Mt Shasta, 08/22/01

    
Which one is smokey?

Two days after starting, today I leave California, a state which claims the most Nobel Laureates, and is first in bomb threats. I wonder if they're related. Also, the state which is the birth place of the motel and of the climate-controlled shopping mall, both of which are indispensable on this journey.

Perhaps, as well, it is a state which is losing its luster. It used to be home to the oldest living thing, the bristle cone pine. But that claim has since given way to a subterranean fungus growing in Michigan, a natural "wonder" which most certainly is not on my itinerary.

And, while California is home to some 240 identifiable cultures (not the fungus kind), I imagine that number would pale in comparison to Times Square, on any given day.

I played golf both Monday and Tuesday great time with Dave at the Coyote Moon course yesterday). The game can become an obsession, even an addiction. Just last evening, I read that Mikhail Baryshnikov has become wildly enthusiastic about the game, playing about one hundred times a year! He likes the feeling that comes "when the timing of my swing is perfect, when my putter is hot...the kind of euphoria that you don't experience from good food or good conversation or even good sex." Prioritize, Mikhail, prioritize!

Good time last night with Gene, Cindy and Aleesha here in Grants Pass. On my way to Crater Lake, then Bend, Oregon. Lots of hills, lots of pine trees, lots of gorgeous meadows...part of God's country (particularly if you listen to the local radio stations along the way!)

Adieu.