Community Clean Up

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY EIGHT

Graffiti is an annoying form of vandalism that costs hundreds of millions of dollars each year in the US to irradiate. It is annoying enough to see it on walls and buildings when one drives around town but it is doubly irritating to see it when out hiking. Why someone would pack a couple of cans or aerosol paint in lieu of water bottles in their backpack is beyond any rationale. There are a few places I've been hiking to this year where someone has done just that and each time I've thought that I've got to come back and paint over that. Well, today I finally got around to doing it.

I was going to go down to the local hardware store but the wife pointed out that we had some leftover paint from a home repair that matched the local rocks pretty well so I decided to take that. The only problem was that I couldn't find a brush or roller. The wife came to the rescue again with a little brush out of her art supplies and off I went.

The most egregious example of graffiti on the hikes I've done this year is right here in La Quinta. It's on a hike I've done many times so it's bothered me all year .

That's not the rock we're looking for, Kahlua.

THAT'S the rock we want to paint over.

Uh oh, when we get to the rock I discover that the paint brush the wife gave me lost the spongy part. What to do?

I look around and think that maybe this creosote bush might make a good brush.

It seems to be working OK--for about a minute. Then the creosote just falls apart.

I always did love finger painting when I was a kid.

The coverage is actually pretty good considering I don't have the proper tools to do the job. Maybe I'll come back with some brushes for some touch up work.

I think once the paint dries the color will be OK. It's certainly better than white.

The power of the palm! I wonder how a palm frond would do as a brush? Better than a creosote, that's for sure.

Can you tell which rock it was that got a paint job? No? Good.