Last weekend, my cousin and I drove down to Southern California to visit the desert town where we grew up.I hadn't been back in 8 years and she in almost 15. It was a good trip, but a hard trip, facing some ghosts but finally putting them at rest. I left feeling at peace with the desert, rather than the anxiety I've always felt towards it. Her story may or may not be a little different, but that's not mine to tell.
For the first time since...ever...I could actually see a little bit of beauty in the landscape, rather than just the ugly, desolate brown.
This is the view I saw every day growing up. That strange mountain range with that odd divot cut out of it always fascinated me for some reason. I seem to remember thinking that some big alien monster came and took a big bite out of it.Here's a video of the drive down the road I lived on.
Sometimes I have to pinch myself to prove that it's real that I came from this extremely rural area to living in a big urban city like San Francisco. I've never felt connected to the desert. The Bay Area is where I belong.
3 comments:
oh my goodness, that is so isolated. Did you think of knocking on the door of the house where you lived and asking if you could have a look inside? Did your dad drive you to the maiboxes to wait for the school bus or did you have to walk there? I bet it was really hot walking on that dusty road.
Did you have to wash your car when you got back to SF?
Thanks for showing me this video. Amazing place to grow up.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. I have a wee sense of this feeling, Mad, every time I visit the first town I remember from my childhood in Michigan, age 1-8. Population was around 300, as I recall. When I see it now, I actually shudder. So yes, I know what you mean. (sigh)
yes, i do feel that the bay area is where i'm supposed to be. it's such a beautiful place.
i kinda like the quiet feel of the first image.
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