Thanks to all of you who have signed on for updates to the blog. It has been an interesting few weeks down here in the Coachella Valley. 
My life at least until a few days ago when I sprained my ankle playing tennis, involves early starts on the patio that we are sharing with at least three species of Hummingbird including my new favourite, the Costa with its jaunty purple and white head markings. I have been enjoying the golden alpenglow of the desert sunrises and sunsets.
After coffee, while the temperatures are still cooler, we head out for a bike rides or to play tennis. It is a split-shift sort of life that reminds me of my waitressing days and requires a mid-day retreat from outdoor activities between noon and four as the day heats up to the low thirties. This allows for some reading and writing.
I have seen the destruction resulting from a rare but severe thunderstorm. Our bike route up Thousand Palms Canyon road was covered with sandy mud and the road had to be ploughed to remove it. The Coachella Valley Preserve was closed as the hikes were washed out. 
We hiked along the ridge of the Pushwalla Palms trail where we could see the trail of the palm oases that follow the San Andreas Fault. The desert is like the ocean where you can simultaneously die of thirst and drowning.
Meanwhile, I was listening to the audio version of Women Talking by Miriam Toews read by Mathew Edison. The male narrator August, a returned exile of the community, has been chosen by the group of eight Mennonite women to record their secret meetings. They are trying to decide what is the best action for the women of their colony after several male members who have drugged and raped hundreds of the women are being returned to the community. The women are being asked by the colony leader to forgive the men and resume their obedience and subordinate service roles in their community. They discuss their choices of leave, do nothing or stay and fight. They debate which of these actions is closest to their faith and practical as none of the women are literate or have ever had any contact with the outside world. The women realize that if they stay to negotiate changes with the men, it will be the first time they have ever asked the men to do anything.
At the same time, I was writing a piece on the importance of listening in therapeutic situations. I was thinking about women, regardless of race, appearance or class being able to speak without interruption, to be heard and understood, not only by men but other women.
And of course, I was following the testimonies of Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh at the American Senate Judiciary Committee. I saw the dignity, and professionalism of Ms Ford’s testimony contrasted against the rambling emotional incontinence of the US Supreme Court nominee. I suffered with her as she was discounted, disbelieved and humiliated.
There is a part in Women Talking where the women discuss the concept of the men as being victims as much as the women who have been raped. One of the women proposes that forgiveness is in order as the rapists men are victims too because of their socialization into specific gender roles by their Mennonite society. The women worry about the future of their adolescent sons if they leave them in this community of men.
This leads to the question of what is a core set of socially responsible common values for society and an article on the simplicity and emotional appeal of tribalism from George Packer in the New Yorker who describes the work of the More In Common group. It would be interesting to see what groupings would result from a Canadian study.
And despite its decriminalization legalization in Canada this week, I’m not touching any marijuana issues for health purposes or otherwise.