Follow Your Passion: Inspirational TED Talk

Basecamp, CA -- If you've never heard of TED talks, you're in for a treat.  Go online at www.ted.com and see for yourself the myriad educational opportunities for learning.  This morning I listened to contrarian Larry Smith, an economist who helped launch the Blackberry.   His topic? Why you will fail to have a great career.  If you are as passionate about transformation as I am, take fifteen minutes and be inspired. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_have_a_great_career.html

Indian Canyon: Heart of Palm Springs

Palm Springs, CA -- Indian Canyon is the resilient, yet fragile heart of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. This holy oasis of canyons and streams is home to the world’s largest grove of Washingtona filifera, known as the California Fan Palm. These skirted, stately guards grow to 60 feet and are over 200 years old. 

Endless Summer: Classic 60s Surf Sound

Carmel, CA -- Brothers Gaston and Walter Georis were founding members of the Sandals, who wrote and performed the soundtrack to Bruce Brown’s 1966 surf documentary Endless Summer—Gaston on keyboards and Walter on rhythm guitar.  The Sandals broke up soon after the movie. In the early 70s, the Georis brothers moved to Carmel and opened up wildly successful Casanova restaurant.  They also own precious real estate and a winery.  They sound as good now as back then.  Watch, listen and groove: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH1K23rAYOQ

Carmel Bohemians: Romantic Thinkers

Carmel, CA -- Carmel’s abundant natural beauty has always inspired artists and writers to live in its village by the sea.  At the turn of the century, there were many artistic colonies around the country calling themselves Bohemians.  San Francisco was home to a large community of these high thinkers.  The cataclysmic earthquake and ensuing fires that ravaged the city in 1906 threw San Francisco's Bohemian community into disarray, and the refugees fled south to Carmel.

George Sterling, a charismatic poet was the central character in this utopian society, having arrived in Carmel in 1905 and setting up a cottage with enough room to entertain guests.  He convinced friends to abandon the city and forge a rustic community among the cypress trees and white sand beaches.  Among them were writers Jack London, Mary Austin, and Sinclair Lewis.   

Ohlone Indians: California's Lost Treasure

San Franciso Bay, CA--The Ohlone Way, a book by Malcolm Margolin tells us there were about 10,000 California Indians consisting of 40 groups who lived in the coastal area between Point Sur and the San Francisco Bay each controlling enough land to feed its population.  The Coast Miwok in Marin County; Patwin around Suisun Marsh; and Plains Miwok, Bay Miwok, and Yokuts in the delta.  While each of these groups varied from one another in language and customs, today they are collectively known as the Ohlone Indians.

Back then, the ecological diversity of the Bay Area was enormous.  Over many centuries totaling four or five thousand years, the Ohlone Indians around the estuary lived meaningful, complex lives that were self-sustaining.  They were not apart from the natural world, and never considered themselves to be the top of the food chain, simply a part of it.

The Ohlones were hunters and gatherers—they fished, painted their bodies and danced.  They married, raised children, buried their dead and prayed to their gods—in short not so different from you and me.  They shared joy, laughter, suffering and sorrow. 

They did not value freedom or individualism.  This is so vastly different from the pioneer spirit and the California way that exists today.  Every Ohlone from birth to death, was bound to family and clan. To break these bonds and achieve freedom was to be weakened, damaged, and dangerously vulnerable.  Strength, joy, fulfillment, a person’s very identity were to be found in belonging.

Golden Gate Bridge: Tourist Rite of Passage

San Francisco, CA -- Last year, I went on a pilgrimage of California and lived for one month in 12 cities.  In each city I took a picture in front of their official city limits sign.  In San Francisco, their sign was in the center of the Golden Gate Bridge.  I walked the 1.7 miles north toward Marin County across the entire span searching for the San Francisco city limits sign only to discover that it was across the bridge on the bicycles-only side, where no foot-traffic was allowed.  I dodged angry spandex-clad bicyclists to arrive at my destination.  I had to take the photo myself.  The goal was to place the entire sign in the picture frame, with at least some part of me in the photograph.  I was a bundle of nerves—my hands were shaking and my fingers were thumbs.  It took me 63 times to get it right.

San Francisco Bay Discovery Site: Sweeney Ridge

Pacifica, CA -- Captain Gaspar de Portolá and his expedition, consisting of 64 people, set out from San Diego, made their way to Monterey, and then arrived at Sweeney Ridge near the San Francisco International Airport.  On that hilltop, they discovered the largest estuary on the Western Coast of the United States.

Expedition engineer Miguel Costansó wrote in his journal:

“From the summit of this range we saw the magnificent estuary, which stretched toward the southeast.  The country was pleasant.  The hills west of the canyon were crowned with low live oaks, smaller trees.  There was sufficient pasture.  We halted on the bank of a stream of good water.  Some…natives…invite us to go to their villages, and offered us present of seeds and fruits.”