The Cemtral Valley and New Eyes

Monday, July 9th, 2012

 

      Today started with a bulge.  Before your minds go wandering off along all sorts of strange places, it was a bulge on the tire.  A potentially dangerous situation, lest the tire explode sideways and take out a car or pedestrian or some other object known for frailty in the face of shrapnel.  I was about 90 miles away from the nearest terminal.  I thought to myself, "Yeah, I got this.  They'll let me know what's what and fix what needs fixin'."  That was early this morning, now it is working up to noon here in Ripon, CA.  

     Trundling out of the Pilot in Dunnigan, I looked poised to hit that Monday Morning rush hour traffic into Sacramento.  I've hit traffic there before, but it was on the Friday after work rush out of town.  But I was getting ahead of myself.  You see, Dunnigan is at least an hour north of Sacramento, and there is lots to see and do beforehand.  Acres and acres of farms.  Rice fields to one side, some now flooded with water, vibrant green in the early morning light; some fields brown and dry, the barren stalks mowed and neatly packaged into massive rectilinear bales.  On the other side, I frankly didn't pay too much attention. The west side of the highway was closer and more important in that I was driving on that side.  It is much easier to stare a bit to the left than to the right and pay attention to traffic.

     For some reason, I was astonished to find other "flatland" crops being grown in the Central Valley.  Sunflowers, a scene I would usually reserve for Kansas, bowed their heavy, laden heads in the general vicinity of the sun.  Stalks of presumably GMO corn for processing into High Fructose Corn Syrup grew taller than me in the amazing extremes here.  I could not help but consider how high the price of corn must be for them to farm it here in this unique region.  Almonds grow here by the acres.  Pistachios, citrus fruits, avocados, an assortment of heat loving trees.  Corn threw me for a loop.

     I was pleased to see a large egret flying north along the road.  Such an amazing bird certainly deserves respect and my appreciation.  I can only imagine what this place may have once looked like before man.  I am sure it was a vast wilderness filled with swamps, trees and dry prairie.  So much going on here to be sure.  There are a number of bird sanctuaries along I-5, would that I had time to stop and enjoy them.

     For now, I am off to bed, the strange oddities of trucking demand that my schedule become an overnight run.  For now at least.  This will always change.  Before I depart however, I was thinking how writing this helps me appreciate and notice what is already around me.  Instead of seeing things and quickly forgetting them, I take note more carefully and closely at the natural beauty of the world.  Sometimes it may be about the people that inhabit this world.  Or it may even be about philosophy.  I reflected on how I am a part of this nature that I see around me, yet cut off from it by this steel and glass box.  Perhaps a metaphor for the human ego, but there we go again.  I better get some rest before tackling that one.