The 12 Mile Road

While I wait for Fema and my insurance company to make it possible for me to return to Texas, I’ve enjoyed a routine of visiting a bookstore in Gilroy, California. We browse the book aisles for the best and the latest until tea time, and then we take our selections to the corner where tea is served and order cookies and carrot cake.

I look forward to the drive, especially a 12 mile stretch, straight as an arrow, thru cultivated fields with telephone poles bordering one side. The beauty of the fields is striking with acres of color ranging from freshly disked black earth to long silver rows of plastic with varying shades of green stretching to the base of the mountains beyond.

A few weeks ago, after the pumpkin fields were harvested, one could see spots of orange from a few that had been missed. It was only hours before the ground gave way to new plantings. Every inch of soil is cultivated, even to the edge of paved roads. This area is truly ‘the land of milk and honey’, but builders are coveting and building homes as fast as they can and the agricultural lands are diminishing every day. They don’t seem to realize we are losing the Golden Eggs the earth has given us, chunk by chunk as they buy up the fields and build fashionably large multi-million dollar homes for wealthy people.

As we enter the 12 mile stretch, we eagerly anticipate the sighting of hawks which are often seen perched on the telephone poles and wires, and occasionally on the ground of a fallow field. Sometimes we only count 3 or 4, but once we counted 8. They are difficult to identify because they perch between the insulators and we drive by so fast we get only glimpses of them. No matter how we strain our eyes, details of color elude us, but the white breast patches can be seen if they are facing us as we drive past. If their backs are toward us, their stance indicates they are ready for action if food is spotted.

While searching the internet for hawk photos I came across this photo which is like the hawks we see.

Visible Storage

I recently saw an exhibit at the Computer History Museum in Mt. View, California ( http://www.computerhistory.org/). What a delightful experience! The exhibit called, Mastering The Game, is a collection of computer chess sets showing the history and development of electronic chess boards ( http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/).

As an avid chess player, (learner status only), I enjoyed watching the film of the famous match between IBM’s Deep Blue and Kasparov, the highest rated player in the world. A portion of Deep Blue, in fact half of the actual computer, has been donated to the museum and stands near the collection of chess sets which includes the signed board used to play the match.

The first electronic chess boards were quite primitive compared to the constant innovations and ever changing developments in computer technology. The chess exhibition is only a part of the museum which gives tours by volunteer docents who explain in detail the history of computer invention and design.

After browsing the chess exhibit I joined a group tour that encompassed the Jacquard weaving looms, a precursor to electronic computing. The exhibit houses actual computers from the most primitive to the modern micro devices. With the advent of the transistor, massive machines with tubes requiring huge areas of floor space could be replaced by smaller machines which in turn led to innovations in design and materials. I suspect my new laptop with wifi connections is already obsolete as I recommend a visit to this remarkable museum.

Horses and Cattle

I recently visited with two extraordinary women. I’m impressed with their expertise in animal behavior, breeding practices and agricultural knowledge. Michelle runs a horse boarding facility and Darlene runs a small cattle and horse ranch. Each exhibits a confidence and responsibility that indicates a life long interest in their work. It takes only a moment’s conversation to realize both women love what they are doing and have been animal lovers all their lives.

Darlene and her husband live in a small rural community called Escalon. After leaving the central California coastal area and the beautiful rolling hills and mountains of Pacheco Pass in Santa Clara Valley, it’s a several hour drive thru the fertile San Joaquin Valley to Modesto, California.

Darlene was waiting for us at the Flying J truck stop in Modesto where we had a fabulous lunch. It had been a long time since I had seen Darlene. She and my daughter share an interest in horses and had sent me photos of themselves on trail rides. Our lunch conversation centered on horses, rodeos, dairy farming, haying, and stock auctions.

After a leisurely lunch we drove to the ‘farm’. Of course the first thing we did was visit the cattle and horses. Several years ago Darlene had purchased a 2 year old Black Angus bull at auction and he has grown into a huge animal! The size of his head is massive and a quite intimidating although Darlene says he isn’t aggressive. Even so, she says she keeps an eye on him when she is in a pen with the cows and he’s near by.

The cows are also Black Angus. Darlene showed us how gentle the cows are by petting those she had given names. The bull was also in the same pen and he barely paid her any attention, but when she opened the gate to leave the pen, the bull did take a step toward her and she just held out her hand to stop him. A very impressive display of control !!!

Darlene’s favorite horse is Nugget which she rides as often as possible. A 2 year old filly, that is the spitting image of Nugget, but sired by another, will start her training in the spring. We petted 20 year old Perry, a thirty thousand dollar dressage horse that has been retired and no longer ridden. He is over 16 hands and as gentle as a pussy cat!

The ranch is surrounded by large dairy farms. Sizes range from 200 Holstein cows to as many as 600. Darlene raises hay which means planting and cutting, but she gave us a long detailed description of ‘green chop’ which is what the dairies feed. Field corn is cut while still green. The entire plant is finely chopped then piled into huge mounds where tractors compact it. When all the oxygen and water has been squeezed out, forming a dry ‘cake’, it is stored under tarps or blown into giant tubes for later use. Covered mounds like giant Quonset huts and long, tubes, placed side by side, dot the fields, indicating dairy country.

Michelle’s horse facility is a hidden treasure. Just as one thinks they are lost at the end of a paved lane, shrubs reveal a curve in the road leading to a private horse boarding and training facility. A spacious parking area of sparkling white gravel is next to a large covered arena.

The pastures lie in a bowl surrounded by foothills and mountains. One’s first impression is one of extreme cleanliness with well placed barns, stalls and pens. Michelle owns 30 acres and boards a horse for each acre.

She is the single care taker and does all the work although her husband and children lend support and help at various times. While feeding apples and carrots to my daughter’s horse, Bailey, we had a chance to ‘shoot the breeze’ with Michelle and heard stories about Bailey’s funny conduct on the days she’s not visited.

She told us of her plans to plant several hundred trees along a fence line and pointed out which horses she plans to bring into the barns for the winter to fatten them up, but still turn them out daily for exercise.

We talked about which horse is the boss in the pasture, (which happens to be Bailey), and whether or not if a horse’ rear end is higher than its withers it indicates the horse is still growing. That was a bit of info I had never heard before! Now, every time I see a horse, I’ll probably start silently comparing derrieres to necks….just one more thing to pay attention to so I can pretend to know more than I do about horses.

Hats off to both Darlene and Michelle! They are resourceful and charming women and I’m lucky to know them.

Living off The Land

At the end of November when I return to Texas, I’ll be facing decisions about house repairs and whether to buy a car to replace the stolen one, or use the senior bus and save money on car insurance and gasoline.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying life in the fast lane and living off the land at lunch time. When I mention the ‘fast lane’ I’m referring to the never ending ribbons of traffic on all the major thoroughfares of northern California. Back home in rural Texas, heavy traffic is when three or four cars are stopped for a red light at commute time. Here in the Bay Area, multiple lanes in both directions are bumper to bumper with vehicles, day and night.

The foothills and mountains of the San Francisco peninsula are cuffed and tied together with twisting concrete ropes, each promising a shorter road to beach towns. At night car lights paint strips of yellow/white in one direction, and red going in reverse.

If two or more people are in a car, the driver can use the ‘fast’ lane. It can be a breathtaking ride as slower lanes of traffic recede backward while clipping along at the maximum speed limit several car lengths behind the car in front. In rain, it’s even more breathtaking! I’ve taken to praying more than usual.

While I have been an ‘evacuee’, I’ve enjoyed delightful meals with friends and co-workers of family members who have graciously invited me to experience their traditional and special ethnic cuisine. I’ve also had the opportunity to join many of them for lunches at their favorite restaurants. So far I’ve enjoyed Russian, Mongolian, Greek, Chinese Fusion and both the Northern and Southern foods of India which can rival the hot chili dishes of Mexico. California organic, and wild Alaskan are important in the recipes my family serves. What fun to live off the land! So many choices, so little time!