Brains!

Please pick up a copy of this months National Geographic. Joel K. Bourne, JR. wrote the feature article 'Redwoods: Super Trees' which follows explorer Mike Fay as his hiked 1,800 miles along the California Coast. The pictures are by Michael Nichols, which I'm sure you've seen even if you don't realize it. They've even talked to an HSU's professor, and Edie Butler who curates the Humboldt Room at the library, an important resource for almost every student at school doing historic or archival research.

Do you remember this post?
Same guys. Mike Fay and Michael Nichols. What I remember most from that presentation was Mike Fay discussing his relocation to Humboldt, making Northern California his permanent home. That he was enchanted with the place. At the end he said something along the lines of, "just try for a minute, just try to imagine what these forests looked like before white men came? They are so special now, but just imagine how much greater they were then". For some reason that really resonated with me. Obviously he made good on his presentation, since he spent the year after this presentation hiking up the redwood coast.

I think article wonderfully simplifies a lot of the history, and it is very accessible and readable. But of course, I always feel like Nat Geo could dedicate an entire issues to some of the things they feature. This barely skims the surface of the region as a whole. But maybe I'm just craving more because it reminds me of being there. I want people to realize the wonder that is the Northwest corner of California. Yet at the same time I don't. I want it to stay remote and a place apart.

Also adding to my extreme heart ache, my longing, my homesickness for a place that was only my home for 4 years, Ken Burn's "The National Park's Americas Best Idea", has been filling my nights with pride and hope for the human race. Even though I wrote that huge detailed negative post about an insiders view, I am glad for the parks. I'm glad that Ken Burns brings to light the people, who are usually few in number, that dedicate their lives to preserving something that no one really cares about. The Nat Geo article does too, looks at Mike Fay and Michael Nichols. Hopefully their passion will resonate with folks, and maybe (the way they did in Africa) they'll help to set aside more protected land. Stating that we own those places collectively is important. Giving people pride in their heritage and country is the best way to inspire care for it too.

All I want to do is drop everything get in my car, and drive the 101, pass all my familiar stops, snake along the Eel, through the redwood curtain, cross the bridge near Scotia and descend into Fortuna, round the bend to smelly old Eureka and curve around the bay to Arcata. I keep imagining that sequence in my head, and my tummy hurts the way it does when I missed my boyfriend.