We Must Be in the West

Driving through the downtown of our fair hamlet on New Year's Day there was one car parked on the street. There was also a pair of horses tied up outside the only bar in town.

Living the High Life.

Book Review: New Slow City by William Powers

Just finished this book and I am conflicted about what I think. I guess I had high expectations and that may be the root of the problem. The concept behind the book is to transform life in a city into living like you would not in a city. Live the "slow" rural life within a large city and not be captured and forced to frantically chase the urban dream.  First the bad.

I began reading and was rewarded with ideas of how to take time in our lives to enjoy things instead of trying to do more. The idea of opting out of some of the hectic inconveniences and keeping the good events is something we all could profit from. But isn't that called making a choice? The decisions the couple make such as the wife working full-time, read 50-60 hours a week, and the husband working only two days a week allow him to backpack and loll around the city. This reminds me of small organic farmers working to create a farming lifestyle, only to find that one or both of the farmers have off farm jobs to survive. It like an M.C. Escher drawing, something just doesn't seem right. As the book progressed these thoughts and feelings became more prevalent to me. It eventually made me look forward to the end of the book.

Then I realized the author was living his life his way. Nothing wrong with that. I don't want to live in New York, but that shouldn't stop him. And Powers did have some good ideas about living and utilizing a large city. Choose what you can and want to attend or do. He did reopen my eyes to looking for the forgotten in all settings. Large city or small town, there are things we take for granted or forget. Powers remind me to open my eyes. That good was worth the read.

To the Big City and Back

Christmas day started with a less than enthusiastic beginning as we witnessed an event that wasn't full of joy and love for our fellow man. We had a leisurely morning, sort of. I took my time more than I should have as we had a multi-hour drive to San Francisco to pick up a son and girlfriend that were flying in for the holidays. I used to enjoy going to San Francisco, but over the last few years it has changed into a place that is not pleasant to visit. Politics, policies and just plain the people are not the fun bohemians of the past. It's a city that is just a mess to travel through.

But that was to come. Before we were even ten minutes away from our home we stopped at a rural stoplight and were treated to a strange event. We were the middle car of three vehicles on a two lane road that changed to four lanes just before a stoplight. The pickup behind us was in a hurry as he was right behind us, and as the lanes separated into two our direction he pulled the the right and passed us only to be stopped at the light next to the car that was in front of us. Now the weird began.

We were the second car in the left lane behind a small Hyundai sedan. In the right lane was the truck that had been riding our rear bumper. I noticed the truck driver had his window down on this brisk morning. Then a large cloud of smoke billowed forth from the driver and I figured why the window was open. The truck sat on larger than stock tires and just beyond the limit line with a low rumble of the engine. Then the light turned green.

For some unexplained reason both vehicles took off like they were shot from a gun. A race was on and with no apparent reason other than ego. The truck roared off billowing smoke and noise, as the car surprisingly kept pace. The two were even as they approached where the road lessened from two lanes to one. Neither seemed willing to back off and neither did back off. Finally the truck inched ahead and swerved over in front of the car just as the road became one lane. Why had this happened? Within half a mile we were all three stacked up behind another red light. If this was the beginning of the day, what else might we see?

We didn't have much choice to travel four plus hours to meet the flight, but we were optimistic that traffic might be sparse because of the holiday. Going through Fresno cured us of that thought. We cut across the valley to Interstate 5 and there were less travelers and the driving was better.

Until we came down from Altamont Pass and into Livermore. Our side became crowded but not as bad as the vehicles leaving the Bay Area. We eventually maneuvered through the different highways, across a bridge and into SFO's parking lot. We met son and more than a girlfriend and began our trip home. This time we went south on 101 then across at Pacheco Pass back into the valley on onto I-5. Traffic was good and we made good enough time getting home we had a mini Christmas celebration and food Friday night as well as the one were originally planned for Boxing Day.

Every time we travel to a large city, and more often than not it's the Bay Area instead of Los Angeles, I think about and plan a potential escape from the area. I make sure there is a full tank of gas in the car as we enter the area so our vehicle will get us part way home or to family. We have some people in a remote part of the area we could stay with if we get to their place. It is the opposite direction from home, but it is a safe place and is reasonably supplied. So a choice will have to be made depending what type of event has happened and where we happen to be when it happens.

That always make me think quite a bit as the Bay Area has many different potential events. Earthquakes come first to mind, but a tsunami could also happen. A recent study has outlined the potential for a tsunami wave to reach inland to Sacramento in some events. Many portions of the Bay Area are low in elevation. Parts of San Francisco are built on landfill and the Loma Prieto earthquake showed the vulnerabilities in that regard.

My bigger concern is the people. I come from a small town and drive very little compared to the average person in a populated area like we visited. I don't know all of the roads. I can guess about how to use some of the roads, but most of my knowledge and maps show the bigger roads and highways only. This is where I need to improve my knowledge. We have started to take different routes as time allows. We use a map to give a general idea of a new path to visit family. I talk with family to ask what other routes they have taken and get more ideas. It is an ongoing process to learn more. But it is an important process to do.

So even with a strange start, the trip went well and for a while, family is together.

On to New Adventures

I finished my longterm sub job a few days ago. I finished the required tasks yesterday, but wasn't paid for yesterday. As with many salaried jobs, completing the work defines the job not the days and hours. As a teacher you are finished when the grades are posted, not when the students leave the classroom.

It was a good experience at the Ag Farm. I enjoyed applying Math to the construction of a drain pipe and building a wrought iron fence. I started a compost bin and another teacher did also. The students will compare how material breaks down in a concrete floored bin versus a dirt floored bin. I also learned that certain liberties should be given to a working farm that is a "classroom" also. Things aren't always neat and tidy when you're trying to teach high schoolers about agriculture. Especially when the butcher  has just shot a pig that is bleeding out and will be skinned. That is Biology 1 at its best when students see the leg bone connected to the hip bone.

I was also reminded why I retired from teaching full time. I know I and less resilient and tolerant that when I was younger, but something is different today with many students. This will sound like an Old Man Rant, but students are more self centered and less empathetic. Cells phones are any issue and I don't have any answers regarding them. I see them a powerful tool to aid teaching, but I also see too many students addicted to them. The need to be connected to others should not be satisfied in your hands but in your conversations with other humans.

The best part of this gig was working with a great group of teachers. The three other teachers welcomed me, helped me and included me as one of their own. I was a part of a team and that is what human interaction is really about.

Coach is Gone, But Never to Be Forgotten

My junior college baseball coach, Bert Holt, passed away last Thursday. Many people can say that because Coach taught the game over the course of 30 plus years. My knowledge of Coach began when he and his family moved across the street from mine in about 1960. His two sons, my brother and I started a relationship that continues to today. Eventually we played baseball together at the College of Sequoias, for Coach.

Coach taught more than baseball. Like John Wooden, he taught his players how to tie your shoes and how to dress. Coach taught us how to address the world in many ways. In today's supposedly sophisticated culture that may seem backwards, but Coach gave us the reasons for doing things the way he did. And if we were patient and had our eyes and ears open, we would eventually find out he was right.

Probably the most unexpected, but it shouldn't have if I'd been paying attention, aspect of my knowing Coach happened years after I was done playing and had begun coaching. Coach welcomed me into the coaching fraternity. Not openly with ceremony, but by talking baseball each time we ran into each other. Asking me things about players and inviting me to help with camps he conducted while scouting. It was a blessing to see him.

Thank you, Coach.

Happy Thanksgiving & a McPhee Book Review

It may be a cliche, but I have much to be thankful for with family and friends heading that list. Thankful for a house, food and a job when I need one.

I am also thankful I discovered John McPhee. Brother-in-law K got me started years ago and I've just kept reading his stories and books. This on, Pieces of the Frame, is a collection of articles is a typical McPhee mix of topics all written about in a way that makes you interested in what will happen next.

The topics start in Georgia with two people in the wildlife service picking up roadkill and using the roadkill for food and science. We go to Atlantic City in search of Marvin Gardens, the real street named such. along the way we learn of the game Monopoly. We meet a real live member of the McBeth family and learn how Birnam Wood did move. Professional tennis, firewood the Head park Ranger and quarter horse racing are also written about.

You may or may not be interested in these subjects, but the wonderful thing McPhee does is draw you into the people of each story and there is where you get hooked. These people are just like you and me, but McPhee makes them special.

Have a Selfish Thanksgiving

Patrice Lewis from Rural Revolution wrote this article about Thanksgiving. It is worth the read and as usual it made me wonder about the source  and origins of many of our "belief."