Third Stage: Acceptance
Once we were settled into our new house in Joshua Tree – the next town over from 29 Palms – it really sunk in – we actually live here. We realized that our hobbies from Florida would not translate to our arid new home, and that it wasn’t going to be the easiest place to make new friends.
We did, however, have Joshua Tree National Park, the unique and world-renowned national park — visited by roughly 1.5 million people every year — right in our backyard. We spent time exploring the park, and quickly learned that Joshua Tree is a global rock-climbing mecca. So while surfing, boating, and beaching were out of the question, we now had access to some of the best rock-climbing and hiking around.
So what did we do? Well, we made lemons out of lemonade! We learned to rock climb, and took advantage of the hikes literally outside our back door almost daily. While friends were not in plenty, we developed and nurtured a few key friendships and quickly built our own desert family – and they remain our “framily” to this day.
No, our lives were not the same as they had been in Florida. We couldn’t spend our weekends at hip, new restaurants or out on the town… but our lives developed a lovely, but full, simplicity. When the weekends came around, our plans were easy – climb in the park, grill out with friends, maybe people-watch at the Saloon, and repeat.
Once we accepted and embraced our circumstances and what Joshua Tree and 29 Palms had to offer, we could see the desert through new eyes. Through those eyes we could appreciate the strange and unique culture of Joshua Tree, and could feel the magical energy that flows in the Mojave.
