Cruising and wondering

May 28, Dixon

            This morning I drove to higher ground, but this time it was not to walk in the forest but to drive through the villages, to be with the happenings of people. Before doing that I walked a short distance from where I am living to the studio of a local painter who was having an open house. His paintings were of landscapes, old homes, and small isolated churches. He grew up here and his worked emanated a love for the country: proud, yet simple. The colors were vibrant as if every day, if not a spring day, was one celebrating it nonetheless. I am sure we could have talked more than we did in spite of having just met, but there were a couple of well dressed, older women who wanted to talk of art, of artists they knew, and looked to be collectors. He looked a little weary about the task at hand.

            I drove slowly on back roads through relatively isolated valleys, mesmerized by the landscape and the sky. The irrigation ditches were full, the fields green, and there were still fruit trees blooming. I only wanted to be open, colored by the light and scented by my surroundings. I trusted. There was refuge. And beauty. And gratitude.

            I thought of how we are molded by the land. The earth is truly our home. We are the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the sun. We are many and we are time.

            I can relate to people who live close to the land. By close I mean they let the land speak to them instead of making something of it, adding meaning, be it sacred or mundane. Either way it is desecration, and, to be honest, I find those hiding behind the veil of sacredness the ore distasteful of the two. It leaves a bad taste. One has not yet learned to listen, and the other is too busy listening to his or her own chatter.

            There is that diversity here: an old adobe or log home next to a new Santa Fe style home with the latest styles and technology. I wonder where we humans are headed? I pass two houses where friends lived and have since died. I see young people and old people. It is a holiday weekend and people will soon be gathering.