Desert Messenger is online!

Hi, everyone! Today’s Desert Messenger is now online and papers are being delivered all around Quartzsite. This is going to be a short message, as the morning has been filled with weird computer glitches. To read the online edition, just click the photo below or visit https://online.fliphtml5.com/avuen/chbw/#p=1

Or you can download the PDF file below and save to your device to read at your convenience.

The 2026 spring (vernal) equinox occurs on March 20 at 10:46 a.m. EST but it feels like it’s summer already!

Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yuma Counties: March 19-22.

• Quartzsite Town Hall & Library is Open Mon-Thurs 7am-6pm

• Quartzsite Community Center is open Mon-Thurs 7am-6pm

• Quartzsite Senior Center is open Mon-Friday 9am-3pm

• There are many restaurants where you can buy a cup of ice tea and cool off.

Remember to stay hydrated and keep on eye on your pets too. Check in your neighbors and get out of the heat BEFORE you feel like you need to. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty to drink water. Drink 1-2 glasses of water when you first wake up and sip throughout the day, especially before going outside.

To stay sane in a chaotic world, focus on controlling your own emotions, reactions, and daily habits while limiting exposure to distressing information.

Great tips from Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

1. Stay in the present.

Do you have a window? It doesn’t have to have a mountain view. What’s happening outside right this very second? Chances are, absolutely nothing. The present moment is almost always completely safe.

Look out your window and notice the fact that whatever catastrophe you’re envisioning (nuclear winter or a maniac with a pillowcase on his head spraying bullets) is not actually happening right now. You’re having a thought: a distressing, anxiety provoking thought, that is unleashing a physical reaction in your body. That’s all. Stay in the present. It’s really very nice here, usually.

In fact, I wrote a whole other article about how you can mindfully interact with your present moment. Check out: The Easiest Mindfulness Technique Ever.

2. Limit your exposure to triggering information.

It’s not helpful to terrorize yourself with an assault of fear or anger inducing information — particularly about things over which you have no power.

Sometimes anxiety can trick you into believing that hypervigilance is useful. It’s not. It’s just exhausting and traumatizing. Turn off the automatic notification settings on your information apps. If a nuclear war happens, I promise you’ll find out about it eventually.

3. Control what you can.

Your anxiety and anger have served their purpose, in that they’ve helped you get very clear about what you don’t like. But over-focusing on the problems and continually simmering in an adrenalin-broth of fury and fear doesn’t help anyone.

Try shifting into thinking about what you do want, like a cleaner, safer world, workable systems for everyone, social justice… and then think about how you can help make that happen in your little corner of the world.

Commit to being a force of good in the world. Mentor a disadvantaged kid. Volunteer. Recycle. Get involved. Channel all that negative energy into motivation. Take positive action and flex the muscles of your personal power. You’ll feel better and more in control once you do.

4. Remember that every moment is a choice.

You have options. While you can’t control many of the things that happen in the world, you can always make choices about how you respond to them. The way you think determines how you feel.

You can allow yourself to feel anxious and victimized by forces beyond your control…or you can consciously choose to stay in the present, set healthy boundaries about what you allow into your life, and participate positively in creating the kind of world you want to be part of.

Prayer of Lovingkindness

May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature.
May all beings be free.
- Metta Prayer

And remember we are all in this together. You’ve got this!

Have a wonderful day! ~Rain