The Illustrated Man*

In an effort to resurrect our Berkeley routine, we got out of bed, into our clothes and set out for the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a wide plain that lies between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. There were no cars in the parking lot when we reached the relatively newly constructed trailhead and set out across the marshland, home to all kinds of birds.

A large hot air balloon floated by above us, its occupants visible from the ground, and the giant oak trees were alive with birds. We could identify many different birdcalls, but the only birds we could actually see were redwing blackbirds. A pond lined with reeds and grasses was home to egrets and herons.

Striations of grasses and blooming mustard and a distant vineyard provided a subtly colorful foreground to the view to Mount St Helena. Occasionally there was a still imposing skeleton of a once mighty oak tree silhouetted against the perfect blue sky.

A very short drive took us to The Barlow, home to Taylor Made Farms Coffee Bar, the closest thing to Peets we have found yet. All the outlets in The Barlow were once apple packing sheds for the thriving Sebastopol apple producing industry. Now that the orchards seem to be giving way to vineyards, The Barlow aims to provide a home for "the very best wine makers, food producers and artisans, creating a space that offers a direct connection between the consumer and the makers of the local products they love."

Taylor Made Farms Coffee Bar is a pleasant, if slightly industrial looking shop with a nice outdoor space.To quote their website, "as our first venture into retail, each detail of our flagship location was designed to create an organic coffee experience you won't forget…our new space is the ultimate gathering place for the coffee obsessed…."

We spent an hour, newspaper forgotten, watching the people--a group of young women, the "illustrated man" sitting by himself on a bench, two women with a small boy playing with his Superman action figure (NOT a doll!) and a dog. A sheriff's deputy in full uniform stopped her cruiser at the curb for a cup of coffee, and a trio of tourists were getting their coffee fix before hitting the wine tasting trail. (To OilMan's dismay, none of them could decide what they wanted, and one of them paid with a $100 bill , which brought the place to a halt while change was sought).

It won't be a daily event, but it might just be a weekly one….

*Science fiction stories by Ray Bradbury about the conflict of technology with the psychology of individuals. The eighteen stories are illustrated by a vagrant with a heavily tattooed body whom the narrator meets. The Illustrated Man was written in 1951--interesting contrasts and similarities with today's society.