Talk to Me of Mendocino

I bid farewell to the state of old New York
My home away from home
In the state of New York I came of age
When first I started roaming
And the trees grow high in New York State
And they shine like gold in autumn
Never had the blues whence I came
But in New York State I caught 'em

- Kate McGarrigle (Talk to Me of Mendocino)

The photo above is of the Kodak Park complex on the north end of Rochester. My father worked here for nearly 40 years until he retired around 1975. Winter can be a cruel time in upstate New York, as I well can attest. It's a good place with fine people for sure - but it takes a certain heartiness to outlast the winters and a lively mind to ward off the depression that months of clouds can bring.

But I love this song; it's another I've listened to for years, and I finally now have it on my IPod. It took me a long time - about 30 years - to make the same journey as in the song, from New York to California. But what an interesting trip is was. I want to say it was a long, strange trip...and parts of it were. I didn't make it to Mendocino, but I'm close enough.

Music for Change and Peace

My friend Linda Pendleton has done me a great favor by posting videos of Bob Marley's One Love - "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music" on her excellent blog. There are two versions - one international, and the other from Los Angeles - both very worth watching.

Check out the Playing for Change website.

Peace and happiness.

Along the same lines, folks interested in helping in a small way to help alleviate world poverty and help change lives for the better, should check out the person to person micro loan program at KIVA. It's a fantastic concept and it works.

I recently heard about KIVA on public radio and thought - what a great concept! We're talking about small amounts - I just made my first loan to Harriet Nkoyoyo's Group in Lugazi, Uganda.

Along Mission Bay; Texas to Secede?

One can't miss seeing Mission Bay heading into San Diego. The park, which was developed out of a marshy area named "False Bay" by the first Spanish explorers in the 1500s, was developed in the 1940s and 50s as a tourism and recreational area.

I've never given it proper attention, but our last trip to San Diego gave us the chance to explore it a bit. It's quite a jewel.

San Diegans come out in full force to picnic and play in the park.

And of course it is a boater's paradise.

On a lighter note, Texas Governor Rick Perry, who followed George W. Bush into the governor's chair in Texas, raised eyebrows this week when he made remarks regarding the secessionist movement in Texas, much to the delight of the lunatic right-wing fringe.

Might Texas secede from the Union? First I might point out that Texas did so unsuccessfully once before, in 1861, but four years of bloody conflict put an end to that. Maybe the sour taste remains 150 years later. I have no other explanation for Texas. I might have lived in Texas during my life, but I had good luck and sense.

Second, after providing the nation with three of the worst Presidents in history, each one plunging us into unnecessary wars (that would be LBJ, Bush I, and Bush II), I say "PLEASE GO AHEAD."

Walking the La Jolla Tide Pools

I always enjoy walking along the tide pools in La Jolla. Depending on the time of day and the season, they are ever-changing, yet constant. The character "Doc" from John Steinbeck's Cannery Row haunts the place for me. In the novel, Doc travels to La Jolla to collect baby octopi in the tide pools.



"The creeping murderer, the octopus, steals out, slowly, softly, moving like a gray mist, pretending now to be a bit of weed, now a rock, now a lump of decaying meat while its evil goat eyes watch coldly. ... suddenly it runs lightly on the tips of its arms, as ferociously as a charging cat." - John Steinbeck, Cannery Row



"It always seems strange to me... the things we admire in men - kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling - are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest - sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest - are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second." - John Steinbeck, Cannery Row



"Doc tips his hat to dogs as he drives by and the dogs look up and smile at him." - John Steinbeck, Cannery Row



"Doc would listen to any kind of nonsense and change it for you to a kind of wisdom. His mind had no horizon." - John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

Spring Evening on Point Loma

Sunset cliffs, the edge of San Diego, on Point Loma.

Avie quietly walks out towards the ocean, lost in thought.

Water runoff sculpts the cliffs....

....creating other-world designs.

Looking down at the beach.

Clinging to the edge of the world.

Contemplating a somewhat chilly evening.

Togetherness is not being alone.

The Road to Dingle, Ireland - July 1979

After spending some time in County Clare, the next place I headed for was Dingle. Folks I'd met in Limerick suggested that it would be a good place to visit. It was. I spent a couple of nights in a small B&B, walked around, and sampled the nightlife. I saw the famous Irish folk group The Wolfe Tones perform one pleasant evening. Up the rebels.

I took this shot and the one below at the train station at (I think) Limerick Junction. The nun seems particularly concerned about the man's somewhat gaudy socks.

I had smuggled some medicinal herb into Ireland. I was worried about getting through customs - this was my first trip abroad - but two sleepy customs officers yawned me through customs and out of the airport. At the time, I was a fairly heavy user, and I remember being quite stoned in Dingle, but enjoying the whole atmosphere tremendously.

I wrote this in my journal, July 8, after sitting out on the quay along Dingle Bay:

"great clouds engulfing, big night uproaring,
Dingle Bay ding a ling, ring ding a ling"

I rented a bike one day and rode out to the end of the peninsula. From there one can see the now abandoned island of Great Blasket. It maintains a forlorn beauty, as does the entire peninsula.

Evening on a Dingle side street.

Walking down the road. My memory of hedge-lined roads like this one is strong. I don't know who the fellow traveler was, but I wish him well.

I had a rail/bus pass which allowed me unlimited travel, but I also hitchhiked when necessary. On July 2, a sports car picked me and I was pleased to be in the company of one Vinnie Reddin, who introduced himself as "the number 2 race car driver in Ireland." He even gave me a picture of himself driving in a race. Good man, Vinnie. Thanks for the lift. Wonder who was number 1?

One night I wrote in my journal:

walking dead drunk down the Irish countryside
walking dead drunk down the Irish countryside
if the people I meet have red hair and blue eyes
I'm too drunk to care
too drunk to try
to see their red hair
and blue eyes

I left Dingle on July 9, heading south for County Cork, O'Donovan country.