You may have noticed our logo is a figure in a cowboy hat with a dog, standing next to a joshua tree. It's a pretty image, but what are its origins? How did it come to be the logo for our company? Who is the dog? Who is the figure? What is that weird Dr. Seussian tree?
More than a decade ago, this was Diva:
See that crazy happy face? That's because she and I were both so happy visiting our friends in Yucca Valley (just East of Joshua Tree). We'd run out before dawn and chase jackrabbits together.
I wanted to commemorate our happiness in a tattoo. At first, the tattoo was just her and me, without a tree. But then my friend Arlette suggested that we all get joshua tree tattoos one weekend when we were here for the Camper / Cracker Campout, so we did. It only seemed right, since joshua tree has always been a special place for us.
(Arlette and Judy only got the tree and line, not the dog and figure.)
Yes, Diva was a dalmatian, and like many dalmatians, she was a rescue (don't ever buy a dalmatian for your kids... they're not great family dogs). We found each other in a Seattle shelter after I was going through some personal transitions... she was just what I needed in my life: something I had to take care of. I ensured that no matter what happened in my life, things were stable enough to care for a dog.
Diva and I had many adventures, but our special place was always Joshua Tree. She was my first dog, and we were together for about 12 years, until her death 6 years ago.
When we started the business, Russ and I took a photo of my tattoo and made it into the logo. It seemed like a suitable way to take the indelible mark that Diva had made in my life, and apply it to our ongoing business.
