The run of life in rural America saunters along with a languorous gait, full of the patient confidence of a big fish in a small pond. There's both a charm and sadness to the deep commitment to parochial mores. Of course, as a city mouse vs country mouse comparison, the observation is cliche. But even so, the experience is not.
These days, the country mouse has a President. I had thought here in rural California, these country mice might have a more worldly view. Not so. We have seen part of Trump's America here, too.
Fortunately, America is a diverse and complicated place. Our hosts for a couple of days pre-hike, Dan and Laurie, would inspire the trendy salons of NY and London with the breadth and depth of their interests, wisdom and joie de vivre. Ben and I met Dan when he picked us up while hitch-hiking in 2014. Dan and Laurie are both school-teachers, and despite the battles they face every year with parents who lobby that the biblical creation story be taught in school, rather than that suspicious scientifically based theory of evolution, Dan and Laurie continue to fly the flag of liberal ideals.
Yes, these days science is on the liberal v conservative agenda.
Fortunately, Dan and Laurie shared the secret that not only seems to be the source of their clarity, but also promises to be the key to Freya and I letting go of our up tempo lives, full of schedule and devices and social media and general fears. Here, at the foothills to the majestic Sierra Nevada which Freya and I are about to enter, Dan and Laurie are deeply connected to the simple beauty of life. They are part of this land.
Each evening during dusk at this time in summer, several hundred bats fly over their back porch. Upon this back porch sit four reclining chairs, angled for maximum viewing pleasure. Just as the blue is bleeding from the sky, as the glimpses of a red horizon dapple through the tall pines, we take our seats. And the nightly parade begins.
Some may fly 50 ft above the porch, but others, playing their part with the insects that might pester their faithful audience, fly just a few feet from us. Hundreds of them. Swooping and turning with the incredible precision that only bats have, we hear glimpses of their barely audible sonar targeting the hundreds of insects each bat will eat every evening. Mostly it's quiet. And mesmerizing.
This combination of curious and captivated seems to fill a lot of how Dan and Laurie live their lives. And how this land invites us to enjoy it.
We've also had the intense pleasure of visiting with other friends, like Scott and Joanne and Dean and their kids, doing some wake boarding and cliff jumping and rock skipping - all those great American lake pastimes. Such fun. And all of it serving to recalibrate our internal beings into being right here, right now.
The word from the trail is fascinating - lots of fresh water, lots of hikers and wonderfully verdant landscape, due to the record snowfall last year. There's also more bears this year, more mosquitoes, and a searing average temperature. Most of our hike is above the tree line, so we'll be exposed to the hot sun for many hours every day. And picking up the packs, oh my word, I forgot how heavy they have to be for these hikes. I'm a little worried on Freya's behalf. She strong and tough and all these things... but... [gulp]... these things are heavy.
We're off tomorrow morning. For those with Google Earth and a few minutes, our route includes Echo Lake, Sonora Pass, Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite. We looked at the landscape on Google Earth yesterday, and we are SO excited. I'm told there is little to no phone reception on this trail.
The meditation / prayer that we enter this hike with has been inspired and set by this little preamble:
May every step of the hike, every meal, and every pause for breath, be filled with the open-minded curiosity that allows us to be mesmerized by each moment.
