Farms, Friends and Fiends

Sunday, January 15^th, 2012

      Well, I made it. There were actually a few spaces to choose from at the Fontana terminal, which was a bit of a surprise. I suppose that I could have stopped the truck earlier and saved myself the aggravation of driving through Metro L.A. today, but I figure that I'd have to deal with it at some point. The terminal here is rather shiny and new. The last time I was down this way was sometime in early '07 and back then it was under all sorts of construction. They had those mobile trailer thingies you'd see at job sites; these were the drivers's lounge, bathrooms and showers. A bit nasty. I'm glad to see that it has come along, although the lot is smaller than I recall. On to the day.

      For a second, I had forgotten where I started at. Apparently, Lathrop is not that memorable of a terminal. I awoke before dawn. I put my shoes on. I went into the terminal for some coffee, but the machine would not take coins for whatever reason. Bleary-eyed I pressed on, figuring that some coffee would be waiting for me down the road. It was about an hour or so away, but I got some. Just writing this simple blog makes me realize how tired I am. I suppose that I've not been getting enough sleep of late.

      After I had some coffee, I found it much easier to appreciate and love the rest of the world. Maybe a little bit harsh, but that is how I was feeling this morning. Driving through the San Joaquin Valley is a fairly mixed bag. I'm glad for the comparative flatness, since that makes the drive easy. If you're as into farms as I am, (but not more) then it can be quite a fascinating drive. As a general rule, I abhor mono-cropping. That said, the rows and rows of staked up tress and grape vines can be rather mesmerizing. If you look at them the right way, you can see what appears to be a radial burst of clear spaces between the rows, some more apparent than others, some closer, some farther. This may be the only aspect of mono cropping I enjoy. Seriously.

      Along with large tracts of mono-cultures, there are some other man-made features to break up the monotony of the drive. There are a large number of concrete canals to please the eye, the stillness of the water surface reflecting the lifeless concrete into the heavens. There are a disturbing number of political signs. In particular, I saw this one sign repeatedly, “CONGRESS CREATED DUSTBOWL,” along some plowed, unplanted fields. This tells me a few things. 1) Whoever is posting these signs seems to blame congress for plowing up that field and leaving it fallow. 2) It was more profitable to collect a subsidy from congress than to plant the field. 3) Whoever is posting those same signs along the highway has a shitload of land in the valley and probably a good bit of money. 4) The posting party wants us to blame Democrats for the actions leaving the fields fallow. I am a bit flummoxed. Granted, I do not understand how agricultural subsidies work, and if I had an internet connection here, I would look that up right now. Ah well. I'm not going to change anyone's mind by logic, that's for sure.

      Not too far from the South end of the valley came, in my opinion, the highlight. There is a natural swamp area, which I am guessing is some form of protected wetland. I saw a roadrunner perched upon a fence post. A flock of grebes wattled in unison from the water under the fence to the highway side for some forage. A crane stood patiently waiting for something stupid to swim close enough. Raptors perched in high tree limbs, again waiting for something stupid to stop moving long enough. I saw a family of rabbits browsing by the roadside. For lack of more precise identification, a pack of ground squirrels foraged as well. Beautiful stuff.

      Coming into L.A. metro is always an adventure. Even on Sunday, the people here drive like they are not even remotely risk averse. I understand that in California, the driver coming onto the highway has the right of way (correct me if I am wrong) but I would certainly advise looking. If I had a dollar for the number of multiple lane changes I saw today alone, I'd buy something nice. Well, I'd probably save it, but you get the idea. There was a bit of a close call involving an on-ramp for which I was at fault. I decided that it would be a good idea to be in the far right lane instead of the second lane over. So I started merging. Looking back in my mirror, I saw nothing, I was almost done changing lanes. I looked back again and suddenly there was this car driving on the shoulder that I didn't see the first time I looked. That was a bit of a shock, and a touch hard to swallow. I stayed away from the granny lane after that, all the way back to the terminal. I'd get into the how tight the lot is here, but I am just going to be grateful for finding a space, and the idea of a shower tomorrow.