Living Beyond Binary and South Coast New

Avila Beach, Ca

    Some 45 minutes south of us the central coast offers scenes reminiscent of Southern California. 

     It's hard not to smile or feel good when seeing a symphony of blue stretch the horizon and lap onto warm sand. Enjoy the vibe because we've got a brain bruiser for you below, but we begin with nice.

     Avila is bright, fresh and shiny. It was essentially rebuilt after a 1998 settlement where in Unocal took years taking the town apart, removing tons of earth, moving homes back into place or clearing property. It was all part of the mitigation of a tank farm leak.
     Long timers say before the leak and the tear down Avila was "low rent" and a not so appealing beach town. We were there during the remediation and now it is clear time, money and real estate development changes things.

         It has become a tourist and play beach, complete with resort, golf courses, hiking, biking trails, restaurants, bistros, pubs and recreation.

      A group of north coasters, from San Simeon and Cambria follow their tummies to a spot sired by a beloved chef.
      We've always enjoyed outings in Avila, though there is slight feeling of being at Disney Beach Town or maybe on the set of the Truman Show. There is a history here, but it's lost in the designer new. Great place to visit, but.....

back on the ridge

Pasta making training continues. This is the critical extrusion phase.

    Kids can lift the spirit. There is an innocence and joy that infuses. But it's not as simple as it used to be

boys and girls and transitions and identity

       

       At coffee the other day one of the guys asked if women's sports was going to be killed by the affect of trans athletes whose male DNA makes them of a particular muscle and bone structure that provides strength, speed and power to the extent of being an advantage over their female competitors.

     It's a question I'd never considered, but it is vexing isn't it?

Personal identity is more complicated when people identifying and living as a woman may have a penis or when a man keeps his vagina because he would like to bear a child. Imagine how mind boggling that sentence would have been to your parents or grand parents.

     We may identify by way of a choice, though biological functions might even be an irony of sorts. Sexual reassignment surgery is a path for some, but not for everyone. It is no longer a binary matter. 
    Living with how we are different as men or women or in search or undecided or transition brings a need for a new protocol as well as cultural cues. These are new times.
     We are all human and under it all, we are the same. Until we meld with technology and synthetic life, but that is for another day.

     the cringe factor

      Does it happen to you? You communicate with friends who are citizens of places other than the US and you cringe as you explain something the occupant of the White House tweets or says. As a case in point the recent boneheaded tantrum over Harley Davidson. It somehow diminishes us all.

       In fact he diminishes everything? Has our integrity and intelligence fallen so low that we actually deserve him? Who needs the zombie apocalypse? The brain dead rules already.      
      And now there is a new justice to choose. 
      Did I just detect another cringe?

      See you down the trail

      

SLO Vibes and A Time to "Know"

     The annual Monarch migration gets us moving south to Pismo Beach.

    We were lucky to spot a couple of the beauties in individual profiles.

   A zoom catches them in clusters.

    Spotting scopes provide a close up look.

 Photo through scope by Katherine Cochrun

   After the butterfly viewing the beach is a great stop.

   A look in at Avila is always a great scene

    As is picturesque Mission Plaza in San Luis Obispo

   Spotted in downtown SLO, a new experience in barber shops.

quieting the disquieting 

     The President-elect is getting positive response to his interview on CBS's 60 Minutes. Gone was the bombast and shrill and in its place was a subdued and even more pensive man.

     He is backing away from several things he preached on the campaign trail. He reflected on the good chemistry he and President Obama established, was emphatic in saying he "did not want to hurt" Hillary Clinton, acknowledged his part of a nasty campaign and said his "life has changed" and is now about something "more important than anything he has done" before.

     On hearing reports of incidents inspired by things he said he looked into the camera directly and told his supporters to stop it. But he's drawing severe criticism for appointing his campaign executive Steve Bannon to be an advisor. Bannon is the mogul at Breitbart, the right wing source of white supremacist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic and hate articles. It is a cluster point for the worst of the domestic terror groups.

     Teachers and principals in several schools across the country report incidents since last Tuesday. A 10 year old girl was grabbed on the vagina by a boy who said he could do it "because the president did." In Royal Oak Michigan middle school students began chanting "Build a Wall, Build a Wall."

In Woodland Hills California a Muslim girl's head scarf was ripped off by a boy who called her a "towel head" and said she should be deported. White students called black students "cotton pickers." There has been rash of similar reports coast to coast.

An Episcopal Church in Brown County Indiana

 vandalized this weekend

a baseball diamond in Wellsville New York

vandalized this week

     Horrible things were said in the last year and some of his comments drew alt right extremists out of the shadows. He can't take back the irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric but in the 60 Minutes interview it seemed he was sincere in telling those responsible for the reprehensible incidents to knock it off. The Bannon appointment is a kind of political payoff, but it was a bad move and seems in defiance to his promise to govern for all.

     He told 60 Minutes those thousands who have taken to the streets to protest his election should give him a chance. He said they don't really "know him."

     We are about to learn a lot more and so is he.

     See you down the trail.

SEEING IT & SUPERB!

Barrels with a view

Paso Robles West Side 

February Color

Political Scraps

    Regardless of the politics, you've got to feel sorry for Jeb Bush. Those who know say he's a lot smarter, classier and more capable than his brother, but he just never caught on in this year of political anger and bombast. 

     As the improbable Trump parade continues Ohio's Kasich remains the adult in the crowd.  Cruz is an extremist. If you call him a nut case I won't disagree. Rubio is the hope for many, especially the less right wing or those wearing evangelical blinders. The knock on Rubio is John Kennedy and Barack Obama- another young man from the Senate who could benefit from more vintage time.  Others see his youth as a plus.  Kasich has been on the Hill, knows the way around legislation and Washington including the military and has been a governor. He's got a more pedigreed resume.

     Sanders tenacity and the abiding loyalty of his supporters can't make up for lack of super delegates and numbers, but seems bound to keep the Democratic race interesting in the immediate future.

     Clinton has a generation gap issue and trouble with likability. Her negative numbers could be harmful in the general election.

     Barack Obama should put forth a nominee to fill the Scalia  vacancy and the Senate Judiciary Committee and full Senate should consider the nomination. That is the Constitutional way. The Thurmond Rule being sited now is complete garbage. Strom Thurmond, a bigot and racist, used the tactic against Lyndon Johnson when the fellow Democrat nominated Jewish Abe Fortas, already on the Supreme Court, to be Chief Justice. It was a political tactic and has no value. The Constitution speaks for itself-as the late Justice Scalia would say.

     Mitch McConnell should check into a cryogenic tube or should be volunteered to be the first man on mars!

    

FOR FOODIES ONLY

    Chef Jose' Dahan of the late but remarkable Cafe et Voila now does special dinners including this grand evening at Sinor-LaVallee Winery in Avila Beach. 

   The evening started with a sparkling brut rose' from Alsace. 

 The appetizer: Ratatouille, seafood bisque, duck pate' with cornichon and shrimp in mustard sauce.

  Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc

Salad: Baby wild arugula, orange, haricots verts, fennel and goat cheese in olive oil and citrus .

Entrees: Roasted rack of lamb with wild mushroom risotto and ratatouille Nicoise with garlic, herbs and Syrah reduction

  Sautéed sea bass with braised baby bok choy and fingerling persillees' topped with a creamy ginger drizzle. 

Desert trio: Citrus and Ginger creme brûlée, bread pudding with bourbon creme Anglaise, chocolate raspberry tart

  The Wines of the evening were all Jose's choice and were French-unusual in California Wine country-but we heard no complaints.

See you down the trail.