I once yearned for Escape. Not just from urban life, but at one point from even civilization itself. Now I’m quite happy living on the edge of “Goldilocks” Santa Barbara, small enough to escape rush hour but large enough to have plenty of arts and culture. So it’s easy to understand people in urban Silicon Valley wanting escapes like this farm offering a taste of rural life.
Visitors can test their escape skills on the mazes, or escape modern life on the “hay ride” winding its way thru the fields at upper-right. Kids can escape the supermarket and discover the joy of choosing a pumpkin right from the farm at upper-left. Further up the central valley, my beloved Uncle has created his own escape.
Among the innumerable canals and waterways north of Sacramento, he planted rows of eucalyptus trees to escape the relentless winds. He created a dream home to escape the tensions of everyday life.
I dampened his dreams of escaping the encroaching corporate agroBiz by moving to Idaho, when I told him how global warming is making annual monster wildfires the new normal there. I decided there’s no escape during my own attempt, when the quiet valley where I once enjoyed a -40F winter morning ten miles from the nearest neighbor was invaded by hunters on snowmobiles. Until we leave this life or at least this planet, maybe the only escape is to the sanctuary we always carry within us and with our loved ones.
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