I’m Walkin’
For the time being, I’ve given up running and aerobics. Perhaps I am forever retired from the world of Jazzercise, who knows? Now I walk for my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
I base my practice on a proverb in Traditional Chinese Medicine which says that…
Worms will not eat living wood where the vital sap is flowing; rust will not hinder the opening of a gate when the hinges are used each day. Movement gives health and life. Stagnation brings disease and death.
So far here in Marin, most of my daily walking-time has been spent on one particular bikepath near my apartment. It’s a good route and very accessible. It quickly became known to me after I moved here. And it quite rapidly evolved into my routine.
And, of course: now it has become boring as well. I have been caught in a rut with no new scenery, no variation from the norm.
So, this last weekend, I decided to change all that. You know, mix things up a little bit…and live on the wild side!
On Saturday I drove down the road a little ways to the Natalie Coffin Greene Park in the Town of Ross – and actually found a place to park this time. Spots are very limited there (24 spaces or so), so on my previous visits, I had always ended up turning around to find someplace else to park and hike (namely my old standby path).
The trail leading from this park goes very quickly into the woods and splendid isolation along Phoenix Lake. It’s a beautiful place, rather hilly and secluded (except for other like-minded outdoor folk; see photo of bicyclists above), and I fell in love with the place immediately. I suspect that from now on I’ll wait my turn to park in the lot, just to be able to enjoy this amazing little getaway place so near home. (Perhaps it’ll be my new “Mt. Pisgah” – the favorite hiking spot of all time for me, right outside Eugene, OR.)
Then, on Sunday, I did something I had envisioned myself doing ever since I entertained the thought of moving to Marin: I walked the length of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a cloudless and balmy afternoon, and I figured: it’s time! I discovered directions on the web about where to park, so I found my way to the Vista Point lot on the north side of the bridge. I walked the bridge from north to south, wandered around the visitor’s facilities at that end (i.e., the gift shop and café), then walked the span again back to my car.
What a totally perfect day to do this! I’ll have to go back again soon, though, when the photos will turn out with more “mood” associated with them.
Soundtrack Suggestion
I’m walkin’, yes indeed and I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me
I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me, uh uh.
( “I’m Walkin’” – Fats Domino)
The Beaver Nation
Is it acceptable for a sixty-year-old like me to label another person “elderly?”
I wonder…
Anyway, whatever possessed me to make a trip to the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon, I’ll never know. But that’s what I did. I traveled over to San Rafael late today to pick up a few things from Trader Joe’s. It was very, very busy — and it took about 15 minutes to check out of the “express lane.”
Then, after I got back out into the parking lot, I started the car and proceeded to wait and wait just to back out of my spot. The traffic surrounding the store was totally ridiculous!
While looking in my rear view mirror to watch for an opening, I noticed an “elderly” guy (80ish, I’m guessing) exit a vehicle across the way. After he got out of his car, I could see that he glanced my way. Then it seemed as if he was staring at something in my direction.
It turned out he was. When there was a little break, and a car stopped for him so that he could safely cross, he walked directly over to me and tapped on the window.
When I rolled it down a notch (he looked harmless enough, but I was still suspicious of his motives), he immediately asked, “are you a Beaver?”
This is a rather strange question, of course. And, for many of you out there, I’m sure it could be a tad offensive. But, for me, given that I have an “Oregon State Beavers” license-plate frame and a “Member, OSU Alumni Association” sticker on the rear of my car, the inquiry was a pleasant surprise.
“Yes I am,” I answered. “I have two degrees from OSU and lived in Corvallis for twenty years.”
“Did you see the game last week?,” he asked.
“Yes I did! Was that amazing, or what?!” (OSU toppled the Number 2-ranked team in the country last Saturday, defeating California, at Berkeley, 31-28.)
We traded names, shook hands, and then continued on with our respective Saturday afternoons.
So I found another member of the Beaver Nation! (Or rather, he found me.) Right here in Marin!
Be Prepared
In keeping with the Boy Scout Motto, Marin County has initiated the “Get Ready Marin” campaign in order to raise awareness about how to best prepare for the next earthquake, flood, fire, landslide…or whatever other kind of disaster you can imagine. Hundreds of these bright yellow signs, such as the one above (shown here attached to the Larkspur Fire Department building), have been appearing all over the place to alert us to the effort.
Even though evidence of this campaign is difficult to avoid (there are tons of banners, signs, posters, Golden-Gate-Transit-bus advertisements, cocktail napkins, cable-television public-service announcements and, I’m told, even an airplane with a trailing banner), I hadn’t really been paying much attention (nor had I visited the website) until I read the article in the Marin Independent Journal this last weekend which explained the program. Finally, I got it: pay attention, TechnoMonk!
Apparently, there are free, two-hour-long disaster-preparedness classes that we can now sign up for to help us “get ready” for the Big One: all funded by a huge grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
I suppose I should attend. After all, what did I do when I decided to live in one of the most earthquake-prone parts of the world?
I rented an apartment located on the side of a cliff.
Soundtrack Suggestion
Well, shake it up, baby, now, (shake it up, baby)
Twist and shout. (twist and shout)
C’mon c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, baby, now, (come on baby)
Come on and work it on out. (work it on out)
(“Shake It Up Baby” – Isley Brothers)
Update on October 13, 2007:
As a result of this post, the Pontificator has come out in strong support of the Marin County disaster-preparedness efforts. Click here to read his comments.
Citizens, hear me out! This could happen to you!
The Liddypudlians
A couple of months ago I wrote about the one “day off” I had during the whole change-your-life kinda summer that 2007 provided me. On that day (June 30), in Eugene, I wandered about Saturday Market and ended up at the stage area listening to a local musician sing the entire Beatles Abbey Road album from start to finish…while accompanying himself on the ukulele!
What a tremendous treat that was!
And, what a totally Eugene, at-home-like experience that turned out to be.
Given my subsequent move to a new and totally unfamiliar part of the world, I have been asking myself: when am I ever going to be able to replicate that kind of feeling again? Will I ever be “at home” again? And also: when will I ever hear live Beatles music again?!
Well, as it turns out, I didn’t have that long to wait. (At least for the answer to that last question…)
Last Sunday, the little hippie-dippie Marin County town of Fairfax held its second annual Town-Wide Picnic at the local ball field. Now, I didn’t really plan to attend. In fact, I was absolutely oblivious to the fact that this thing was happening at all until, on a whim, I decided to visit Fairfax that afternoon simply to check out a nearby place with a Eugene-like (read: “liberal” or “tie-dye”) kind of reputation.
As I was walking around, I noticed posters in a couple of windows advertising the event (that was supposed to be happening at that very moment) and, at first, all I could think of was “where’s the ball field?” Well, given that this is an extremely tiny place, it didn’t take long to find out. (I simply followed the foot traffic!) Of course, I was initially a little reluctant to join in the festivities, given that it’s a very small town and I’d be gate-crashing their party. But the thing that helped me overcome my hesitancy was the Beatles music coming from the stage. A group called “The Liddypudlians” was up there churning out some great stuff!
The band was 26 members strong…yes, I needed to count them! There were several (rotating) lead vocalists, lead and rhythm guitars, drums, a chorus -- as well as horn, string, and woodwind sections. This was an orchestra that reproduced Beatles songs quite faithfully -- meticulously consistent with any studio-produced Beatles-album track.
I sat on the lawn, soaked up the sun, and enjoyed three sets of live Beatles tunes for just over three hours. I loved this group!
For a little while there, I almost felt like I was home.