Escaping the daily grind
NATURAL PERSPECTIVES
Here in town, traffic begins to hum well before the sun creeps
over the horizon. Not that you can see the horizon, what with the
smog.
Dawn breaks with a noisy crash. Lawn mowers and leaf blowers add
their roar to the growl of cars, trucks and motorcycles that carry
their owners to yet another day in the rat race. Barking dogs,
airplanes and helicopters add to the din.
On top of the noise, there’s the stress of just living in the
midst of a megalopolis that sprawls from the San Fernando Valley to
San Clemente. Most of us have schedules, commitments and deadlines,
all to be met amid the crush of humanity.
We all occasionally need to get out of town, “far from the madding
crowd,” or in this case, the maddening crowd. We all need respites of
peace and quiet.
That’s just what Vic and I found last weekend. Vic finished his
last birding class on Saturday at noon. Yippee! That signaled the
start of our summer vacation. Uh-oh. His first fall biology class
began Monday night. This was going to be a very short vacation. We
wanted to make the most of it.
When Ron and Judy Shenkman offered us the use of their beautiful
mountain cabin in Idyllwild for the weekend, we snapped it up.
Because we left town midafternoon on Saturday and returned midday
Monday, we were able to avoid most of the crush of traffic. By
traveling during off hours, we reduced the amount of pollution that
our car produced because the engine is far more efficient at 65 mph
than it is at idle. Yes, we actually think of things like that.
We arrived at the cabin with a few hours of daylight left on
Saturday. We filled the bird feeders, opened a bottle of good
Australian cabernet-shiraz wine and settled down on the east-facing
deck with an array of snacks.
As we bit into crispy-sweet Belgian endive leaves filled with
tangy, herb-laced goat cheese, the birds joined us. White-breasted
and pygmy nuthatches grabbed sunflower seeds, using the heavy bark of
the surrounding Ponderosa, Jeffrey and Coulter pines to “hatch” the
shells open. We snacked on Colby-jack cheese and crackers as scrub
and Steller’s jays stuffed as many as four peanuts at a time in their
mouths before flying away with their booty. I saw an odd parallelism
as we matched the birds in gorging on goodies in the fading light.
The moon rose, the stars filled the skies, and a few trailing
meteors from the Perseid showers flashed across the sky. This is what
a getaway is all about. Peace. Quiet. Relaxation.
But we didn’t spend the entire time vegging on the deck. Most of
it, sure, but not all. Vic wanted to scout out some birding locales
for future field trips with his class. I could get with that program.
On Sunday morning, we hiked around Fulmor Lake. We were surprised by
how many pine trees had been killed by the bark beetle infestation in
this area. The drought, which is particularly severe in Idyllwild,
has further stressed the trees and made them even more susceptible to
attack.
After the short hike around the lake, we checked out a few other
stops, noting mileages, ease of parking, availability of picnic and
restroom facilities and, of course, whether or not there were any
birds.
Finally, I had had enough “work” for one day. We went into town
for lunch, visited a couple of art galleries and headed back to the
cabin. We spent the afternoon listening to CDs of Vivaldi, Handel and
classical guitar played by Andres Segovia. We lightened the mood
later with some Bob Marley reggae as we talked and read.
We had our Monday morning coffee on the deck before the sun came
blazing over Tahquitz Peak. Squirrels raced up and down tree trunks,
chattering at each other. Chickadees noisily demanded that we refill
the sunflower seed feeders. Jays called anxiously, wondering if today
would bring a repeat of the previous day’s bounty, while woodpeckers
pounded all around us. Noise was everywhere, but what a delightful
difference between the sounds of the mountains and the sounds of the
city.
No escape lasts forever. It was time to go home. But somehow home
didn’t seem so bad anymore. On our arrival, the palms rustled gently
in the cool afternoon breeze that blows off the ocean every
afternoon. We luxuriated in nature’s air conditioning, knowing that
the beauty of the beach and the serenity of the Bolsa Chica wetlands
were only a short bicycle ride away.
Then we noticed noise of a different kind. Election season is upon
us. Already the sabers are rattling as at least one City Council
candidate has posted election signs all over town. These signs are a
blight on the environment, a trashy looking visual assault. They
shouldn’t really go up until after Labor Day, don’t you think?
During the upcoming weeks, this pre-election rustle will build to
a roar as every candidate will claim to care about the environment.
Watch out. Many will be wolves in sheep’s clothing. It will be
difficult to find the true friends of the environment among all the
pretenders. We’re grateful for the rest we got before the ruckus of
the silly season begins in earnest.
* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and
environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.
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