Thermal date grove February 7, 2009

I like to drive home a different way on Fridays after school. The week is over and I can finally relax! Yesterday was one of the days we "desert dwellers" live for...cool, a bit cloudy, but sunny. It was perfect weather for taking photos! I just couldn't drive home on the freeway! So, I drove out past the date groves on one of the routes I drove years ago. MY! How things have changed. Housing developments have sprouted up where date groves used to be. However, many are still in existance. I was lucky to drive by this one which was irrigating the grove. I spotted the water bubbling up in the big pond. From there, it is sent flowing along the bottom of the huge date trees. The farmers constantly rotate the soil below the date trees so that weeds don't clog up the rows and the water can't flow smoothly. While walking over to take these photos, I realized that the soil all the way to the roadway was full of water and I was getting into some mud! Once again, the grove was silent, except for the sound of the water. My cousin's wife's family used to live down in this area and I like to revisit it every now and then.