In The Kitchen
600 different mugs with special patterns, aprons all along the wall, from a time when women were fashionable in the kitchen, pink zig zags, and kiss the cooks. I spend two days a week at the Ricochet Gourmet cooking soup and making lattes for locals and tourists alike, in this cozy little shop that feels like home. This has become the place where I can share stories about desert lore and make little maps for people on brown paper bags, and have them make little maps for me of faraway cold places. Last weekend there were 4 people from northern Canada and Alaska in at the same time, all interested in seeking warmth and drier open spaces. “BLM land is the best place to park the RV,” “I’m heading to Tuscon for the winter,” “I work on a Salmon boat all summer…in Homer” Vanessa and I work together some days, see her in the kitchen above, doing dishes. She just moved to the desert from a tall ship, where she was the cook for the past few months, sailing up and down the westerns coast with people looking for a pirates dream. Now she is the innkeeper at a small motel in 29! We come up with curries together, sing, scheme the making of things.
The shop, in downtown Joshua Tree. I love the strip of economy here; all along the 62, linear. I quite like working here, the work is real and direct, and providing a source of nourishment in this desert clime. Its a pocket, a waypoint. The wonderful Tawnja Plueffeger runs the place, along with Ricochet Vintage down the street. She apparently has the best eye in the west for vintage wears.
Katie Bachler was our first HDTS Scout, and was in residence from 2012-2013.
The HDTS Scout Residency is dedicated to learning more about the people and places that make up our diverse and ever evolving community.
During Katie’s residency, visitors were invited to drop into the HDTS HQ, the Scout’s home base, to meet Katie, who could be found making maps, hosting conversations, and baking bread – in between her off-site adventures around town and out in the field.
Katie had a lot in store during her time here, including:
- a series of talks featuring local experts
- joining together to create a web of knowledge
- a research library and archive documenting the many spaces, places, plants, and people that make up this special region
- casual conversations with drop in visitors over tea
- site visits and field trips around town
Katie engaged the community by instigating map-making and rag-rug braiding workshops, the Scout’s Book Club, Art in the Environment classes for desert kids, casual conversations, site visits and field trips—all shared in her Scout’s blog, which serves as the foundation for her book.
