We stayed at the Joshua Tree Inn, a sweet, idiosyncratic spot best-known for Room 8, the place Gram Parsons drew his final breath.

Here's the shrine outside the room, a bit more festive than usual due to the impending New Year:

The innkeeper rakes these patterns into the courtyard soil each day. If you saw him, you'd understand.

There's cactus:

A cool chandelier:

And a koi pond, frozen around the edges, liquid in its depths. The fish, slowed by icy water, eat less, move less, hover in the sun.