Oregon - the coast

Morning mist was rising off the ground everywhere. Nickie said this is the earth waking up and breathing. Out here, she said, where the earth isn't all covered with cement and asphalt, you can see it breathe just like we do.

I thought this was profound.





I was reminded of a Native American spiritual leader we know. He was kind enough to share some of his wisdom with us, which I will paraphrase here:

Native Americans have believed for thousands of years that everything is interconnected. The trees, the water, the rocks, the dirt, the animals, the stars, are all your brothers and sisters. European, and now American cultures, teach that everything is separate. The Native Americans were considered foolish and ignorant for believing that a living, breathing human being is related to the dirt and rocks, for example. You think you're not? Doesn't modern science now tell us that plants pull minerals from the ground, and you take those minerals into your body whenever you eat from those plants or eat an animal that ate those plants? And that, indeed, you will actually die without those minerals? The dirt and rocks are coursing through your veins as we speak. You are related to the earth. And doesn't the Big Bang theory tell us that the sun and Earth were formed by the same gases and forces that made all the rest of the stars and planets? You are by extension related to them too. European and American cultures are only beginning to scientifically prove and accept things that Native Americans have known for centuries.

Random observation

Oregonians are an odd mix of hippies and fundamentalist Christians. Okay, well, it's not quite that simple. But between the sights we've seen and people we've met, there is clear evidence of both far right and far left. You have staunch environmentalists and racists, peace-mongers and Bible-thumpers. One can only imagine these factions battling for control of the state.

Portland itself seemed to have a liberal slant; it had a number of vegetarian restaurants, and news reports covered things like, "is Oregon tap water just as good as your bottled water, and what can we do to handle the environmental impact of all these plastic water bottles?" Amazing.

As we headed west from Portland (passing Intel in Beaverton) to the coast and turned south, this seemed to be the way of things. Somewhere past Lincoln City, however, this gave out and was increasingly replaced by ignorant country bumpkinism. Discriminatory talk of "towel-heads" and Mexicans was a huge turn-off. To make matters worse, all the restaurants were chock-full of country bumpkin fare. Fried everything, with tons of meat, cheese, and eggs. Accordingly, this is also where we began to see obesity in epidemic proportions. By far, most of the people we observed had weight problems, and this was also the starting point for seeing individuals who were morbidly obese. (Not that I have room to talk, mind you... just observing.) The prospect of enduring racism and homophobia while eating lettuce sandwiches for the rest of our lives was enough to scratch this place from our map for good.

This continued for a long distance and on past the California border. By the time we stopped in the redwoods and Arcata it seemed to be getting better, and we were pleasantly surprised by hickory-flavored tofu dip for your crackers (tastes like smoked cheese), vegan burritos, vegan soups, and other tasty delights in Arcata's local grocery. (We were unsurprised to see that the average waistline also fell dramatically.) I await San Francisco with watering mouth, in anticipation of the treasures to be found there.