Another day, another lonely oak on a vine-rowed hill against the blue sky, now brighter, hazier.
It's mid-day, and the walk is shorter, as Harriet kindly provides shuttle service for my mad jaunt along CA 221 north, approaching Napa, walking from Valley Corporate Way (woe unto its appellator) to Kaiser Road (better, maybe).
The view east concentrates on regimented grapevines, not people, where even the oaks need a little structure at times,
and the cliffs form parallel lines,
in contradistinction to a rogue fence --
who did the constructor think he/she was? Christo/Jeanne-Claude?
OK, well, the 1976 Running Fence in Marin was on a bit larger scale...
Kaiser Road comes along soon enough, with an heroic eucalyptus to the north,
the road behind framing a panorama of hills.
Smog check and al fresco lunch with Harriet (not at the same place), then we head back over the western ridge of the Vaca Mountains via Route 121, snaking past the surreal Redwood-choked canyon of Sarco Creek (pretty far inland for Coast Sempirvirens -- somewhat like Christmas trees popping up in the chaparral),
to the high plateau of the rarely snowy Snow Flat,
with occasional sunbreaks in the woodsy realm,
to the darkening east side, like a shot, with the west range of the Vacas looming up beyond Wooden Valley.
Whoops. Getting late, should do a little shopping, get Journals in the mail, and record a bit -- so will return later.
Back now, and working on recordings, beginning with II. Feeling Bad Particles from For My Brother For My Brother.
And continuing via VI. The Examined Life from 12 Preludes and Fugues ("Topical"), with its parody Plato, as related in The New York Times
"The examined life
is not worth re-living."
Ah, for a return...
