November 2010 Archives

A few weeks ago, Devilman brought me a bucket of apples from his trees in the mountains. It brought to mind a snippet of bad poetry I wrote almost twenty years ago:

Sitting in the shadows of the leaves of the trees...
won't you come and sit with me?
Bring me pearls and shiny things,
like apples red with temptation.

These apples were not a shiny red, nor were they symbolic of temptation, but they still made a damn fine apple cobbler.

Omnomnom!

It's funny how we find things we did not even realize we had lost. Granted, losing bad poetry is not necessarily a bad thing. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Internet (and this blog in particular) will preserve many of my writings - good, bad, or just plain mediocre - for as long as Google caches and archives it. It's kind of exciting to think that one day my nieces and nephews, or even their children, may be able to read through this text and get to know me in some small way long after I've returned to the earth.

Ideally, I would like to leave them more than bad poetry. Sorry, kids, but some days, bad poetry is all I am.

If I were to take a chunk of my beloved rural South and move it three hours east of San Francisco, I would get Tuolumne County, California. I had suspected this before, but my Halloween visit to Devilman cemented it, if for no other reason than I had some damn fine grits for lunch at the Woods Creek Cafe in Jamestown.

We had started the afternoon with a spirited drive down scenic, windy mountain roads.¹ Lunch was followed by a tour of Railtown 1897 State Historic Park. Railtown would have been significantly less entertaining without Devilman's running commentary, but if you have kids or just want a little 3 mile round-trip wine & cheese jaunt on an old train, Railtown is for you.

Charming as it is, Railtown simply doesn't compare to Historic Columbia, CA. This little gold rush town's original main street has been preserved as a state park. While closed to cars, it is open to foot and horse traffic. I didn't try the tavern this time, but I will definitely be back. The candy store alone guarantees that.

Toulumne County Taxi (per Devilman)

The rest of the afternoon was spent perusing antique and second hand stores all over Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties. There was much laughing at prices, some history lessons from Devilman, and overall enjoying sunny California at its finest.

This lovely cast resin antler chandelier can be yours for only $1,995!

Murphys, CA, was also explored and deemed yet another place I must return to spend a full weekend. After dinner at the Peppery Bar & Grill in Sonora, we ended our Halloween watching Where the Wild Things Are, which is far more disturbing than I recall the book being, and Repomen, which while action-packed, missed the mark when it came to dark humor.

My brief jaunt to the mountains lasted less than twenty-four hours. The drive home in the dark was lovely. Coming down the mountain, guided by the moon and starshine was simply divine. Sonora has all the stars. Here in San Jose, I have but a few. Granted, if I were a star, I'd rather shine over Sonora, too.

¹ If there is any path to my heart at all, it starts with a scenic, windy mountain road. Granted, it probably all goes downhill and deadends in a handbasket, but it starts off with a scenic, windy mountain road!