Skip to main content

West Coast Part 4- Eureka is NOT a place you want to find

We spent last night in Eureka. It was at one time a major port on the California coast. It is, like all the towns we have passed through, fundamentally industrial in character. The people are not hostile, but are, broadly, uneducated, unsophisticated, and working many lower wage jobs in dead-end places. While the natural world of California is magnificent, the works of human hands and society are mediocre at best.

We spent last night in the Eagle House Victorian Inn. It is the single worst hotel experience of my life. There were no curtains, no one on site after 7 PM, no one on site for the 'breakfast' this morning, fire damage to the window sills, a grossly outdated bath with a MIRROR in the bathtub. There was no COLD water. All taps produced hot water, scaldingly hot water. You can sterilize yourself but you can't bathe. The furniture was a miserable mix of 'antiques', which should be understood as whatever the owner could find that was vaguely old enough to fool yokels into believing it was Victorian. It was all in bad condition. There were no curtains, only sheers. Unbelievable.

We went down the Avenue of the Giants, the old route for US 101, and a part of Humboldt State Park. We thought this would be the 'main event' for redwoods. Instead, our deeply moving experience in Jed Smith State Park was the winner. AOTG is commercialized, has the new 101 freeway right next to it so that road noise is ever-present, and has groomed groves sponsored by various organizations. It is the difference between encountering a breaching orca in the ocean, and seeing one swimming in circles in a tank at SeaWorld. The forest was no longer awe-inspiring. It had been tamed and defeated by Man. It was a garden, not a forest. So sad.....

Then we drove over the coastal ranges to Mendocino. Google shows many small towns along the route. Well, Google is wrong. There was no gas station, water, food, bathroom or any other convenience for about 50 miles through the mountains. The 'towns' turned out to be named collections of 'houses', the majority of which are trailers in desperate need of repair. The total population of all these 'towns' was less than 2500 people over 50 miles. We were in Fort Bragg before we could get lunch. The route was incredibly beautiful but also very challenging, with an average speed of about 30 mph around hairpin turns and switchbacks up and down the slopes.

I have no idea what anyone who lives in these areas does for a living. I can see someone is living, but I don't know how. The dwellings reminded me of Marvolo's shack in Harry Potter book 6- filthy, covered with mold and moss, no windows, campers attached as 'extra rooms'.

It is worthy of contemplation that these people are US citizens like anyone else, a part of a country that ignores and despises them. People in Philly, NYC, Washington, Atlanta, etc have no understanding of these people, and the pretensions of the city and the struggles of national politics mean nothing to them.

California itself is beautiful. The people, and the society, are not.....

Ted

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 22, 2016 at 12:22 PM

    I agree: the Jedediah Smith State Park is a wonderful experience, allowing one to walk among the giants and to contemplate their history - and yours - in the grand scheme of things...

    -D-

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is Forgiveness

 In doing years of medical teaching, I have told students that teaching and learning are not directly related. I can teach and teach, but you may never learn. Conversely, you may learn continuously without me teaching you a thing. 'I teach' and 'you learn' are two separate, active processes that may overlap or coincide. The same is true of forgiveness. I am an unforgiving man. I am the very opposite of God, who is slow to anger and of great kindness. I am quick to anger and very slow to forgive. I'm kind and insightful with people generally, but when mistreated or insulted I am not kind at all, nor do I forget, or forgive.  The Bible tells us to do something else. We are told to forgive. In Matthew 18:21, Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive his brother's sin. The Jewish standard was three times. Like the young man in the story of the Samaritan, who asks who his brother is in order to know to whom he should be loving, Peter appears to be asking for guida...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Broken Tooth

 I broke a tooth today. I've done that before; I inherited my mother's horrible teeth, and if not for crowns I would have the smile of any drug-addicted homeless man in the street. But the tooth broke, rather than the crown coming off. I've had that happen a couple of times, and it's nothing. After all, the tooth is just fake, held on by cements similar to the ones I use for my models. This time, however, I have to have the root extracted so I can get the modern version of a bridge. And this new dental experience has reduced to me to jelly, this not helped by the condescending, sexist comments of the dental assistant. I have a long, longe memory, my first recollections coming from age 2. I have well-developed, detailed memories from age 3 onward. I vividly recall being at the dentiswt as a child, when it was fashionable to fill baby teeth. I can recall being left there by my mother as a 14 year old, on the day I was paid for working as 'the 5th ace' at Camp Maga...
1 comment
Read more

Politically Correct Dishonor

The Biblical prophets warned aloud that devastation would come to those who were unclean. Those that profaned God and the house of God, those who were drunken, fornicators, idolators, those that cheated, that gave unclean offerings. Israel was warned of the consequences of their behavior. And God did not punish Israel. Rather, by walking away from God, Israel simply suffered the consequences of its behavior and choices. I chose, I chose , to live, to receive a transplant. I struggled to have the surgery that prolonged my life, I accepted the gift of a kidney from a whole person that I might live. I was convinced by family and friends that I had some role in the world, something I might contribute. And I believed that. My idea of contribution was to teach, to give to others what I had learned to do. But I have lived to see injustice. To see self-interest and greed triumph over not merely right but reason as well. I see incompetence passed off as expertise, the mundane as the s...
2 comments
Read more