I do hope you have enjoyed the journey thru the Pac-Rat's Treasures. Now I will tell you a little about myself.... A small town Country gal, born in the panhandle of Texas...now living in the great Mojave Desert of So. Calif. for the past twenty-five years. It's a lot like where I was born, and I've made my roots here.
BTW while you're reading be sure to click on the Bold Text links to see some of my own personal photographs.

The Cowgirl in me loves Country music, dancing, and any Western outdoor activities that I can join in on. This is the perfect place for this type of lifestyle. We have a small movie set close by, called Pioneer Town. Many of the old Westerns like, "Shoot-out at the OK Corral" and "Judge Roy Bean" were filmed here. Much of the town is still intact with the Old West theme.
(For more pictures of Pioneertown see the "Note" at the end of my story)

I'm an amateur photographer who's in the right place for the beauty of Nature, and there's plenty around here to keep one busy. Not to mention, the peace and tranquility that desert life holds...from the most beautiful sunsets one may ever see, to all the millions of Joshua trees reaching up to the Heavens, surrounded by distant mountains. That's right up my alley. One of the highest and most impressive is the majestic San Jacinto peak which is snow-capped most all year round.

I'm a collector of many beautiful things, thus:"Pac-Rat's" treasures, and this is the place to find a lot. From rocks to antiques...there's always something found to drag home to the nest. My main passion is for Barbie dolls. I've been an avid collector for many years now, and I have some real jewels. My newest treasure in '99 was the Harley Davidson Barbie all decked out in her leathers. Got the Second one now...)

I love to shoot Pool, and I am on two local leagues, of which I am also P.R.Rep for both. Spring of `97, I won ladies "Top Gun" award, in the final play-offs. Along with pool, I started throwing electronic Darts for the first time, and now I'm on a Dart league...which I find also to be lots of fun.

For my get-away time, I love to camp out, fish, and if there's a place, you may see me with a gold pan, lookin' for that ever-so-famous..."Desert Gold". I love nature and there's plenty of it to see around here. I hope you took the time to view the "Critters" section, there are some real nice ones in there...like my pet roadrunner, who I call "Roadie". She's been around here for many years, and will even come right in the house and take hamburger ballsfrom my hand, then go on her merry way.

When I'm workin' out in the south forty, or so I call it, Roadie will be right around close, along with the bunnies and squirrels. There's been times that I've felt a little like Mother Nature. If you tune in to what's really going on here, you will find that the cactus wrens are very good watch dogs. If you listen, you can tell by the way they act and carry on, if there's a snake close by, or just an intruder...such as a stray dog or something. Nature is so very wonderful, especially when the desert is in bloom, all the beautiful Butterflies and the Hummingbirds come. Once I was even lucky enough to hold a little Hummingbird in my hand, when it had flown into the glass. I picked it up ever so gently, as I stroked it I prayed, and pretty soon it flew off to freedom. These are all the things that make this desert a very spiritual place.

The stars are so bright, and it's also one of the best places for veiwing the comets and meteor showers. I hope you took the time to visit the link on the Joshua Tree National Monument, which receives over a million visitors a year from all over the world. Many come from afar, to climb the massive rock formations. There is always something to see if you're looking for Nature and all she beholds...perhaps even a lone Coyote howling at the moon.

As you can tell by now, I'm an animal lover...I have a pet tortoise, which just happens to be from the Texas desert also. His name is "Munchkin", and he's been with me for the past twelve yrs. He's a real kick, because it's about the closest you can get to a prehistoric life form. When they say `slow as a turtle`...well don't you believe it...he can really go.

There was "Ricky" and "Dusty", which were my two guard dogs. Good one's too, Ricky was half Dingo and half Shepherd. Great combo...then there was Dusty, who was Samoyed and Shepherd, he was the mellow one of the two. They were with me over fifteen years. (Note: "Dusty" died 7-17-98, May I see you in Heaven, boy...) Inside my "nest", is the real true love of my life...a five year old Lhasa Apso named "Bailey", who thinks he's human. One of the smartest dogs I've ever owned, and boy does he love his mama. "Spoiled rotten" of course.

There's a fish pond with a waterfall and Koi, along with a very gorgeous waterlily, that blooms all Spring and Summer long. It's the local waterin' hole for all the desert critters and the birds of all varities. You just never know who may come along to get a drink, on a hot arid day, if you watch real close. The Quail comes in covies and line the rim of the pond. They look like little aliens with their top-knots when they're babies. Anything you may want to see, somewhere there is a place to see it here, even a Snake now and then. One is the most deadly...the Mojave Green Rattler, even more so than the Diamondback. That's one to be very careful to watch out for.

As for me, this is the greatest lifestyle, other than living by water, which there isn't a whole lot of around here. I've made my living thru my creativity mostly, and love the small town attitude. Only about 25,000+ population, spread out over a vast area. Not being so cramped like the city life, I think has a lot to do with it, We don't worry about drive-by shootings, and the schools are still somewhat basically, very safe. After the years I've spent here in this type of freedom and beauty, I don't think I could ever live in the city again. It's a lot like going full circle of the hustle & bustle, to get back to my roots as the Country girl as a child. You know the old saying.."You can take the girl out of the country, but you can never take the `country` out of the girl"

If you get the chance, I encourage you to visit this wonderful place, or at least someplace like it. You may discover that you too, have a little of that pioneerin' country spirit deep down inside. It may just be the much desired peace your're looking for, and discovering along the way...that "Nature is beautiful...Naturally" and that is the true "Desert Glory".

(NOTE: Now that you've read my story and (hopefully) viewed and signed my Guest Book, be sure and visit Silver Eagle's page to read my friend's eerie tale, with pictures, of two days in Pioneertown. He calls it "Echos From The Past, A Ghost Story")

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