Another campfire story from Joshua Tree: Who are the shadow people?

Out here in the desert… the silence does something to you. It stretches. It lingers. And sometimes… it feels like something is stretching back. There are stories—quiet ones—that don’t always make it into the headlines. Stories about figures seen just out of the corner of your eye. Tall. Still. Watching. They don’t move like people. They don’t behave like animals. And yet… enough people have seen them to start asking the same question: Who—or what—are the shadow people? Some say they’re tied to sleep paralysis… the mind caught between waking and dreaming. Others believe they’re something else entirely—entities that exist just outside our perception… only slipping through under the right conditions. And in a place like Joshua Tree—where the nights are long, the air is still, and the line between reality and something else feels just a little thinner… you start to wonder. Because the desert doesn’t just hold stories. It keeps them.

The Long Way Back: 3 month update

I haven't updated in almost a month. It was a busy month with so much family obligations. There were visitor from out of the country and Spring Break and weddings and just a whole mess of things that can come up because that is life. These are also the things that can derail your fitness journey and cause you to spiral and land you back to square one. My last check in I was at 239.6 pounds. Today I weighed in at 231.3 pounds. That's still very respectable for about a month. There were days that I obviously did not track my calories. There were days I missed hitting the 10k steps mark and missed a few workouts....and that is ok. The fact is our fitness journey isn't going to exist in a vacuum. It will be interwoven with everything else that makes up our day to day. I was stressing over getting derailed with the busy month of March. I knew that it was going to be very challenging in maintaining whatever progress that I worked hard for. You take certain precautions. You plan ahead if you can to mitigate certain situations and above all, stay calm. I tried my best to really prioritize keeping my routine. I was willing to adjust. There were days that I just woke up a little earlier and get as much steps in as I can. I made sure my strength training sessions were dialed in with intensity. Meals were always prioritizing protein first and then being ok with substitutions. Most importantly, social functions are supposed to be fun....so I had fun. I made sure I enjoyed those times while also being mindful. Did I go wild at the dessert table at the wedding? You bet I did. I was going to live with my decisions and move forward after that. And you know what? Once everything calmed down...I just went back to my routine. 11 pounds heavier in less than a week. Now let's deep dive that 11 pounds. Unless I went bananas...It would just mean a ton of water retention. The combination of more sodium, carbs and stress, your body is bound to hang on to plenty of water. That's it. Nothing to panic and go in to a spiral for. We just get back to our routine and keep moving forward. Now in the thick of April, my body has adjusted and is on it's fat loss journey again. Time will pass anyway. Just stay consistent and you will get there. We will all get there.

Another Campfire Story from Joshua Tree: Area 51

 Out here in Joshua Tree, the nights have a way of slowing everything down.

The wind settles into a low hum through the brush…
The sky opens up wider than it has any right to…
And the stars feel close enough that you start asking questions you don’t normally ask during the day.

That’s usually when the stories come out.

Not the loud ones.
Not the flashy ones.

The ones people only tell when it’s quiet.

So pull up a chair.

Let’s talk about Area 51.

---

Most people think they already know the story.

A secret military base.
Hidden deep in the Nevada desert.
Experimental aircraft.
Top-tier secrecy.

And yeah… all of that is true.

But that’s not the story people lower their voices for.

---

What makes Area 51 different isn’t just what we know.

It’s what keeps slipping through the cracks.

Pilots have reported objects moving in ways that don’t make sense.
Speeds that shouldn’t be possible.
Turns that would crush anything human-made.

And for decades, the official response was always the same:

Nothing to see here.

---

But then… slowly… that started to change.

Former insiders began talking.

Not loudly. Not all at once.

Just enough to make you pause.

Stories about recovered materials.
Craft that didn’t behave like anything built on Earth.
Technology that seemed… ahead of its time.

Some even claimed that whatever was being studied out there…

wasn’t entirely ours.

---

Now, you can take that however you want.

Maybe it’s just classified tech.

Maybe it’s decades of advanced research we’re not meant to understand yet.

Or maybe…

just maybe…

we found something.

And we’ve been trying to figure it out ever since.

---

Out here in Joshua Tree, that idea doesn’t feel as far away as it probably should.

Because this desert has its own stories.

Lights that move without sound.
Objects that hover where nothing should be.
Moments where the air itself feels… off.

Like you’re standing just slightly out of place.

---

And that’s the thing about Area 51.

It’s not just a location.

It’s a reminder.

That there are still things happening out there…
far from the cities…
far from the noise…
that we don’t fully understand.

---

So next time you’re out here at night…

and the sky feels a little too big…

and a little too quiet…

just remember—

whatever’s flying out there…

might not all be ours.