Pt. Reyes

Thanks to Kate for posting the picture of the quails who shared our campsite last weekend. This was unusual behavior by these birds. They are usually known for running quickly away from People, vanishing into the coyote bush. They are also known for a loud call that many claim sounds like "Chicago!". but Kate decided it sounds more like "What of it?" I agree. Pt. Reyes is a beloved spot in northern California. It is a peninsula that is actually on the western side of the San Andreas Fault, sliding slowly northward, while the rest of our region moves slowly to the south. THe bedrock is granite, meaning there are Douglas firs rather than redwoods in the canyons. The geology is amazing.. rugged Sculpture Beach, where the wind and surf have cut sandstone cliffs to resemble wild artwork is one of our favorite spots. The wildlife is incredible. We saw a pod of dolphins off shore, also probably hundreds of brown pelicans, several ospreys (fish hawks), surf scoters (sea ducks), black oystercatchers (shore birds with long red beaks), seastars and green anenomes and much more. A great trip, we will be back there twice this fall. Expect more posts, the rambling continues.

 Shoreline, Uvitas, Costa Rica

Boquete, Panama, a lovely town in the northern volcanic region. Great hiking!

Old Town, our happy home on Basimentos Island, Panama. NO CARS!!!

 Sloth, Cahuitas, Costa Rica. These endearing critters move slowly, and only come out of trees once a week to use the bathroom, shall we say.

 Volcan Arenal, Costa Rica.

Children's Eternal Rain Forest, Monte Verde, Costa Rica. Children around the world raise funds to keep this lovely preserve alive. The idea came from some kids in Sweden several decades ago.

ictures from Central America

Bijuaga, Costa Rica. A town in the northern Volcanic region

Volcan Tonario. We saw this from a path near our cabin at Casitas Tonario,

Gtanada, Nicaragua

Las Islettas, a chain of islands in Lake Managua, Granada, We kayaked here, Some islands have farms.The shot below this this is Volcan Concepcion, Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua.

I will post more later today.

We were delighted to have a covey of California quail nestled down for a while behind our tent at Point Reyes. We're back in California but hope to continue our adventures.

Back to Kerouac

Trip is winding down. We are in Pittsburgh, dealing with some tough family situations. Pittsburgh, again, is a good town. We are hanging out in my brother's back yard.Summer rain in Pittsburgh is very nostalgic, and very soothing. Cardinals are singing their little hearts out- "Birdie! Birdie! Birdie!" Kate is reading a book about peace activists during WW1. I am coming to the end of Carlos Fuentes A CHANGE OF SKIN, a strange and very powerful novel, maybe a touch too long. We have kayaked on the Allegheny River, visited the town of Emsworth where I grew up, joined my great niece and nephew and their parents at the Aviary, Children's Museum, etc. Nice trip, again, with some tough situations. Tomorrow my sister in law will drive us to her daughter's house in Mt. Lebanon, Kristen will take us to a hotel near the airport and we will fly home on Tuesday I started out writing about ON THE ROAD, which I finished some time ago. Again, quite a book. A movie version will be released in the US soon, it has already appeared in Europe. Kerouac was, I think, a misunderstood writer. His focus really isn't on carousing and wild sex so much as for a search for a deeper sense of life and meaning for it all. Travel, again, was a search for epiphanies, something to root him. He found it all to be transitory, in a Buddhist sense, but his awareness of this helped him appreciate the AHA! experiences when they occurred, and the melancholy aspects of their fleeting nature. His descriptions of people and places were fabulous when his character Sal Paradise traveled alone. When he traveled with Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassidy), their pace was frantic - Dean moved too quickly to focus on anything outside of his own desperation. These sections are also fascinating, in a very sad way. But it raises the question, what is travel for? Kicks? Rushes? Epiphanies? I'd say no. The real reason for it is to experience the unfamiliar, both with people and in natural settings. Kate and I like to place ourselves in situations where we compare ourselves and our lives to other peoples', or to compare different ecosystems with ours. Hopefully these experiences broaden us, help us take a range of perspectives on life, and see the world as much huger than our day to day realities. There are epiphanies, to be sure, but sometimes the drudgery is just as important... everything fits together. I hope I have expressed this. This is it from the road, I will probably make connecting comments from Oakland.

We're in da 'Burgh, yinz.

For those of you not fortunate enough to be familiar with Pittsburgh, its culture, and its special language, that translates roughly as "We find ourselves in the city of Pittsburgh presently, all you you." Seriously, it's good to be with family, although some of our relatives' situations are quite difficult, we are being supportive as we can. We are also spending time with my great nephew and nieces, ages 3,6, and 8, all of then delightful. We took the two older kids and their parents for a hike the other day, and the kids LOVED it, so did the parents - a triumph! I have future adventures planned in my head. Pittsburgh, contrary to rumor, is a very beautiful and fascinating city. The design is brick houses and businesses, cobblestone streets, a real central and eastern European feel to the architecture and communities. We'll have a family gathering at a German restaurant on Thursday. There is a strong arts community, and a progressive community. We hope to get some exploring in and see what is what. We visited a science museum with the kiddos yesterday. Kate and I also did a little kayaking on the Allegheny River, which merges with the Mononghela River and a third underground river here to form the Ohio River. And yes, this city is my childhood home, so I do notice lots of small details... need to do some writing. Take care, yinz!

Pennsylvania, my Pennsylvania...

We have totally enjoyed the Allegheny National Forest region in far northern Pennsylvania. This wild and very beautiful area is a place of mountains that were once higher than the Himmalayas, but have been eroded into gently sloping green mountains. Jade forests of birch, oaks, maples, firs, beeches, and more cover the Alleghenies, thick as otter fur. The Allegheny River slowly glides through the valley, catching the mountains' reflections. The forests' floors are made from waves of ferns, interspersed with wild roses, cauliflower fungi (they really do look like gray cauliflowers!), thimbleberries and much more. Glass clear streams flow through here, their soft whispers merge with the wind. Calls from robins, crows, cardinals, and the soft "THUD!" from pilleated woodpeckers hunting for bugs hide in the great silence. Firs, beeches, and ferns grow from boat shaped boulders. Cool air flows from crevices in limestone cliffs. These are the first forests I ever loved, Kate loves them too- but we both love many other places as well. There was one amazing electrical storm today... we stayed in our car and watched constant lightning while hail pounded the roof. There are down sides to this area. Kinzua Dam was built in the late '60s to control floods, and a Seneca community was evicted to make room for it. There are small oil derricks in the woods, we ran into a few yesterday (they weren't working.) Yes, there is fracking in the area, but not as much as in northeastern Pa. All this said... I would highly recommend a visit to this area. We've barely scraped the surface, and definetly want to come back. Tomorrow we will go to Pittsburgh to visit family. Expect entries from there in a few days.