A Walk in the Rain

It's a rainy day out here in the West. I think that I just might go for a walk today. I just might walk right over to East Cliff and follow the coast down to the railroad tracks and walk across the bridge.
I love that walk, looking out at Monterey Bay and Big Sur. It is really sick when you walk over the bridge you are literally walking on the original set of the movie "The Lost Boys". It will be quiet today, walking towards the Boardwalk in the rain during winter. In the summer it will be roaring with the sounds of children, rollercoasters and the bright lights of the Ferris wheel.
Today, it is raining and I will have the entire beach and Boardwalk to myself. I might pop into the arcade and drop a few tokens in the "Dungeons and Dragons" game.
I love that stuff!
Today I will walk down the Boardwalk to the wharf in the bitter cold wind, grab a bite and vistit my pals at the end of the wharf....ARF>>>ARF>>>ARF>>>
It's always fun walking down the wharf past the bars and the candy shops. There really aren't any people out there this time of year, most business are closed for the season. You can still drive your car out here and pick up a freshly caught fish from the market and grab a beer though. I'm going to pass these resturants and their fantasticly grand ocean views.
Sometime this summer I think I will go whale watching. As I approach the end of the wharf I can hear my friends calling out to me. ARF>>>ARF>>>ARF
As I arrive at the big square holes in the wharf I see my buddies, my seals.
Now these seals aren't necessarily MINE, but they are as dear to me as they were my friends when I needed friends. When I left my home in Georgia for this Bay, I sat here, with my flubbery, whiskered pals and just like Ottis Redding I watched the tide roll away and then I saw sunny sunny days again....right here!
My seals ROCK!
After a quick bark with my seals and a smoke or two I think I will head downtown. I aim to get me a SUPER TOSTADA from the Taco stand by the bike ramps.
I will probably run into a buddy or two on bikes heading out to surf as I am sure that Cowells Beach is full of surfers today in this cold, windy weather. A surfer always chooses waves.
Mmmmmm.....SUPER TOSDADA and a couple of giant Jalepeno's. There are usually a couple of sets of UCSC cuties wandering in and out of this taco stand, its been here since the 1950's.
I love Santa Cruz!!
As I mosey down Pacific Avenue I may pop my head into the BIKE CHURCH, a great thing that is here in Santa Cruz, there are bike parts and stuff. It is a little non-profit community that helps people to get and fix bikes. There is a great little area here for sunny days where you can socialize with all types, PUNKS, Beatniks, Hippies, Here you will find lots of smart people who are sort of complexly simple.
Today I am headed to the METRO.
The METRO BUS system kicks ass here and I plan to head up to the forest in Felton. The Redwoods have a way of making you feel BIG and SMALL at the same time. We are definately all one and part of the same big thing which I believe is GOD.
On my way to the Metro station I will stroll on by the Poker Room and pop my bald head into the ASTI for some Dropkick Murphys and a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon. This dive bar is THE SPOT as far as I am concerened and I can always expect some good conversation with my tattooed ZEN friend BRIAN, the bartender.
Brian likes to light the bar on fire and you can bet he will do that a few times before the day is over. We'll talk about his skateboards and how his company MACULA is doing (he makes skateboards) and I will share stories with him about my travel and growth.
Gotta love the CRUZ.
Wandering down the street past the clusters of street kids playing their music and harrassing squares, I will drop some kids a few coins and hop on my bus.
#35
the Thirty-Five is my favorite bus.
This bus takes you from downtown Santa Cruz and its young, progressive crowd, up into the Santa Cruz Mountains and its hippies and outlaws.
35 takes you to the Stata Park, The Redwood Forest.
People go into those hills to have adventures.
I have had many adventures riding this bus coming or going early in the morning.
Wild Full Moon Parties.
As I walk onto the bus for my trek up the hill, it will be filled with a variety of very friendly and diverese people from all over the globe, in their travels or heading home after work. It is not rare to meet 20 girls from other contries on this bus, usually they backpackers and some are working internships for various charities and Green organizations that are in these mountains.
Pulling out of town and heading through Scotts Valley brings me back to my time working at Malone's.
Scott's Valley is a funny place.
Scott's Valley is the conservative part of this very liberal county and I find it to be a boring and weird place.
5 minutes and you are through Scott's Valley and I look forward to the glorious mountain views heading up into Felton.
Last year I lived in Felton.
I lived up there with my friends Carlos and Natalie. They are both beautiful people and I used to enjoy the tranquility of the San Lorenzo river running through our backyard and the wonderful energy that Carlos and Natalie present to their friends and to the whole world.
I enjoy my friends philosophy on life and it thrills me to see them with their new little newborn boy, growing their own food and enjoying their arts together as a true and perfect little family.
Today, I won't be heading to see Los and Nat, the sun is coming out and I will be going to my tree.
I will arrive in Felton exactly 22 minutes after I depart the Metro Center in Santa Cruz, walk past the giant covered bridge and head into town.
Town, in Felton is a few small resturants, a grocery store, my friend Clay's art gallery and a place called Don Quixote's. Quixote's is a WONDERFUL secret up here in the mountains where you can see PREMIUM artists perform in a PREMIER venue which offers some of the best sound quality that I have hears.
Quixotes is also a small venue, so you can get involved and be right there with the artists.
My friends THE OMEGA PROJECT played here and I also saw "The Jerry Garcia Band" there.
Both shows were awesome.
I think I will pop my head into Clay's and check and see what he is working on now. I really like the hats that he airbrushes.
Next I will head down to the LOG CABIN BAR.
I call it the LOG CABIN BAR because I never can remember the name of the bar. It looks just like a log cabin.
My bar is right next to the entrance of the Redwood Forest and I always pop in there for a quick Jim Beam, just one and I pass out some CALIFORNIA GROWN stickers to rep the crew.
The rest of my day will be spent climbing through the forest to the TOP where I will peer across the valley, to the Boardwalk where I will have started my adventure.
It would have been raining.
After my climb has been accomplished I will head down the hill again, to the river where I will get off of the beaten path and go to my secret, private little spot.
My spot is a very isolated spot with beach like sandy banks and a giant bent tree that reaches out like 35 feet over the river.
My bent tree is not round in circumference but sort of shaped like a "D" instead of an "O"
Are you picking up what I am putting down?
I have been to this spot hundreds of times, with a book, or my IPOD sunning and I have never once seen a person.
Frenquently, when the weather is warm, I enjoy sunbathing naked on my tree, its one of my favorite things to do. This spot is ALL MINE, but its NOT really. I share my spot with everything that is alive and this sacred place truly makes me realize and know that I am surely part of this EVERYTHING that exists.
Every time that I take this little walk I am left feeling like I can do ANYTHING that I want to be doing as long as it is my desire to benefit life as a whole. Not just humanity, but EVERYTHING THAT IS!
Everything around us has a purpose and it is our duty to live for our purpose.
I believe that every one of us has purpose and it is our duty to live for that purpose.
We all have something that we are MASTERS, every living creature, that is why we have BLIND people who become great composers and scenerios like that.
Our potential is one that is GREAT as long as we remain open to our potential.

the possibilities are infinite!

Thanks for reading~
Tilly