Fascinating read. Hard not to imagine a very different Simon had you come west...but seeing your beautiful family, it's clear this version of reality turned out just fine.
I'm wondering what you thought of Salinas... I live in California, Santa Barbara, and always disliked it but when a family member moved there a few years ago began to visit. I've learned to love it, intrigued by it, and understand what Steinbeck saw. Your photo captured some of it. There's an eery sense of history there, one usually only feels in older places.
I thought it was somewhat depressing. I enjoyed the remoteness of Carmel valley, but anything manmade felt somehow more dingy than it ought to have been.
Eerie is correct to me. Or somber, somehow. But I could never place exactly how.
It's interesting how my opinion of places has changed: I'm 75 and have lived in CA since 1964.... I still love Sonoma County, The Lost Coast up near Mendocino and once was enamored with Carmel. I can't bear Carmel anymore, but my friend in Salinas was born and raised there and has shown me spots a native knows: i.e. an Ofrenda in a hard to find grove where a tree purportedly has Our Lady of Guadalupe on it; a bodega on a street not in a town where there is a bakery, butcher and cheesemonger... Mexican American owned and operqated. Everything on the shelves is lined up perfectly; the same with the produce... locally grown tomatoes all in perfect rows.
I quite liked Mendocino, and if I lived in California, maybe I would like to live just north of there, in Caspar. A little place very remote and serene to me.
I lived for two years in Mendocino County, which in my book is still one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. But something in the core of my being pulled me back to my New England homeland.
I spent many years in that concrete jungle. And while I ventured out into the wild places as much as I could, that place wounded my spirit. I had a great aunt who had a serious testament that she left her heart in San Francisco, but I spent a decade witnessing the aura of that special saint fade away from his city's name sake. Perhaps we were both there at the same time, ships in the night. Your imagery captured the beauty that has filled pages and film. Even the thickest of skulls and skin can't keep its host from being formed by its environment. A haunting yet beautiful observation Simon. My best to you. It was good to read you again.
I miss my time in California but the enchantment isn't worth the sacrifice. I know what you mean. I will never find its equal, but I'm sure it's better remaining in my mind than in my flesh.
Fascinating read. Hard not to imagine a very different Simon had you come west...but seeing your beautiful family, it's clear this version of reality turned out just fine.
I'm wondering what you thought of Salinas... I live in California, Santa Barbara, and always disliked it but when a family member moved there a few years ago began to visit. I've learned to love it, intrigued by it, and understand what Steinbeck saw. Your photo captured some of it. There's an eery sense of history there, one usually only feels in older places.
I thought it was somewhat depressing. I enjoyed the remoteness of Carmel valley, but anything manmade felt somehow more dingy than it ought to have been.
Eerie is correct to me. Or somber, somehow. But I could never place exactly how.
It's interesting how my opinion of places has changed: I'm 75 and have lived in CA since 1964.... I still love Sonoma County, The Lost Coast up near Mendocino and once was enamored with Carmel. I can't bear Carmel anymore, but my friend in Salinas was born and raised there and has shown me spots a native knows: i.e. an Ofrenda in a hard to find grove where a tree purportedly has Our Lady of Guadalupe on it; a bodega on a street not in a town where there is a bakery, butcher and cheesemonger... Mexican American owned and operqated. Everything on the shelves is lined up perfectly; the same with the produce... locally grown tomatoes all in perfect rows.
I quite liked Mendocino, and if I lived in California, maybe I would like to live just north of there, in Caspar. A little place very remote and serene to me.
Excellent choice. I particularly love Gualala not far from there.
You might enjoy Robinson Jeffers poem, “Carmel Point.”
I lived for two years in Mendocino County, which in my book is still one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. But something in the core of my being pulled me back to my New England homeland.
I spent many years in that concrete jungle. And while I ventured out into the wild places as much as I could, that place wounded my spirit. I had a great aunt who had a serious testament that she left her heart in San Francisco, but I spent a decade witnessing the aura of that special saint fade away from his city's name sake. Perhaps we were both there at the same time, ships in the night. Your imagery captured the beauty that has filled pages and film. Even the thickest of skulls and skin can't keep its host from being formed by its environment. A haunting yet beautiful observation Simon. My best to you. It was good to read you again.
I miss my time in California but the enchantment isn't worth the sacrifice. I know what you mean. I will never find its equal, but I'm sure it's better remaining in my mind than in my flesh.
Loved the piece as always. It reminded me of one of our recent posts about the origins and shaping of our desires. In case you want to check it out: https://threex.substack.com/p/43-why-you-want-what-you-want