Pictures & History

MATRIX'S FIRST VISIT
October 25, 1998
Photos and comments by Matrix

On a warm October weekend I arrived at Starland to be greeted by several friendly men who were already relaxed and cheerful. I was told that there was an interest in making Starland a comfortable, friendly, and inviting place for visitors... Heyeaaahhhh... it already was!

Though "rustic" and crude, in some ways, Starland is always a relaxed and an unpretentious place. I discovered a place for which to enjoy artistic expression, a beautiful natural environment, and a heartfelt bond with a community of men I call "friends."

These friendly guys welcomed me as "family."
This picture was taken in the door-way between the living room and the kitchen/dining area inside the house.
(left to right: Larry "Leona Porchina" L., John H., Steve F., & Mohabee)

Mohabee wasn't ready for this picture.
Gotcha!

Mohabee with a smile -that's better... and nothing else but a water bottle.

A make-shift crash pad...
 in the living room served guests well in the early days before the Main Hall and cabins were finished.

Starland's "smaller" front yard.
This is just a small area in front of the house. Starland seems to be almost in the middle of "no-where," but it's not really.

Almost a 360 Degree View
Looking out from the house, north-east, the drive-way. A big wash separates Starland and the next ridge shown in the horizon. No one lives in the wash... its a wash!
Starland is mostly surrounded by the wash making it a lone peninsula.

North from the house, the driveway and a small "garden" of trees. The wash in the horizon..

Car Port & Mohabee
The previous owner built a car-port using 55 gallon drums filled with heavy rocks to stabilize the 4x4 supporting posts. The car-port covered an area in the driveway in front of a fully equipped garage  and a full-sized hydraulic car hoist (not shown). Mohabee stands at the side of an old Edsel car. One of the owners is a classic vintage car enthusiast. The car-port eventually succumbed to the baking sun and wind elements.

The Garden
Russell, a visitor, prepares to put a coat of protective varnish on a home-made picnic bench. The garden is in the middle of a driveway turn-around loop.

Going for a Hike!
Looking back at the house from the garden, a troupe of hikers readies to tour the Starland "out-back."

View from the Garden
Looking north-west, house on the left, the hiking troupe heads towards the trail out of Starland that leads to the canyon trail to the out-back -Starland's unpopulated "backyard" -the great wash and the mountains. Someone has tried to create a water feature in the garden (lower left), but will soon give up the effort. Oh well, that's sometimes a Starland theme.

Palo Verde Tree in the Garden
I better stop snapping these pictures or the hiking troupe will leave without me!

They're Leaving!
There they go, the hike is underway. My old light-blue Fairmont Stationwagon parked on the left, which actually drove me several times the 280 miles round trip to Starland and back to Los Angeles before giving up. The trailer at the left will later be used as cozy guests accommodations or for future live-in residents.

Cave?
Near the exit to Starland I snap a picture of John's attempt to build an underground cave... well not so much.
This "cave" has already become abandoned and filled-in. Just showing you that Starland can be a play-land for adults.

Looking back from the Exit
Now from the trail exit we look back at the house, the carport evident.
Starland, still recently acquired, harbored many articles left behind by the silver miner that previously lived at Starland. Much of this stuff has finally been removed.

The "Backyard"
Still on Starland property, high on the ridge of the great wash, we finally begin the trek down the trail and into to the wash that separates Starland from the mountainous outback. Starland's own access to the "un-roaded" desert wilderness. It takes just over an hour to reach the top of the closer of two mountains shown in this picture... and what a view from there!

The Ridge above Starland
A little further down the trail form Starland, we look back and see a fork that leads to the ridge just above and behind Starland.
The Joshua Trees wave a temporary good-bye.

The Wash Plateau
Still at the trail exit Starland, we see the south ridge that sweeps around the wash like a big edge of a bowl.
Annual grasses and Creosote Bushes are everywhere.

The Wash and Beyond -Starland's Backyard
Sweeping right from the "bowl's" ridge edge, Starland just behind us yet, we look down into the great wash, the mountains beyond, and the spiky Cholla Cactus in the foreground..

More of the Wash
The wash and the the mountains. Starland is just behind us. We're still higher on the ridge.

Wash -North
Oops! They're leaving without me again.
Down the ridge and thru the gate, finally into the great wash.
Our few neighbors way on the other side of the wash north-east side can barely be seen... and they can barely see us!

Neighbors
Lots of space between us and these neighbors.
Starland still behind us, just to the left, north-west, there is no-one. To the right is the road in about a half mile away.

Wash -East
Starland behind us, looking across the wash a little further east. There's the road-in down there, but you can't see it unless a car drives thru. Beyond that, sparse communities and the magnificent desert horizon.

The Wash, further East
Now looking even more east from Starland, a Starland trail at right and the wash headed downhill.

Looking Back at Starland
On last look back up the hill at Starland, metal oil barrels left from the previous owner along the trail, and off we go...

Starland Perspective
Fast forward... we're at the top of a mountainous hill of big rock formations and sand looking back down at Starland across the wash. A trail of trees mark the other homesteads along the road to Starland. We are the complex at the left end of the peninsula that juts into the great wash. No neighbors on the right or the left, just the great wash. Our closest neighbors can hardly see us. ... so we run around naked a lot!

Now on the Taller Hill
This is the second peak away from Starland. Starland at the left end of the green trail.
Got exercise?

Back at Starland
'Back from the great hike... what's Russel up to? 'Still tending to the picnic table in the garden.

Helping Out
Russel is just about finished varnishing the picnic table.
It's gonna be great! Russel was just up to help out for the weekend just to do something different. He's from the city, like me.

The Garden
The garden is a bit of a center point at Starland. John comes to see Russel's handy work. John actually built the picnic table himself... one of the few things he built that is actually lasting. Oh, well there is the "Granny Shack" -oh, ''sorry, too far into the future... Granny Shack to come.

Working at Starland is Relaxing
'Finishing touches and the picnic table is done.
'Time to go find out what Mohabee is doing.

Ceramicist in Character
This is Mohabee, a serious character.
He is---was a ceramicist, a dancer/performer, stage lighting professional, and chronic punster.
"They've" tried to find a cure for his "punning," but none can be found.

Arteest
One of his ceramic masks series.
Mohabee's artistic philosophy is to defy so-called "artistic structure." He believes art is expression that shouldn't be confined to dogmatic and defined structure, but instead expresses as free-form as possible without critique.

Arteest
Mohabee with ceramic mask -his creation.

Arteest
Mohabee... I guess there's a ceramic mask for every occasion.

Male Imaged
This is a storage shack behind the Main House which has been covered in magazine clippings of male images. A tribute to the male form.

"Masks" & "Botts"
A collection of Mohabee's ceramic masks and "botts?"-at right.
Mohabee had made his creations prior to moving to Starland. Unfortunately, Starland is not yet equipped for a ceramics studio.

Starland is definitely a place you can drop your pants
Mohabee... poor guy, can barely keep his pants up.

Shacks, View from the Ridge
The two storage shacks in back of Starland. This picture was taken from the top or the ridge that is directly adjacent to the house. And hey, there's my little blue stationwagon in the back... I miss that old car.

Early Evening Social
Visitors and comrades assemble for the evenings communal meal.
 (from left: John, Marie, David, Tony, Mohabee, Leona)

Stuff is Cooking
Dinning area. Evening meal prep and sharing.
(from left: John, Marie, David, Tony, Steve, Leona)

Waiting for Dinner
(from left: David, Tony, Mohabee, & ?)

The Chef
"other" John hard at work preparing meal dishes for everyone.

Chit-Chat
Waiting for the meal. Marie gives a cookie toast, Mohabee grows a beard in one click of a camera and chugs down a beer, and I can't remember yet another bud's name.
Mohabee doesn't actually drink beer and that's a shadow under his chin.

Sunday -Day Two of the Two-day Visit
Hike again up the wash and thru a canyon with many different rock formations.
Starland's natural beauty is not to be understated. There is much to see for the naturalist.... ya, OK, the Naturist too.

Down in the Wash
View from down inside, mountains behind us, Starland up on the ridge in the distance. Y'can't see it.

Just another magnificent view of the great wash
The boys had enough and are walking back to the Starland homestead, but I still wanted to see more and take more pictures. This is my last day of the visit and I want it to count.

Cactus .... Verrrrrrrry knarley
This is Pencil Cactus. I think its related to the Cholla Cactus.

Tarantula
Hey! Look what I found walking along.
This bad boy wasn't bad at all. I even let him crawl on my hand. I studied this guy and they are not an aggressive species at all. In fact, most North American tarantulas are not particularly aggressive, and none have lethal venoms.

Tarantula
They're supposed to have ten legs and two palps in front. This fellow had three legs on the right side. The leg was probably lost during mating or perhaps a fight with a would-be predator. Tarantulas are most vulnerable after a molting (skin shed). Actually, the poor things have relatively soft bodies anyway. They have many natural predators themselves.

Tarantula
This one seemed to have no time for posing and wouldn't stay still for the photo shoot. This little guy just wouldn't stop trucking along. My first visit to Starland was awesome and full of adventures in many ways. I will return many many times -with friends in tow. Bye-bye beloved Starland... until next time.
End of story
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