It all started when we decided to buy a property in the desert. I knew from the get-go; we were set to go through one of the most stressful situations ever: becoming homeowners.

Cathedral City and Yucca Valley suddenly were names I was familiar with. My vocabulary had changed so much after we had decided to move from one coast of the country to the other one.

Every plant, every scent, every tan, had changed for good. That feeling of being on vacation had slowly left after some weeks of living in this new town. All we had to do was buy a house and we would be locals.