During our Lenten quiet day on Wednesday at the Desert Journeys Retreat Center in Twentynine Palms, I was in the library, reading Elizabeth Day’s saucy new novel about British politics. Outside I noticed the proprietor, the Rev. Canon David Caffrey, standing in the driveway, staring fixedly toward the rugged mountains that hug his warmly welcoming wilderness way station. I assumed he was meditating and went back to my book.
Half an hour later, I grabbed my guitar and headed outside. My next scheduled quiet day activity was sitting on a rock and singing Robert Earl Keen songs, well outside the hearing of my fellow retreaters, I promise. David was still in the driveway. As it turned out, he was watching a desert tortoise flee toward the shade under a storage container.
Right away, we knew this was the highlight of the day. Over lunch, David showed us a collection of wildlife photos taken over his 35 years at Desert Journeys, including a flock of bighorn sheep, a red diamond rattler, plenty of Gambel’s quail, and a very familiar looking desert tortoise. I asked if it was the same one. “I never thought about it,” David said. “Probably.” Like many of us, they live about 80 years. Only God knows if it will be around to greet the next owner of Desert Journeys.
David and I hope it will be the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. It all depends on some due diligence considerations. Since the late eighties, he’s run it entirely at his own expense, offering it up as a ministry of the diocese. Nothing makes him happier than leading worship in his lovingly appointed chapel. The one bit of work I did Wednesday was the episcopal ritual of signing the register showing his services of Holy Eucharist and Morning and Evening prayer.
Adding up accommodations in the main house and a separate guest house, Desert Journeys has room for five or six for individual or group retreats. It offers special services for Epiphany, Candlemas, Ascension Day, and other feasts plus quiet days during both Lent and Advent. Events sometimes include overnights and almost always a BYO or potluck lunch, when you will often find David at the grill. Go to their Facebook page to learn more.
On Wednesday, we were a group of four, including Patricia and Doug, who have known David since he was rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Redlands. With a sailboat in Santa Barbara and cozy mountain cabin, plus the suburbs and their beloved desert, they have the Southern California good life well covered. As we ate, we talked about family and retirement, including Doug’s as an engineer late last year, Patricia’s as a physical therapist, and mine in November.
The couple are veterans of David’s famous two-night camping retreats, including Holy Eucharist at General Patton’s altar. He built it during World War II, when he was training 120,000 soldiers for warfare in North Africa. Doug told me that someone in authority noticed all those troops were drawing water from the California Aqueduct without permission and demanded a meeting. Patton and his officers rolled up riding in tanks, popped the hatches, and told the water officials to send their bill to the Pentagon.
As for David, he keeps flunking retirement. Known fondly as the vicar of the high desert, he has helped form many a lay and ordained leader. He faithfully supports both of our high desert parishes, St. Joseph’s in Yucca Valley, where he teaches a popular mutual ministry class each month, and St. Martin in the Fields in Twentynine.
Our neighbors in these steadily growing communities have a lot of conservative churches to choose from. Although slowing down a little because of health challenges, David is determined to do his part to keep the Anglican ethos alive. So if you ever find yourself driving up from Palm Springs and Morongo Valley along State Route 62, perhaps enjoying the scenic route to Arizona or Vegas or heading for a day at Joshua Tree, stop by to see the canon and the tortoise and the sky that goes on forever. I promise it won’t be your last visit.
