Journal to a Muse

Tourist or Pilgrim II

I suppose that mostly I was a tourist today. Travelling, looking, absorbing, sighing and, basically, returning to my hotel room unchanged.

I do not understand how people afford to live here. Unless there is a conspiracy by realtors to only advertise homes over $500,000. Sure, I've seen some manufactured homes, but even the empty lots that I've seen advertisements for are in the $600,000 range. Hardly makes sense.

Being so aware of economic disparities is uncomfortable. There are more homeless people intermingled with the rest of us here. Perhaps it is because the weather is more hospitable... or maybe even it is because the locals are more tolerant. Homeless folk in Dallas definitely have their own ghetto, and one rarely sees them anywhere else.

The vegetation and land are breathtaking. I drove a smaller thruway to "one of the wealthiest communities" in the country, Montecito. The homes are gated individually, and each one made me think of a package that I'd like to unwrap. I found a back road, which may even have been private, that wound its way through a canyon up to a ridge from which I could see many mansions AND the Pacific.


I hope it is the beauty that is filling my soul rather than envy or materialism... because my heart DOES feel fuller. So much green. So much variety.

As usual, I struck up conversations. A South American cashier who made sure everyone took their Sr. Discount. In California, it turns out I'm old enough. A woman in a cashmere cap and a scarf rocking in a chair in a store called Imagine. We swapped cancer stories. She laughed when I told her about my "fun fur" home knit chemo cap. It was her second go round, but first chemo. Her daughter ran the shop and was obviously taking gentle care of her. Then there were the knowledgeable women at Tecolote Book Shop. It is an independent book store that managed to make even the friendliest Borders look crass and commercial. Lots of wonderful books on architecture and style... WITH taste. We commiserated about "trash with cash" and some who have no taste. I was incredulous when a woman came in buying children's books for siblings of a new baby. "I've lived here 35 years and this is my first time in the store. I hadn't been in Montecito more than 35 minutes and I was in that shop!. I had a nice chat with "Jamie" who was the co-owner of The Worker Bee Cafe. I got the impression she and her husband ran the cafe as a retirement project and "for fun." It was like being in somebody's kitchen. Plus I could eavesdrop on the political snarkiness in Carpenteria.


There was a blonde potting orchids at Gallup & Stribling, "America's Largest Orchid Farm."

And then I drove through the Padaro community. Sort of like Bel Air only at the edge of the Pacific. Big. Modern. Individualized. No McMansion monstrosities.

Perhaps if I do more drawing and knitting, all the jumbled ideas will congeal into something deeper and more helpful.