I heard this longform poem on a podcast the other day and bought the book it was in because I was so blown away by this piece, I can’t wait to read other things the author, Chloe Garcia Roberts, has written.
‘The opposite of the wilderness is the hearth, the home light, the fire of constant return, the glow that bombs the heart, and with the outline of its cast, draws a line between the known and the unknown, the present and the past.
Archaeologists use the presence of burnt bones as a way to trace the history of the hearth or controlled fire. They say the move out of the wilderness was facilitated by fire, and the work of maintaining it, of keeping it burning, of feeding it, the time spent around the light together, in turn opened the well of language. The two greatest human discoveries then, fire and language, are just two arms grown from the same body, two manifestations of the same gesture.
When I was out there in the ocean alone, when I understood I might never return to the fold, I stopped looking toward the west, and I turned my face upwards, because that way I could keep my air passages clear from the slapping of the waves. Decades later, in the middle of the night, my son, his crown still redolent with the sun-simmered grass of other fields, would turn his face in the same way upwards. And when I would come to him through the wilderness of the dark, I found myself brought low against the force of this asking, on either tide, departing or arriving.
Is faith nothing more than an inclination of the head?’
I went for a hike in Point Reyes with my friend Heather on a foggy Saturday morning. It was so delicious being out among the green, moss dripping trees. We walked through areas that had burned probably 20 years or more ago, saw dozens of banana slugs of all sizes from the teeny tiniest little babies to big fat long ones, and a tree full of mushrooms that we christened a mushroom condo. While there were many cars at the trailhead, we saw very few people on the trail. It was wonderful to catch up and discuss all kinds of topics while catching glimpses of the ocean through the trees.
I drove the coast route there and back, it never gets old watching the waves and seeing the craggy coastline. On my way back I stopped to check out the harbor seals sunning themselves on the sandbars in the Bolinas Lagoon.
I had a pretty social weekend. On Friday night I got together with a former colleague from CCCBA, who is moving into a new career in the parks arena. She currently works at a park foundation, but is hoping to get a permanent job as a Park Ranger. It is wonderful spending time with somebody who has made a huge career change (in her case from communications and graphic arts) and is absolutely in love with the new work that they do. The place we met, Drake‘s Dealership in Oakland, is also a place that has been completely transformed from what used to be a car dealership to a fantastic community centered business. It was great seeing all the families with young kids and couples out enjoying a beautiful Friday evening. On Saturday night I went to CCCBA’s fundraising gala. Everyone was dressed in their best 1920s outfits, lots of flapper dresses! It was fun catching up with old friends and I was so happy to not have been involved with organizing the event!