Benbow, a second bike trip to see Sandy, & an encounter with a doppelganger

So it’s Wednesday. i’m in a state of mild shock that the rains have returned: the second day in a row of general coolness and drizzle. At least it’s not cold and wet and windy like it would be if i were still living in Amsterdam, and it was ten after one in the morning, and i was on my way home on my bike not having dressed warmly enough because it was such a warm and sunny day when i’d left home to go out hours and hours ago. THEN it would be wet, and cold and windy.

But it’s one of my days off and i’ve enjoyed doing what i felt like doing all day, hour by hour: up at 6:20 to shave and get ready for yoga at 7; breakfast at 8; reading (The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls) and occasional dozing in the room in the Lodge above the dining room we call the library; lunch at 12:30; some more reading (this time from Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy: “a true story of discovery, acting, health, illness, recovery and life”). i’ll get this week’s blog update finished here in my room before heading up the hill to post it online, then a light dinner followed at 7 by my first Swedish massage here, and then over to the sauna for a steam and a soak in the hot tub under the stars.

The big thing that happened in the past week was the annual arts and music festival on the Eel River in the town of Benbow a couple of miles south of Garberville. i’m normally scheduled to work both Saturday and Sunday, but my pleading got the attention i so richly deserve and my supervisor arranged to have the most critical part of my shift covered so that at least attend on Saturday, by a couple, Lynn and Don, who have as a result earned my eternal gratitude. (And yes, i wrote them a little card saying so: dougie t. style.)

But the weekend truly began Friday morning, with my second bike ride to visit Sandy. i’d left here about 9:30, and was pleasantly surprised to see that i’d shaved an entire half-hour off the time it’d taken me the week before. Sandy was stretched out in the sun when i arrived but awoke to claim her rightful share of dougie t. love and affection for minutes on end.

Michael was in the house on the phone when i arrived and after a long chat about operational matters, we threw Sandy and Daisy into a pickup and drove up the hill to greenhouses 2 and 3, where Jeff, Katie and Annie (who i met for the first time) were busy with various tasks. A lot of scalping (removing grass with a spade by severing and turning over in clumps its root-structure), digging a ditch 18” deep and about 20’ long as part of a wall that would become a soil shelf, and filling and dumping several wheelbarrow loads of soil. All good hard work that made me feel even more joyous at inhabiting the marvelous body that i’ve borrowed for my short time in this plane.

i saw my second snake, a long (about 4’) and thin gopher snake, slipping silently through swaying grasses behind the greenhouse. Annie attempted to pick it up, but it successfully eluded her grasp. One day last week, another one had slithered slowly across the stones in front of the lodge when a guy named Sky came and picked it up so we could examine it more closely before releasing it back into the grass. The lodge used to be a hunting lodge (ironic enough when one considers how filled with vegetarians these 200 acres are now), and the deed of sale included a clause that no snakes found on the property would be killed. The occasional rattlesnake is, i’m told, gently removed to some other place.

Anyway, i spent the night at Mike’s, who kindly agreed to drive me and my bike back to Heartwood Saturday morning. i took time for a shower and shave and by 11:45 was walking off the property, not even bothering to wait the half hour till lunch was served! i’d made a little cardboard sign that read BENBOW before i left, and with that and my thumb stuck out, i wasn’t shocked when the first car that passed a few minutes later stopped to pick me up. These two young guys playing Black Sabbath on the car’s tape-player went as far as the New Harris general store, where i walked for about 20 minutes before the first car to pass me on that stretch of beautiful road also stopped to pick me up: an older guy named Jeff with a white pony-tail who was going to Benbow! So in a little over an hour i was at my destination, and in time to see a band called the Non-Prophets perform, which includes one of my new buds here, a guy named Jim (“JR”) who works in Maintenance and plays keyboards and drums. He’s the only person at Heartwood allowed to have a dog: a really affectionate 3-legged black and white mutt named Telly, hangs out on the porch of his little house in the woods. God i wish you all could see this place!

Benbow is a fun, family-oriented weekend festival, heavy on the live music, with main stages at either end of a stretch of lawn next to the Eel River, where people waded, picnicked, and generally enjoyed the intense sun shining down on us that day. The opposite bank of the shallow and cold river is hilly forest, and a more beautiful scene for a little festival like this one would be difficult to imagine. i ate this hot mushroom, pepper and onion “tri-tip” beef sandwich that was juicy and delicious! i must admit that i am after all a weekend carnivore. Oh the glory of a delicious sandwich and an ice-cold beer on such a day, in such a place: filled with gratitude doesn’t quite describe it.

It was about this time that i decided to make a couple of calls on my cell phone. Since i don’t get reception at Heartwood, and i’ve got about 120 units of airtime that will expire at the end of August, i try to remember to take it with me whenever i leave here. i connected with and enjoyed a brief conversation with Scott and Kathy which i think was easier for me; they said i was “breaking up” from time to time. But as i’ve always said, it’s th- th----- th-t ---nts!

In addition to the great live music, a couple of things were especially enjoyable, one of which was a troupe of belly-dancers of all ages. The Turkish, Arab Gulf and western-Middle East electro-fusion music by itself would’ve tickled me, but the sight of so many women belly-dancing in the most beautiful Middle Eastern costumes made it a truly enjoyable and memorable experience, and i kept wondering what my Saudi friends would’ve made of such a delightful spectacle. An older woman with flowing long white hair was especially stunning: a beaming smile marked all of her dances, not the least bit self-conscious of her aged white belly, or the way a little bit of white flab hung over the top edge of her bottoms. i laughed out loud with the joy of the music and such free-spirited movement. (And with a beer or two in me as well!) i never imagined i’d hear so much ululating in this part of the world!

The other thing i enjoyed was watching a guy who was clowning with a friend of his. i’d first noticed these two because they were dancing in front of one of the bands and were both wearing little round red noses. But when they left the dance area and started interacting with the crowd, i was shocked to notice how much of a resemblance the shorter one bore to MATT MINKIN! Matt you’ve got a doppelganger running around the woods of n. California! And it would be one thing to see a Matt Minkin look-alike selling cars or making french-fries, but to see a Matt Minkin look-alike CLOWNING!? Yikes! Too freaky for words. He was waiting to use the portapotty i’d just came out from and i said, “DUDE, you are the physical embodiment of my best friend from Amsterdam MATT MINKIN!” And he made this huge shock face with mouth open wide and eyebrows arching, held up both hands for me to slap (which i did!) and shouted “MATT MINKIN!!” before rushing past me into the portapotty.

My karma shined through as in a mildly incapacitated state around 11 pm i was able to show up near the Heartwood Massage booth just in time to snag the last seat in a big white Cadillac that a Heartwood student was getting ready to drive back. And she’s actually who’s giving me my massage tonight, an hour from now! Just one of the many small benefits of living in a place where so many people are studying massage: they need bodies to practice on! This will make the third time i’ve gotten bodywork since my arrival a month ago.

MAILBAG: Liv got a 2nd Japanese postcard from you on Monday 6/6, this one postmarked 5/31. Wondering about wandering? Why wonder? Wander! And Kerstin B., you will be tickled to hear that TPG forwarded a bunch of mail from my old po box 94555 to me. Thank you again for your efforts to get the Dutch postal service to forward my mail to me. There wasn’t much of interest: another bill from Citibank, a magazine from my first alma mater Hofstra University, the spring newsletter for members of the Hortus Botanicus, an ad for a disco party at some placed called the Kingdom back in February (Jan van Galenstraat 6, MAN that address is SO familiar, any Dutchies or Dutch wanna-be's wanna remind me of exactly where that is? i just looked for my Amsterdam bicyclist’s map but it’s too far underneath my bed for me to easily retrieve!), and 8 pieces of mail addressed to previous box holders!

A HUGE BIRTHDAY SHOUT-OUT to Mr. Simon Branson, who turns the big four-oh this Saturday, June 11. Another bash i will so be at in spirit. And my sister Eileen who rolls back the big four-four on Sunday the 12th. All best wishes for all good things to you both!