s voice in my head. Only recording of “Blue Skies” with a prominent harmonica part, I expect. It lends a somewhat mournful, or at least wistful, subtext to the celebratory lyric. Good instrument to take to the desert, a harmonica - compact, yet expressive. Good journeying, Chris.
By: By Maud on 2008 02 21
Best wishes for this adventure!
Perhaps you can post a PO box address for the direction of care packages when you’re settled?
By: By Ollie on 2008 02 21
Chris, what about a trailer or truck camper, and “full-time” it? We’re on our 32nd month of full-timing, and have made it through penny-pinching times relatively unscathed. We have lots of suggestions, and would happily give you our 1000KW generator.
We’re beginning to see a lot more people who have been burned by the housing bubble shift into mobile (versus permanent) trailer culture.
By: By MBW on 2008 02 23
Categories:
Desert
