A rose by any other name...

I grew gladiolas when I lived in Illinois.  I always had a vegetable/herb garden whenever I had a patch of dirt or pot to grow something in.  Tomatoes, peppers, basil, and mint have always been a staple and always my first choice when I do get a chance to garden.

But there has always been one plant that I have loved more than any other.  The one whose fragrance can entice me to stop what I am doing at almost any time and lean into for a full nose full of splendid aroma (Okay... that may have been a bit much...).  I am speaking of the magnificent rose.

This is (once again) a wonderful thing about where I have landed here in the bay area.  There are roses EVERYWHERE!  It is evidently the home of the rose.  My place of employment (Santa Clara University) must have the best grounds crew because I have honestly never seen so many different types and colors of roses in my life.  I actually saw a pale purple rose and when the wind blows just right, the entire area has that wonderful scent in the air.

Now, dear reader, you may be rolling your eyes (as my dear one does) and thinking "Hyberbole does not become you, Web Guy", but I can assure you that what I convey here is true.  There is even an active "rose society" just for the Santa Clara area and the city of San Jose Municipal Rose Garden.  The best part is that the rose dominance is not limited just to the campus of Santa Clara University.  It is all over the city of Santa Clara and large parts of nearby San Jose.

So as we tally the list of "why I love it here" items, we can add the beauty and wonderful aroma of the local flora to it.  It is no wonder that I keep my windows open in my apartment.

Now, I just need to start my own little contribution...

Finding a draft card to burn...

When I was a young fire brand college student, I became fascinated with the 60s movements and the people involved.  I could not read enough biographies and manifestos.  Being the political science major that I was, I just really enjoyed learning about that period of time and how it has affected American history.  That is one of the reasons that I am looking forward to this weekend.  I am heading to Berkeley, California.

Berkeley is home to the University of California, Berkeley and it earned it's wings as one of the major meccas of the anti-war movement of the 60s.  It is a place that has been on my bucket list for quite some time and I am looking forward to roaming around.  Now, I am not expecting to run into Thomas Hayden or any of the Chicago Seven but it will be nice to see what I can see.

Roaming around a college town is always a treat to begin with.  There are the funky bars and restaurants, the second hand shops where you can find a treasure or two usually line the streets.  The students are back in session so it will be great to hear and experience.  There is NOTHING better than gaggle of 18-22 year olds in all of their glory and righteous indignation (that is a compliment).

So off we go.  I wonder... if I let my beard grow and find some old bell bottoms...

Feeling the void...

I do not believe that I am not one to post about having a heavy heart.  My dear readers (I think that there are three of you out there...) do not want to hear me whine.  I say that because my tolerance for whining is not very high.  That being said, I will just blurt this out...

I really, really miss my best friend and partner out here.

I have hopefully been conveying the fact that while places like my previous stops in Manhattan, KS and Houston (please see: http://webguyinhouston.blogspot.com/) have wonderful elements and things to do, it is a totally different experience out here in the San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland/Napa/Sonoma/Monterey/Berkeley/Palo Alto/Silicon Valley area.

Let me explain.

In all of the other places I have lived, there are wonderful places to go.  The destinations available are fun and exciting.  Going down to Aggie-ville in Manhattan, Kansas makes for a fun evening and if you review my Houston blog you will know that places like Miller Outdoor Auditorium is wonderful.  Both places have great restaurants and pubs/bars to visit and relax.  These are really fun places to land.

Out here though there is that added feature of "the journey".  In all of those previous places, you put your head down and drove to the destination where a fun time awaited.  Here, the fun time starts with the drive.  There are the roadside produce stands, the winding roads through the hills and mountains, the road that has the ocean as your driving companion.

So yes, I miss that one person who used to hold my hand and share my running commentary and there are a few places that I know that I cannot journey to on my own.  I am a social creature by nature and life is so much better with my partner.  She know who she is and (to be frank) I don't think she reads this so I am pretty safe.  :-)

Man, I sure would like to show her these sites... back to normal on my next post.

Can't see the trees through...

At the risk of being rather rude, all I can say is "DAAAAMN!!!"

Okay, please remember that I grew up in Illinois and spent time amongst the oak and walnut trees.  There were many other types of trees that my laziness prevented me from learning about in my childhood.  But there was nothing to compare to what I saw this past weekend.

I traveled to the Big Basin Redwoods state park and might I say that these trees are HUGE!  It honestly is a beautiful park with waterfalls (I never found them, I got a little lost quite frankly), and wonderful camping spots.  It was a beautiful day to wander about.

I also learned another valuable lesson.  It is not very easy to take a picture of these monsters.  I went explicitly to stretch my legs and take pictures so I took a lot of close up photos of the wood.  Turned out rather well, I thought.

Long story short, it was simply amazing to wander around these giants.  It was also a place that I am sure to back to time and time again.  As with everything else in this area, the drive there was just as enjoyable as the destination.  There are very few places that have that luxury.

Plus, I got to find that waterfall...

Wine, water, or trees...

Okay, I am going into a three day weekend with quite the dilemma.  When you move to a new area, the impulse to do as much as possible can be a bit over whelming.  Especially here in the northern California region, it is especially suited for variety.

You have the sheer beauty of driving the coastline and gazing upon the beauty of where the land meets the sea.  There are the multitude of state and national parks to see with the beauty of the redwoods.  Heading into "the city" and visiting Golden Gate Park is an option.  Then, of course, this IS northern California which means "wine country".

What to do...

I tried to ask my kids and their immediate response was "Disneyland!"  This is an extremely exciting response, but to be honest, they aren't here and after a five hour drive it would feel a little empty going by myself.

Asking natives is probably the worst thing to do.  They will give you a laundry list of spots to visit and drives to take and they will go on listing these things for close to 45 minutes... and then keep coming back with more recommendations (God love 'em).  I sincerely appreciate their input but really...

So, while I have a pretty much booked Saturday, I imagine I will just wake up on Sunday (and/or Monday), grab my camera, just get in the car and go where the wind takes me.  So let's see where my mood wakes up on those days - wine, water, or trees.