Life in "the Desert"



Often when I tell people that I spend the winter n Rancho Mirage otherwise known as the Palm Springs area people ask, Do you play golf? Do you play tennis?

What do we do?

Of course one thing is the people. On one occasion at a luncheon my wife was seated next to a former singer who during his active career had been featured several times on the Ed Sullivan show.



At a small bet poker game the player next to me was a former governor of his state. Not that everyone is a star but most are people who lead an active life and have put aside their business suits or whatever uniforms they wore in exchange for the relaxed life we enjoy.



Early on I joined a discussion group. When I became a member we were climbing to to thirty participants. The next year I came back and the group had grown to sixty.



In most communities there is a constant quest for volunteers. With few exceptions here you put in a resume and wait.

Because people are retired or vacationing, there is an endless round of celebrities living in or passing through performing in various venues.

Two nights ago we attended a free program at the Rancho Mirage Public Library. The feature was a duo. Joel Hochberg who does award winning documentaries showed a seventeen minute documentary he had filmed of John Bayles, a concert pianist who normally plays forty concerts a year around the globe, who suffered a debilitating stroke two years ago.

Following the documentary John Bayles came onto the stage and continued the interview then he play complex melodies he had revised to be played with one hand. It was concert quality.

The new Rancho Mirage Library is limited to four hundred spectators. It was at its limit even after some became discouraged with the size of the crowd and left.

The next night the library featured the Yale Wiffenpoof Glee Club. Again a full house.