Redwoods, Seals, & City
This is one of those weeks where so much happened that it's hard to fit it all in. We'll take a deep breath and begin with the important stuff: Elephant seals.
On Tuesday, Sara and her parents took a trip to Año Nuevo State Park. After a couple mile hike through sand dunes they reached the coastline where hundreds and hundreds of elephant seals laid in the sunlight. Their noisy clicking sounds and huge slug bodies overtook everything making the experience almost overwhelming. The seals have this odd long sagging nose and the males are massive. They migrate here in the spring and birth their pups, the women get pregnant, and 11 months later all come back to do it all over again.
The childhood marine biologist in Sara was giddy with delight, although I came to learn that her feminist ideals don't just apply to humans. The male seals were clearly mistreating the females, and someone needs to do something about that.
The rest of the week was rainy and cold. I commute each day to San Francisco on the train to Boosted's new office. I honestly love the train. It takes me about 45 minutes but it's a clean block of time where I can read books, draw, write or listen to podcasts. Driving to work sucks because it's completely unproductive to be stuck in traffic but the train is great. Each morning I jump on my board, ride it about 2 miles to the station and wait for the 8am train.
Being a parent makes it hard to ever find free time when you can creatively explore without being distracted. Somehow the clunking sounds of the train, the stops and starts, and foggy windows have become my little oasis.
The city is also amazing to work out of. There is so much creative energy here. It's hard not to feel inspired. I usually skate to the office from the train station but when it's raining it forces me to walk.
I'm a nature-loving Idaho kid who needs his space and wide open wilderness. I've always hated cities, but I have to admit: I love San Francisco.
It's so full of culture, art and excitement. Every corner has a dark little cafe and the old office buildings are packed with little startup businesses who aspire of making it big someday.
“San Francisco is a city where dreams are taken seriously and where talk of “changing the world” isn’t just a cliché. ”
Also, the rage against President (ugh I still hate typing that) Trump is at a maximum here. You can strike up a political rant session with any stranger on the street and you'll have enough in common to talk for days. This city is a birthing place for social movements and angsty 20-somethings who refuse to sit down and be quiet.
As great as it is to be in the city, the calm of nature can't be surpassed. It feels easy to push yourself—to fill your life with inspiration, busyness, and activity, but becoming calm is hard. The city provides creative stimulation, natures gives the calm. And calm is a superpower.
We took off on Saturday morning to Big Basin State Redwoods State Park. The Bay Area is amazing. I'm always blown away how many microclimates exist here—how you can go from a huge dirty city, to a warm beach, and then deep within the soggy forest within an hour or two. It was rainy and cold but we knew that the forest provide shelter and that the recent rain would have everything super lush.
We drove for a little over an hour on narrow winding roads that weaved their way back into the woods. Sara's brother Kimball came up for the three-day weekend and Sara's parents joined us as well.
There were dozens of downed trees on the road and trails from the recent storms. The rain we've been receiving is insane! The ground is so wet that the trees are having a hard time holding on. Huge redwoods have fallen over and many cities here in California have been without power for days.
Nature always wins.
Thanks For reading. Have a great day!
