LONG VIEW and A CITIZEN'S CONGRESS

FROM THE RIDGE

     From this land of big views an idea is emerging that could/might/should change American politics. More on that after a look at spring from what is called "top of the world."

  The frame below over looks Green Valley.  You can see the 

micro climate difference in the fog that has settled below the distant peaks over Cayucos and Morro Bay.

   We are fond of the time of year when the western grazing slopes are green.

   An unusual scene in our Mediterranean climate-hail or sleet in last week's rare, but appreciated, rain.

 FOR BRUCE aka THE CATALYST

   Since my old pal loves fresh baked bread, this scene at a local Italian restaurant caught my eye.

IMPROVING AMERICAN POLITICS

   Frequent readers have heard me rail about the need to get big money out of politics.  I've been around the game long enough to see how corrosive it has been.  Years ago I used to quote HL Mencken "Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods."  The current system is nothing more than big business.  Big dollars are needed to run and get elected and entirely too much effort is spent hustling the bucks and then being beholden to the contributors.  

    Terribly flawed and corrupted Supreme Court decisions have opened the path to even greater influence of money-be it from Corporations, who are only people, or people who have money like corporations.  Well, a Californian from my county is in the midst of an extraordinary effort to do something about it.  He's invited you and anyone who cares out to our far west for a congress.

See you down the trail.

THE NEW BLACK? REMEMBERING A GHOST TREE

CHOOSING THE NEW COLOR

       So it seems orange is the new "in" color of the season.
What do I know about fashion and color? Trips to France sensitized me to shifting color preferences. Friends wanted to know what the new fashion season revealed as the color we'd be seeing more of so I made a point of paying attention. 
         This year I saw a lot of orange in Palm Springs and environs, among some of the lovely patrons of the Indian Wells Tennis tournament, in shops and I see it is showing up elsewhere. I certainly have no pedigree from Ralph Lauren University, so I could be entirely wrong. And as a further qualifier, my idea of good color is blue and grey.  

        Anyway, California's central coast is painted by nature. It's a seasonal switch that cranks up the swatch palette. 

A FINAL STAND

   Aside from humans and elephants, trees get my vote for favorite life form on this blue planet. Old trees get  maximum respect. They don't travel of course but they observe the years, even centuries and leave a record. Talk about zen mellow!
    Seeing a stump serves an encouragement. Old roots remain in mother earth and the space above is reserved for the memory of a sentry or watcher.

  See you down the trail.

A CHANGE WE HATE TO SEE AND A METAPHOR IN AN ICON NEIGHBORHOOD

TOUGH GOOD BYES

    Life in the village truly is idyllic. That's not just a fanciful idea. People are active, they live long lives, most of us develop our eccentricities or particularities and there are indeed many characters. Living between the Pacific and the Santa Lucia mountains on ridges, valleys, beaches, Monterey Pine and California Oak forests we often say this is not like the rest of the world. So when life, like every where else intrudes our romantic sense of delusion is shocked and saddened.

      Peter Wolff was one of the characters in this charming and curious drama of Cambria. A big deal international business executive and thinker, Wolff has been one of our leading men, not because of his professional resume, but because of his one of a kind personality.

      The first time I met Peter he said, "So I hear you were really a big deal journalist.  Everybody here has a life like that. The only thing that really matters now is how good is your serve?"

      Peter had a brilliant mind and usually gave you 3 or 4 answers to any question you asked and usually had you chuckling. Peter and his foursome played at the other end of the tennis complex, but you would always hear him. 

      Over the years I've been fortunate to study with him, share committee work with him, relax and enjoy his company. Usually he had me laughing with his dry wit, sardonic humor and insight.

      Something went wrong after a surgery and after a rough go Peter left this party Sunday. His family was with him and we are told he was being his usual feisty and funny self.

      Phil, who's history with Peter goes back a couple of decades said he never thought anything could take him. A lot of us thought that. 

      Peter played regularly with John Brannon, the colorful newspaper columnist whom we enjoyed even years before our move here.  Peter and John could be, well, feisty and not always in agreement on a play or a call and so their matches gained a degree of notoriety. Brannon just left for a new life in Southern California and now Peter is gone.

      As if to remind us that we can not control change, yesterday was the day we bid farewell to another longtime village couple.  Barbara and Paul are wonderful and joyful people who depart to be closer to a daughter who can attend to their needs. Barbara, a local gal, seemed always to smile. She had a wicked cross court shot though, even if it seemed out of character to her gentle, California girl manner.  Paul is a retired Wall Street Journal man and a fount of knowledge and a crafty tennis game. He is in every sense of the word, a true gentleman.  They are delightful people.

      As some of the crowd gathered at coffee this morning we were heavy hearted, certainly for those who are gone or departing, but also because it reminds of how fleeting it can all be, even here.

STILL A TRACE

     Remains an ancient tree devolve in front of a Warren Leopold post house. The tree likely sheltered the maverick architect as he sat in his mobile work desk or perhaps camped while designing and building the house in the last century.

    It also shaded a Dome home.

        Another tree now stands tallest on an icon corner in Cambria.

      A few blocks away, an opportune intersection and another memorable building, perhaps with aspirations.

   See you down the trail.

JUST PLAIN FUN- MR. AT EASE, LOVELY LUNCH AND MISSING COLUMNS-THE WEEKENDER

PLEASANT

    Spring strengthens its presence on the California Central Coast and so a leisurely lunch in Harmony offered opportunities to breath deeply and enjoy the ambiance. 

    I was struck by the texture of the setting and especially with the sun light filtering through Diane's hat. Kind of Monetesque?

   Fortunate to share a Mediterranean moment discussing art and food. 

  and captivated by the sun play. Boomers, taking it easy.

THE MASTER OF TAKING IT EASY

  and finding the perfect balance of shade and sun.

WEEKENDER PUZZLE 
MATCH SHADOW WITH COLUMN

    Two shadows without an appearing matching column.

       All columns are present, but a couple of shadows are missing.

      And so it goes.

AN HONORABLE EVENING

    Lana's recent SUNRISE ON BUD BREAK received an Honorable Mention in the most recent juried show in Cambria's Allied Arts Association exhibition.

See you down the trail.

OUR INTRUDER , 2 SURE BETS, A LOSS OF THOUGHT and PACIFIC SPRING

FRESH

VARIATIONS ON A RIGHT FRAME

THE INTRUDER

    A midmorning call by one of our neighborhood Bobcats.

      This guy is considerably larger than Hemingway and Joy who were napping on the porch, or perhaps hiding under the deck.

THEY'LL MAKE YOU THINK

    If you like real life intrigue and are fascinated by science PARTICLE FEVER and TIM'S VERMEER are two documentary films you'll want to see.  Both are in general release, but if your art house or cinema doesn't offer them, they'd be great views at home.

       Particle Fever, directed by Mark Levinson is a brilliant, entertaining and even amusing suspense as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN comes on line and seeks evidence of the Higgs particle.  6 brilliant and charismatic scientists are your guide.  They are extraordinary and the drama is real.  

      Tim's Vermeer follows brilliant inventor, millionaire Tim Jenison on a six year quest to learn how the Dutch painter Vermeer (Girl with a Pearl Earring) captured light, glow and painted so realistically.  The film is produced by Pen Jilette and Teller. It features Martin Mull, British painter David Hockney and professor Philip Steadman.  It is a fascinating journey, amazing in what lengths Jenison will go to pursue the riddle.  

      I took personal pleasure in the viewing of both because they reaffirm the best of humanity, our desire to seek answers, learn, quest and take on mystery and to delight in the challenge.

     Which brings us to an however....

WITHOUT BENEFIT OF REASON

    Shouting into the wind or standing at the shore and telling the surf to subside may have the same efficacy as this, but here we go. It is appalling at how rapidly western culture is disposing of its once guiding trajectory of reason.

    Intellectual diligence, study and learning were either foundational expectations or the normative behavior of a culture that moved from superstition and ignorance to harvesting the benefits of knowledge and science.  Along the way we bipeds were encouraged to think and to wrestle with conflicting or opposing concepts or points of logic. Not so much anymore. 

    Knee jerk reactions threaten to become the norm. In social psychology they call it a rigidifying of the self concept.  People hear an idea they disagree with, feel threatened by it and throw up a defense, often launching  a response that doesn't seek conversation and in turn the other person responds in kind.  It's a bit like launching missiles back and forth. No diplomacy, or seeking an understanding, just an escalating scorched earth belligerence. 

    It's all over cable current affairs programming, in politics, especially posessed by zealots both in the public square and in religion and even in our little village.  Everyone seems to have adopted the "I'M RIGHT-YOUR WRONG" mind set.

     Had our forbearers been so inclined we'd still be hunting with stones and hoping for the invention of fire. We may never have learned to talk.

The New Blooms

With apologies to my pal Griff, who believes this blog is too heavy on California flora.

   As my friend Bob Foster, who's bone marrow transplant and battle with Leukemia I chronicled here over the last few years, said as he called today "Life is so good."  

    He was calling from Minnesota after driving from Northern Iowa, where spring is still only a hope. He said he has not felt this good in years. And he is especially grateful for the return of his quick and facile mind.  

   To paraphrase the old military cliche' "If you've got'em smoke 'em," if you've got a brain, use it.

   See you down the trail.

KONG OR NEANDERTHAL and CAT'S EYES

DO YOU SEE THE SKULL?
Diversions while you watch your NCAA Brackets implode.

    How fertile is your imagination?  Look at the far point of the bluff. Does a gorilla brow and flattened nose come into view?

   A chunk of boulder seems to reside in an eye socket at the top of a long jaw.

   The "skull" is on the bluff near Lampton cliff, Cambria.

 Here's one more shot where "Kong" seems very apparent. 

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Hemingway and Joy

   Ever try a close up of a cat?  Good luck with that!

   And good luck with your brackets.  I wonder how many
people had Duke going to the final 4?

THE WEEKENDER VIDEO

BIRDS ON A WIRE

   See you down the trail.