Many may think of Sonny Bono as merely the weak end of the duo with Cher. But he is remembered in these parts as a politician – mayor of Palm Springs and Congressman. We drive on Sonny Bono Avenue, when we go to the Springs, and yesterday we visited the Sonny Bono Wildlife Preserve on the shore of the Salton Sea. The Sea is a giant lake (380 square miles) that formed when part of the Colorado River was misdirected for a year and a half before the First World War. It has waxed and waned ever since while growing increasingly saline. That much water in an otherwise vast desert has naturally attracted large quantities of birds and other critters, hence the preserve. Sonny slipped in a few earmarks to try to have more water directed to the inland sea; the reclamation project now seems to be languishing and evaporation is taking its toll.

Nearby are several thermal energy generating plants and thermal mud pots. These vents steam and bubble away; it would be a fine place for a coven of witches to meet.