Letter From the Desert: Joshua Trees are Trees

That thing you heard is wrong.

Joshua tree, emphasis on the fourth syllable. Creative Commons photo by Ken Lund

I mean, I get it. I understand. You’re writing, or talking, or singing about an increasingly popular desert plant, and there’s this thing you heard that’s quirky and somewhat counterintuitive, and it’s always fun to drop such things into what you’re saying. It’s a way of bei…