Meg Casey

Eddie and AJC, my desert co-conspirators, eating by candlelight… 

Sometime last November when the blustery winds were biting I started to dream of the desert.  I have always been a coastal girl–someone who relishes the smells of the seaside, the feel of salty oceans spitting into the air.  But for some reason I felt the desert calling me.

I started to plan and conspire.  I emailed my friend Eddie and suggested we make a trip to the California desert.  He never replied.  He thought I was joking.  But my plans continued to churn.

In December as the days  grew unbearably short my desert dreams grew more frequent.  There was something I needed to feel there.  Something I needed to see.  While walking to get coffee on chilly and dark day I convinced my dear AJC to go with me.  Together we worked on Eddie. 

Before we knew it in January we had a whole gang of us signed up and AJC had found the perfect haunt.  We were headed to the desert.

All winter long this trip sat like a light at the end of the tunnel for me.  Three days in a desert I didn’t know but longed for.  I knew it would be magical.

And it was.  I will write about it for some time I am sure.  There was so much packed into those three days.  So much food, so much laughter, so much silliness and so much joy. 

As we sat around a table on Friday night and dug into a gratin that Bahar and I had made (eggplant, onions, garlic and potatoe in gruyere and cream) we giggled and told stories and poured wine.  These friends are like a little mirror for me.  In their beautiful eyes, their warm stories and their crazy jokes, I see myself reflected and I love her alot.