Tapestry: Saturday, July 16th, 2022
Don’t Get Chipped, 2022
Eventually, 2022
It has been two days since I first saw the beginning of the Tapestry Project in effect. I felt that the weekend would be a good time to see the Tapestry space due to there typically being less construction activity on weekends. I found myself on the same street between Tapestry and Ranchero Middle school, but this time I ventured further down the street until it turned to a dirt path I could no longer drive down. As I walked, the street quickly changed to the natural desert landscape. Stretching as far as I could see with the exception of the flattened land to my left. The bare space grew larger as I got closer. The silt fence’s orange glow reflected brightly as the temperature turned to triple digits.
While documenting the Tapestry Project today, I came across two large mounds of plant life. The first I saw was a large mound composed of freshly chipped wood at about 10 feet tall with a circumference of at least twice that. The second mound was more diverse, all including abandoned vehicle tires, a various assortment of trash, various unrecognizable plant life, bed bedding, silt fencing, and most importantly, the soon-to-be carcasses of various Western Joshua Trees.
For many reasons, these two mounds are concerning. Firstly, it is apparent that crew members of the Tapestry Project flattened the land without recognizing the native plant and animal life. Throughout the second mound’s anatomy is the laced silt fence weaving its way throughout the many plant corpses constricting tighter and tighter as the machinery used forged forward.
Along with that was the amount of debris and trash. Hesperia acknowledges the issues of illegal dumping it has. However, that is all. Besides Hesperia’s prided community clean-up days, which is two per year, in April and October, there are no other efforts to deal with the issue. Dumping in the open desert goes unscathed.
Seeing a dying Western Joshua Tree in a space of discard is haunting. I cannot blame the individuals working but once again the City of Hesperia. The same city that made the tree its mascot, Josh the Joshua Tree. Promoting tales to kids about a Joshua Tree who rallied his community to stop littering, begin to recycle, and clean up the dumped trash that was left behind. Making it easier for them to hide from their responsibilities and hidden agendas as they join legislation to demand that Josh the Joshua Tree should be removed from the protective species list. To take away the rights of the tree they use it as a public tool as they bury him inside of a wood chipper ripping his body to shreds. The same tree that was here long before they ever were
James M Dailey
