Saturday, June 2, 2012

Californication


"There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California." Edward Abbey

I love California. Especially northern California. Good ole Ed made fun of California a whole lot; he used to call it "Californication". But I love it here. And I intend to stay here.

Mountains and Napa Valley wine. San Francisco, which is a city that is unlike any other--where you can hang out in bars that the two Jacks (London and Kerouac) used to get hammered in. You have the beauty of the ocean. Fresh seafood! Towering Mount Shasta. Mt. Lassen. The Sierra. Deserts. Agriculture. Fresh citrus. Bigfoot. Gold towns. Ghost towns. The Pacific flyway. Gary Snyder and Jerry Brown.

Almost all the great writers I admire have lived here: Jack London, Gary Snyder, Ed Abbey, Jack Kerouac, Hunter Thompson, Wallace Stegner, Wendell Berry, John Muir, Ken Kesey, Michael Pollan, Joanna Macy--to name a few.

I split my time between the excesses of the Napa Valley and the backwardness of Concow. Enophiles and Foodies versus Rednecks. It is a life of extremes. My off grid ridge versus the estates of movie stars and nutrition bar entrepreneurs. It is a rich life. It is a life of extremes. I like it.

But how is the training coming? Slowly. Steps today; I'm sore.

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