Highway 1…

Sunday, February 5, 2006

While there’s no doubt there are many incredible vistas throughout the world and all over the US, there is something that never fails to strike me with awe just minutes away.  The Pacific Coast Highway.  Why?  I mean, it’s a road when you get right down to it.  But let’s look at that for a moment.  Getting to it (from the South Bay at least) requires a trip over the Santa Cruz Mountains – in themselves a majestic experience.  You go from the heart of Silicon Valley into a thick woods.  From stunning (and in many cases gaudy) mansions to old wooden shacks in the hills and from rampant development to little town USA.  Ignoring for the moment that those little rundown shacks are ALSO far from affordable or convenient, it offers a respite from the mundane and it’s literally a few minutes away.  You go from the everyday world to hills and trees and quiet and suddenly arrive upon the ocean.   To paraphrase Douglas Adams describing the Atlantic, it’s an ocean…one of the biggest around.  That’s not the point, however.  It’s the combination of cliffs, open green space (a fortunate and hopefully enduring display of respect for nature that this state manages to get right) fields of flowers, expanses of farmland occasionally with a stand to buy fresh produce with the salt air and pounding surf providing a background.  In a couple of hours today I saw horse farms, cattle grazing, a coyote scampering into the trees, a Lamborghini and an antique car both out for a spin and many others that, like me, have the good fortune to be able to enjoy a sunny day.

Look around.  We usually fail to see the beauty and experiences that surround us.  I’m sure you have them too.