Historic F Ranch
2.4 miles
2 hours
Start: Historic RCA Building
End: Historic RCA Building
Includes: Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, AT&T Communications Overlook, Historic F Ranch

Hike 14
March 19, 2013
King-of-Swords
Resolve

The king-of-swords sits on his throne, facing forward. He is focused and resolved. This is a good frame of mind for executing a task, but is better as a transitory state than a way of being.

I headed from the Historic RCA Building to Bull Point Trail at 9:00am on Tuesday. My first stop was the communications overlook next to the RCA Building where AT&T ran a ship-to-shore radio telecommunications operations.

The straight lines of the power poles contrasted with the naturally undulating landscape - technological artifacts, some now defunct.

Eighty years ago powerful men of big vision harnessed the radio waves and made overseas communication possible. It is easy to imagine the king-of-swords commanding this operation.

Overtime, technology changed. Clear vision and purpose redirected and all that remains of the past vision are relics, quaintly cluttering the landscape, taking up the role of interesting trash.

This landscape mirrors our priorities of the past. Once a piece of technology has served its purpose, it is left to crumble in the dust heap. Progress marches forward with firm resolve to employ the best and newest ideas available, especially if there is money to be made.

I like to say it mirrors our priorities of the past because I am optimistic about our maturity as a species. As we mature, we begin to see that we cannot leave a wake of trash in our press toward progress. We are learning to direct our resolve toward finding solutions toward our trash problems; this means we are taking the long view and responsibly dismantling our outmoded technologies and reemploying the natural resources used to create them.

It reminds me of what I tell my six-year-old about cleaning up after himself "Cleaning up is part of the game. Take out your toys; play with them; put them back." Otherwise, you are only playing part of the game and leaving a mess for someone else to clean up.

I continued my hike past other interesting trash, some achieving the status of clutter. Trash consists of items with no use. Clutter consists of items put to redundant or insufficient use, like rusty padlocks seconding as chain links and stop signs with no cars to stop.

Eventually I followed the trail of cultural artifacts to the Historic F Ranch. It was the smartly designed gate that led me to believe I was entering open parkland and not a leased, operating ranch. The gate is designed to allow only bipeds, who can navigate its sharp turn. Why would there be a gate like this, if they were not expecting to admit bipeds without a key to the locked road access?

As it turns out, it is open parkland. I can say, I would have enjoyed my time there much more had I been sure of that. I would like to suggest a sign inviting folks to enter.

Already feeling like an interloper, I happened across a venue of turkey vultures. One-by-one, as I passed, they pulled their heavy bodies into the air.

Who was screeching? I turned and squinted; amid the architectural treetops of eucalyptus and cypress, a vulture stood in silhouette against the grey sky.

I avoided the picnic benches and headed down the short road toward the estero. The road ended in a locked gate. From that vantage point, the ranch appeared to be land-locked.

Historic F Ranch is an abandoned ranch, an interesting relic. As it stands, it does not function as a ranch. It the absence of interpretation, it is ineffectual as a cultural resource for the park. As a natural resource it is cluttered with cultural artifacts which clearly keep it from being wilderness.

In order for any of us to achieve an effective result, we must be clear about our objective. The king-of-swords is our model. First, we must clarify our need. Second we must clarify what we value. Third, we must clearly envision our objective for fulfilling our need. Fourth, we must lay out our course for fulfilling our objective.

The heaps of trash and clutter we have created are relics from our old way of operating. We must put energy into cleaning them up. We also must put energy into developing the long view of how to use our immense creative talents to fulfill our present needs and allow the next generations of earth-dwelling creatures to do the same, unencumbered by the mistakes of our past.

Love in Spring

I must say, I am glad to have made it through the winter. It was a good time to ponder my thoughts on thoughts, but now that the weather is getting more pleasant, I am looking forward to meandering with friends. Through the spring, I will be walking the tarot suit of cups and pondering what it means to be in relationship with others.