A Strange Adventure

I took a little trip into the desert this weekend with Paige (who took these photos) and a little dog named Willie. Our first stop was Salvation Mountain near Niland, CA. A man named Leonard spent 15 years of his life trying to build a hot air balloon, then devoted the rest of his life to creating this mountain made out of adobe, straw bales, and donated paint. His message is obvious: God is love.  It's painted EVERYWHERE.

The kind man who volunteers there now that Leonard lives in a nursing home offered to take this photo of us.

 Leonard also created a "Museum," which is modeled after his hot air balloon. Trees, tires, car doors, more adobe and straw bales hold up a bunch of little rooms. If feels a bit like wonderland.

It all felt a little odd to me. There were shrines of crosses and trophies and barbies and bibles with 'God is Love' written everywhere. That message just doesn't mean something on its own accord, we only know what it means because we have been told what it means, and I'm not sure I believe what I've been told. And I was baffled that someone would spend there entirely life to build this physical monument to God with a message of which the consequences are unclear. The shrines screamed religious craziness. It just seemed very detached from the world I know. I think I understand putting something new, something of yours out there into the world for other people to see, especially something that has meaning to your life. I just didn't especially connect to this. I can appreciate it for art and for how it has brought this community together. 

So then, we decided to explore the Salton Sea a bit. It is an inland ocean, home to millions of Tilapia and bird species. It was once a popular destination spot, but has since died. Literally. It is surrounded by ghost towns, by salt covered buildings, and floating docks. And, the lake itself is dying. The inflow comes from agricultural runoff, but evaporation is now exceeding input, so it shrinks daily. This lowers the carrying capacity for the fish, which now cover the shores. 

The town of Bombay Beach. 

As we were walking, the feeling and sound of my feet on the ground was really odd. So, I bent down to see what the sand was made of.

It is literally made of dead fish and fish bones. No rocks, no sand....bones.

So, we quickly got in our car and headed back to a place where there is a bit more life. We explored a whole other world that day, it felt like. We even had to go through a weird border patrol station, except we didn't go past the Mexico or Arizona border. The Salton sea may be an example of what we are getting ourselves into by living so detached from nature.