WOW!

8:30 pm Monday, October 01, 2007
Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Bolinas, CA

What a couple of days. Driving through California, with a lump in my throat…
I left Northern California on April 1, 1982 after having lived there for 3 years. Except for flying into San Francisco in 1998 to take my National Boards exam, I haven’t been back. When I left, I was the same age my daughter Megan is right now. At the time she wasn’t yet even a “twinkle”…
I forgot the magnificence that is California, the majesty and the might. Driving across the Central Valley I was reminded how agricultural and rural much of it is. I passed miles and miles of orchards, vineyards, roses, and cotton fields. I was on the road early enough to spot a coyote, just down from the hills trotting across a fallow field. I passed double rig 18 wheelers, their cargo in deep bucket like beds, laden with fresh tomatoes, and pungent garlic that I could smell as I passed on the highway. I went by a stockyard that was the size of a village (p-u!!!), as well as cattle and calves, and horses grazing the hillsides and pastures. I passed flocks of newly shorn sheep, golden hillsides, and wide open blue skies. No more fear or trepidation. This is my world, and I get to feel the aliveness of it, and of me!
I also forgot what a state of contrasts California is. Intermixed with the flora and fauna were oil rigs, pumping their monotonous rhythm. There were enormous power stations, and miles of huge power lines crossing the Valley, headed to supply those urban megalopolises along the coast. I was reminded of the rolling blackouts of a few years back. I glimpsed part of the gigantic California aqueduct system; excavated, paved diversion of the mountain runoff from the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains. More of the state’s riches captured and diverted to the coastal cities.
I used to camp in the Sierras. The coldest, clearest, most refreshing mountain streams I have ever swam or bathed in. Tuolumne, Mokelumne, Stanislaus, Hetch Hetchy, names from my past, all mixed in with remembering and longing. As I cut over Tehachapi Pass, along the southern border of the Sierra Nevada, something new dots the mountainside. Huge wind turbines cover the hills and ridgelines in what I’m sure is accurately engineered patterns. Although, to me they look artistic and modern adding an unusual beauty to the business at hand (much preferred to the pumping oil rigs).
After traversing the Central Valley, I decided to keep on ‘til I reached the coast, on Sunday afternoon. I first crossed the Diablo Range, swooping down into the Salinas Valley, and through Gilroy, Ca. They say that olfactory memories are some of the most potent, our sense of smell having been quite important to our forebearers. Well, let me tell you, Gilroy has to be one of the most amazing smelling towns on Earth! I used to love to drive through on my way to the Sierras because it smelled soooooooooooo good! Gilroy is touted to be the garlic capital of the world. I was lucky enough to attend an annual Garlic Festival there back in the ‘80’s, and everyone who crossed my path for the next week knew where I had been. Apparently they know how to put that garlic, as well as other herbs to good use in Gilroy, as there is a spice factory on the outskirts of town. Driving by is one of the treats of a lifetime, and I’m so glad I got to sniff my way through Gilroy once again!
One more set of mountains left, the Coast Range. I found a primo campsite overlooking Monterey Bay, about 30 miles north of Monterey proper, Sunset Beach State Park. Ahhhhhhhhh, finally get to camp. I grew up camping. I am aware of deep gratitude to my folks for giving me the gift of the outdoors; of water and sky, the animals, the wonder of being on the planet, and one with all of its life and creatures. Time to set up camp, take a bike ride, cook and eat a simple dinner, walk the beach, sketch, and witness an amazing orange sun setting over the Pacific. (For those of you who don’t know, I don’t sketch. My artistic development was arrested in about the third grade. But, now that I’m 50, I’m gonna keep on trying lots of new things. Especially things that I’ve always told myself that I’m not good at…)I slept like a baby, stars so bright, the moon half there…