Getting Away

Last weekend saw the third annual visit of some of my students to Chuck’s ranch in Humboldt. It was nice to have another getaway, just a couple of weekends after being at Green Gulch, after a dispiriting July 4th week when we discovered that my partner’s car had been stolen from the adjacent street to our new place. We had a few days of going to the police to make a report; picking up a rental car and new parking permit; being told on the morning of the 4th that the car had been found across the bay; visiting the sheriff’s office; trying in vain to have the tow company that retrieved the car opening their yard on the holiday (and trying in vain to spend some time on the beach in Alameda with Georgie the dog); dealing with all the paperwork and logistics of trying to get the car to a body shop.

So we drove the many hours north of the city in the rental car. It was stiflingly hot on the 101 corridor, but cooler once we had navigated the challenging road from Ferndale. I was too tired to sit on the Friday evening after our first dinner together, but got up at first light on Saturday to start the sitting, which everyone eventually joined before we broke for coffee and breakfast.

The usual hike to the ocean was out of the question for Georgie, but the swimming hole was perfect for her, and she was happy walking around in the shallows. I surprised myself by drifting off to sleep as I lay by the water, and again after lunch when we took a rest. I didn’t realise how tired I was.

In the evening I gave a short talk after the sitting – revisiting some of the themes I had been focused on at Green Gulch. We had heard about the Trump shooting, but it felt good not to be immersed in the unfolding news.

Even though we drove the six hours back on Sunday morning right after sitting and breakfast, it was very refreshing to take the break. We have taken care of just about everything at our new place, and now we can get into our regular routines to enjoy it.