Desert Messenger

26 www.DesertMessenger.com February 18, 2015 QUARTZSITE COMMUNITY THRIFT STORE 177 W. Main St. (end of Showplace Lane) Behind Silly Al's Pizza SUMMER HOURS April thru October Thurs. Fri. Sat. 9am-1pm Call us and schedule a donation pickup 928-927-6039 or 928-916-7338. 100% of our proceeds remain here in Quartzsite! WINTER HOURS November thru March Mon- Sat 9am-1pm QUARTZSITE COMMUNITY THRIFT STORE One Friday, the Desert Singles held their weekly potluck at the Town Park. I had heard about nearby Celia's Rain- bow Garden, and after lunch Doris sug- gested we go there. Doris loved the gar- den and went there often. She told me the garden was created by volunteers in memory of a local girl who passed away at age eight. I later learned that her parents are the multi-talented Paul Winer, owner of Reader's Oasis Books, entertainer extraordinaire, and creator of the clever "Desert Daze" comic strip which I look forward to in every Des- ert Messenger; and Joanne Winer, well known for all her many volunteer ef- forts in town. Like most volunteer projects, the gardens started small but has grown into a very large area. There are paths throughout the gardens and a longer walking trail around it with exercise equipment. People have adopted small pieces of land within the gardens to de- velop and care for. The garden is dedi- cated to Celia's memory, but there are plots dedicated to others within the garden. (Don't worry; no one is buried there.) It is truly amazing and certainly the highlight of my visit to Quartzsite. The variety, creativity, and beauty of the plots astounded me, and the obvi- ous love that went into caring for the individual plots touched my heart. In the days that followed, I went there sev- eral times on my own. One evening, I drove to Celia's Gar- dens about 5:30 p.m. In Quartzsite, you can often fi nd me walking at sunset. I found the long path around the gar- den's perimeter. I noticed the exercise stations along the way, but I'd already worked out that day and would be going dancing that night; so I didn't do them. I was the only one on the path, and I en- joyed the solitude. The sunset was just beginning. As I walked along the path, I was again reminded of how much I love Quartzsite. I breathed in the clean air, observed the changing shadows on the surrounding mountains, reveled in the sweep of open desert, and looked for- ward to the oncoming sunset. When I fi nished the trail around 6:00 p.m., I sat at one of the picnic tables and Traveling with Gypsy Jane waited for the universe to do its sunset "thang." The mountains to the east, op- posite the setting sun, were glowing, but the shadows were quickly creeping up the sides. They were pinkish tan on top and dark brown near the bottom. Straight ahead, the sky was a mixture of baby blues and cotton-candy pinks under a gray layer which spanned the enormous sky. The setting sun could no longer be seen, but there was no doubt where it had been because of the bril- liant neon-orange glow in the west. I have always loved and appreciated sunsets. They, more often than not, leave me speechless and in awe of their beauty -- always changing, always different, no two ever the same. I usually time my daily walk about sunset time. Tonight in Quartzsite, I felt I discovered sunsets for the fi rst time. Before tonight, I always thought the sunset was just in one place -- where the sun set -- but in Quartzsite tonight, in Celia's Gardens, I realized that REAL sunsets cover all four direc- tions and the entire sky. Celia's Garden is a truly awesome place, and I will al- ways remember it as the place where I REALLY discovered sunsets. ~*~*~*~*~*~ I'm trying to remember one spectacular sunset, so hard to capture its beauty in words: fl orescent orange interspersed with baby blue topped by a row of small, wispy, gray clouds like water- falls, and higher up a layer of narrow, gray clouds with the brightest magenta lining I've ever seen. As I watched, the magenta got more and more intense -- just streaks of vibrant color like some- one had taken a paintbrush across the sky. As the night progressed, the colors faded until only the faintest dusky- melon hue remained on the horizon..... Gypsy Jane from my Journal July 6, 2002, Port Angeles, Washington ~*~*~*~*~*~ Jane's book is WANDERINGS: Living the Ordinary Extraordinarily (Stories from the Road). This column consists of stories from her book (email: janefi nley@yahoo.com, website: janefi nley.com) by Jane Finley writer * artist * teacher (stretching, exercise, relaxation, meditation) DISCOVERING SUNSETS IN CELIA'S GARDENS Quartzsite, AZ by Jane Finley writer * artist * teacher (stretching, exercise, relaxation, meditation) DISCOVERING SUNSETS IN CELIA'S GARDENS Quartzsite, AZ Across from McDonald's • Quartzsite NEED CASH? Jim Buys GOLD! Broken Jewelry, Old Teeth, Coins, Nuggets, etc. 1240 W. Main Street A Kangaroo rat's diet is mostly air- dried seeds. They actually shun green food and even water because their bod- ies have a complex chemical process which creates water from the digestion of dry food. They have evolved to with- stand desert conditions in southern New Mexico, Arizona and California. They don't perspire and on hot days simply hide out in their burrows after plugging the door with dirt. My little friend continued to lodge in our Desert Kangaroo Hotel until the morning we left for home. I took the little rat in its tomato can hotel back near the burrow where we had found it. He bounded into the burrow and was gone. I had learned a lot about plants, ani- mals and insects on my fi rst visit to the desert and I could cook a meal in a Dutch oven including some darned- good biscuits. The following winter we came back during another furlough but this time Charles and I didn't go back to Flagstaff. Judge Mott offered to sell us his bee business and I stayed on for another 70 years. The last time I saw a Kangaroo rat was one evening in 1959 when our family was eating watermelons in the yard and two little rats were busy gath- ering seeds as we spit them out. So we put up our feet up and quietly enjoyed watching them stuff their little pouches with seeds. What a delight! HOTEL FROM PAGE 16 Save those Box Tops for our school Clip Box Tops from hundreds of products Since 1996, the Box Tops for Educa- tion program has helped schools across America earn cash for the things they need. Support your school today and see what a difference you can make! Once you start looking, you'll see these little pink coupons everywhere! Each Box Top coupon is worth 10¢ for your school. Drop off your Box Tops at Quartzsite Elementary School, General Store, Food Bank and Quik Chek Shell Station. You can also help by shopping online. For more information visit www. boxtops4education.com. Desert Messenger offers FREE Classifi ed Ads! Here's the small print: Items for sale under $1000. Private Party Only. 1 per month. Yard/Garage/Craft Sales, Wanted, Give-a-ways, Free, Lost & Found, etc. (non-commercial) For more information, contact Rain at 928-916-4235 or Email: Editor@DesertMessenger.com

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