Off to Work*

Both grandsons have secured jobs at the Bohemian Grove.this summer.  The Bohemian Club is a private men's club in San Francisco which has been around for as long as I can remember, yet exists under secretive and mysterious circumstances. It counts among it's members many prominent businessmen, politicians and world leaders. Their motto is "Weaving spiders come not here". Even that seems singularly obscure to me....

Every summer, the Bohemian Club opens the Bohemian Grove, a 2,700 acre campground located in the redwoods in Monte Rio on the Russian River and hosts an encampment of some of the  most prominent men in the world. Rumors abound as to what goes on there, although most activities are clothed in secrecy.

I chose a quote from the Welsh journalist Jon Ronson taken from a television documentary to best describe the activities of the august membership there.

My lasting impression. was of an all pervading sense of immaturity: the Elvis impersonators, the pseudo pagan spooky rituals, the heavy drinking. These people might have reached the pinnacle of their profession but emotionally they seem trapped in their college years.

Many local teen agers are hired to work there during the summer, so Peter starts today as a dishwasher, and when he gets home from school, Will will be parking cars. They probably have a more mature attitude than most of the members and won't tell us a thing. I believe they are well paid for their discretion, but we can always hope anyway that we will learn a few juicy tidbits....although on second thought, our current 'leader' seems to fit the bill without bothering with the secrecy....

*Thanks to Dana for the photo