The relative normalcy of the trip gets blown away like jet blasts from Air Force One when the trump show returns to DC.
The Russian intrigue did not disappear. Now son in law Kushner is under investigatory focus and there remains the president's acknowledgment he tried to obstruct an investigation. It is incredible, fast, furious, unprecedented but it is destructive not only to our tradition and pending history but also to our mental health. It is as though an amphetamine and psychotropic have been mixed and put into our food supply. We are racing full blast through a house of torture. And we remember, kids are watching. Impressions are being made. The trump legacy is already toxic.
when will it stop?
Photo by Joe Johnston The Tribune-San Luis Obispo
This is the newest problem on the legendary Pacific Coast Highway and no one knows how to fix it. The Mud Creek slide has changed the Pacific coast line as mountain continues to slide into the ocean, obliterating the highway. This is less than an hour north of our home and a reason we, like many others, have been denied access to some of our favorite hiking trails and spots in the Big Sur area.
This week more than a million tons of mountain slid over the road. There are 4 slide areas in a quarter mile and we are told springs also feed the motion. It is perplexing. We wait for it to stop.
prevailing
Mark Wellman's photo from the Yosemite Conservancy has special appeal right now. The timeless beauty and power of the Sierra, the remarkable interaction of human and mountain, and the spirit of adventure and achievement are a tonic for those malady's and unsettling troubles of our day.
I find great peace in the Sierras, an abiding tranquility and perspective on the transitory nature of human endeavor and foibles.
In time trump will be gone, the body politic may scar but it will heal, that majestic Pacific Coast Highway will be re-engineered, re-imagined, and the mountains and the sea will survive long beyond our generations. The mountains will be steadfast and the pacific will continue to sing the song of this planet. Comfort in these thoughts and the boundless arc of the star nations helps me put the present human mania in focus. Indeed we are like mists in time, vapors. But we dream and hope.
See you down the trail.
A bad week for Big Sur and I read that engineers are unsure if the highway will even be there once the slide is cleared. Millions, perhaps billions to repair, rebuild, recover. Tragic.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is stumped by what to do. The first order is to wait for the mountain to stop moving.
DeleteWe just bid on the new peninsula at Mud Creek.
ReplyDeleteWhere you can be reminded of that Carole King lyric " I feel the earth move under my feet..."
DeleteThe legacy of the "Dumbpster" will certainly include at least one new pejorative: "trumpian" (adj) which, of course, means hugely, bigly awful.
ReplyDeleteIt is pathetic that the bar is so low for this buffoon that not making a MAJOR gaffe is considered a success. Please, give us all a break. Some would like to dismiss his "errors" (to put it mildly) as "rookie" mistakes. I am sorry, folks, but you don't get a pass on this kind of stuff in this office. If you are this incompetent, you need to be shown the door--and quickly. I will celebrate the day he leaves office (preferably in HUGE disgrace--not that he can even register shame or remorse) with gusto for the rest of my days.
Even without this million ton of dirt slide, PCH is already the most expensive highway in the U.S. to maintain. We will see if the CCC and other environmental groups are willing to compromise on methods to get this dirt out of there and build a new road. I have heard that the CCC wants all this dirt and rock trucked out--seems a pretty tall order...
mm :)
It is not too early to begin using "trumpian." That is, sadly, a great new word!
DeleteI would hope the CCC would spend time in the region and realize nature sometimes has the leading hand.
Nice post, as usual. I worry, believe, that the people who support trump, his base, all 24 million of them, don't care about anything you mentioned. Mostly out of spite. They don't care if his policies hurt them or their families. Just no horrible 'Liberals'. We'll starve, go without education, become second class citizens of the world, just no 'Liberals.'
ReplyDeleteNot much to go to from there.
Jesus, the Big Sur. I feel so privileged for the time I've spent there, camping, exploring, fine dining....I wonder what it will be like in a year or two.
Cheers,
Mike
Our family has been reflecting on our own sorrow over the devastation in Big Sur.
DeleteWe are happy we were able to spend so many wonderful days there. We are hopeful there will be more in a not too distant future.
Today, I spent a little while watching YouTube clips of a film I saw as a kid called "A Face In The Crowd". I believe the whole movie is also on YouTube. Andy Griffith's powerful portrayal of Lonesome Rhodes prefigured Trump's progress by an astonishing 60 years.
ReplyDeleteGeo.-An excellent recommendation. The late Congressman Andy Jacobs Jr., sometimes called the conscience of the Congress, gave me a copy on VHS tape many, many years ago. It was stunning. Griffith was brilliant in that role. I haven't thought of that film in a longtime, but your comment about prefiguring Trump is correct and indeed is astonishing. Thanks for the great tip.
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