Some of you may remember Eric Barker, the poet who was once the caretaker for the El Sur Ranch. Others will want to know about him. A reader of my blog sent me this essay he wrote on the poet and it is exquisite. I think you will enjoy this.

When Pico Blanco wears sunset like a lion skin
On his granite shoulders
I have followed her down to the sea
Where gulls and cormorants burn like phoenixes,
The great ocean is possessed by light and sound.

From “Little Sur River” by Eric Barker

Story and photos by David A. Laws

Half an hour’s drive south of my home on the Monterey Peninsula, cliff-hugging California Highway One dips down into a shallow valley carved by the Little Sur River on its twenty-five-mile dash to the ocean from the shoulders of Pico Blanco. Every time I take the wide U-turn across a low concrete bridge that spans the creek, my mind conjures up images of the stocky, gnome-like poet Eric Barker with a halo of white hair protruding from under his battered pork-pie hat.

In his poem “Little Sur River,” Barker captured the essence of her journey from stands of pine and redwood “where smoky sunlight lies tangled in brambles and ferns” through dense riparian groves of alder, cottonwood, and willow to the coast. He knew this spot well, having lived within sound of the surf for more than two years as a caretaker on the El Sur Ranch in the early 1950s.

His line “Sun is not all. Here we drink fog like rain” from the poem “Fog Over Big Sur” acknowledged Barker’s stolid acceptance of damp, foggy, wind-blasted Central California coastal summers in exchange for the freedom and solitude of his simple Big Sur lifestyle.

Barker was well known in the Big Sur art and literary community that included novelist Henry Miller, sculptors Harry Dick Ross and Gordon Newall, and artists Emile Norman and Emil White. He collaborated with Wynn Bullock on projects that matched the photographer’s expressive black and white images with the poet’s verse. Bullock’s portrait Eric, 1955 depicts him peering through the broken window of a tumble-down shack. Another features him playing chess with the photographer’s daughter. Both pictures appeared in many books and exhibits.

I think you will enjoy reading the rest of this essay and discovering both Eric Barker and David A. Laws. https://medium.com/from-the-library/the-big-sur-poet-in-an-english-pork-pie-hat-733bc2f1699d

I have struggled on how to recognize that gawd awful horrible day a year ago. It was a day we all learned how fragile our democracy can be. We’ve watched it in other countries but never thought it could happen to us…until it did.

I watched in horror along with two-thirds of the nation. The other third watched in glee. As Terri Kanefield explaines, “Psychologists tell us that 33% of the population is inclined toward Authoritarianism. Stats back this up: Hitler came to power with 33% approval. Huey Long & Joe McCarthy had 30-35% approval.” https://terikanefield.com/authoritarians-have-baked-in-advantages/ I held my breath unti a new President was sworn in.

For days, weeks, months, I was glued to the news to see how it all played out. Yesterday US Attorney Garland released his statement about the insurrection investigation.

This is your reminder that Merrick Garland’s investigation of Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and the Unabomber had zero leaks before indictments,100% convictions and no turnovers on appeal. Sometimes you have to have a little faith in the process.

I have faith.

As promised, if this works, this is yesterday’s video — okay, didn’t work yet. I’ll keep working on it, so check back later…https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/662384942 At least you can see it at that link until I can get it embeded.

I came through this area today…twice..and can see that it is still quite active. I took a few pics and a vid, but not sure if anything came out as I jsut got home and put away the groceries. If any came out, I will post them here.

Date:	Monday, January 3, 2022 at 3:15 pm
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Kevin Drabinski or Jim Shivers
Phone:	(805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 IN NORTHERN SLO COUNTY SUBJECT TO

WEEKDAY ONE-HOUR DELAYS AT SITE OF STILL ACTIVE SLIDE

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY – Continued efforts to remove slide material from above the roadway on Highway 1 in northern San Luis Obispo County will result in one-hour delays for travelers on weekdays during daytime hours.

Beginning Tuesday Dec. 4, traffic control in the immediate vicinity of the Polar Star slide, one mile south of Ragged Pont at Post Mile 71.8, will hold to the following schedule.

Monday thru Friday, Highway 1 will be subject to traffic control with one-hour delays from 7 am to 5 pm. The highway will be fully open on weekdays, without traffic control, from 5 pm to 7 am.

On weekends, Highway 1 will be fully open, without traffic control, from Friday at 5 pm until Monday at 7 am.

This schedule is anticipated to be in effect for at least the next two weeks.

Crews with specialized equipment will be on site to remove remaining slide material from above the roadway. These weekday, one-hour traffic delays, are necessary for crews and equipment to dedicate the maximum amount of daylight hours to these efforts in advance of future weather events.

Message and directional signs will be in place to alert travelers in the area.

For traffic updates on other state highways in San Luis Obispo County, travelers may contact Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-5

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We all survived in 2021. Now, let us thrive in 2022. Let us be filled with love of self, others, and Mother Nature. Let the Magic in.