Valleys and Visions
Normally my columns appear bi-weekly. An exception occurred last week when I could not meet the deadline. I was returning home from Nevada. A problem emerged that prevented my submission. Despite a weather report that Highway 80 was clear for passage, a surprise storm appeared. The Donner Summit quickly closed. With a sense of adventure, I took guidance from a local person in Truckee and attempted to circumvent the storm by driving north and then west on my way home. It worked, but it took ten hours. It was a beautiful, yet precarious drive. It gifted me with time, however, to listen to Mozart and to reflect.
At the start of my trip to Nevada, I spent a couple of days in the scenic Carson Valley. It was to attend a memorial service for an old friend in Gardnerville. Afterward, we flowered him at his burial site Genoa (the first settlement in Nevada in the early 19th Century). We then celebrated his life at JT’s Basque Restaurant. The next day I visited for lunch in Carson City with writers and historians from the Silver State. The evening concluded with a visit for refreshments at the oldest operating hotel in Nevada – the Gold Hill Hotel. During these visits, conversations emerged about doing a theatrical performance as John Steinbeck at a favored locality. The conversations centered on a prior performance I had done at the historic Dangberg Ranch in Minden. During that performance I discussed the impact that Steinbeck’s hometown area – the Salinas Valley, had upon his writings. I wondered if there was a possibility that the unique settings of valleys provide circumstances for creative activities, including that of literature.
As I meandered through the ensconced snow of the Sierras, I made a brief stop in Downieville. The North Fork of the Yuba River and the Downie River run through the narrow valley that governs the town. A small “hot toddy” warmed my soul and nursed my nerves. Rain reigned down outside. The inn dated to the Gold Rush era. Characters staged themselves at the bar. One claimed to have been there at the inn’s opening more than a century before. His petrified face confirmed the probability of his claim.
With cautious driving I returned home safely. During my adventure I reflected upon Steinbeck and the Salinas Valley. The same with my friends in the Carson Valley. I added the mountain valley where the town of Downieville resides. As I entered Castro Valley, my view ripened – it was that valleys not only provide fertile soil for the ground. They may also do so for creative thoughts and endeavors like the writing of literature. My hunch was that Steinbeck would agree. If he grew up here in Castro Valley, his famed book “East of Eden” might have composited here in the Eden Township. Countless stories reside within the soil upon which we live. Your life, I am sure, is among them. Take notes and write! We live in a creative valley.