Oceanside's Back Country...Douglas Drive
Walking
“Wild”
Walking,
or sometimes referred to as "The Wild", is a lecture by Henry David Thoreau first
delivered at the Concord Lyceum on April 23, 1851
April 28, 2020,
9:30 AM
Reading has
become my other way of walking here in Rancho Hermosa. I'm rereading
some of Thoreau's writings and lectures. He wrote an essay on
Walking which I had not read before, in the same wondrous way
as he wrote about Walden Pond, this lecture is about human nature as it interacts
with Planet Earth's nature in a good way and in some ways not so
good.
Walking |
He describes
how he seeks out the forests where no one has walked before, and the
places where the soul of our environment seeps into our open minds
with the walking becoming the vehicle of transferred transcendence. He tells of the sometimes when the brain keeps turning over the
problems of the day so that he is out of his “senses”. Our senses
so necessary to be open to the songs of nature. We can look but do we
see? We hear, but do we listen? We breathe, but do we inhale the
essence of the wild?
I remember when
we first came to Oceanside in the year of 1991. We lived near
Reynolds school, and Douglas Drive was a road where in places the
“wild” still existed. There was a bog, filled with the rushes and
reeds of a smelly dark atmosphere where the croaking
of the bull frogs gave you chills. They did sound like some
prehistoric scary thing waiting to lurch out the bog and wangle their
“wild” from anyone who dared to come their way. I did listen to
these sounds of the bull frog, and it was a sound of majesty of his
place. I did indeed inhale the essence of this place, it was a place
of primeval. Is this place still there, I don't know, it is too far
to walk from RH and so I will drive today and see if indeed, the wild
is still here in Oceanside.
11:30 AM
The swampy bog
is still there. There is a pond-like serenity about it that has been
born from the this months rains. The White Egrets regal in their
whiteness, wade the shallow waters. There is now a fence along
Douglas Dr. which is foreboding in it's progression along the
roadway. There is only one place where the fence has been cut apart
wide enough for a body to pass through. I think about it, this wild
place, where there are no paths or places where anyone has trod, but
this time, I will pass. It seems like I could get stuck in the muck
and then where would I be?. I don't know who owns this particular
parcel of wildness. It is the same way on both sides of Douglas, it
could be the City.
Douglas Drive Pond-Bog |
The ecosystem
of today's towns and cities are so much different that in the day of
Thoreau. He would be amazed and probably devastated at the way humans
are crowded together in the Cities like New York, Hong Kong, and
Wuhan China. With the crowding comes the devastation of our
environment. We have poisoned our Good Earth. What we walk in now is
a planet in crisis. The new normal will bring so many more
devastating events, and what we want and what we need
will have to become pared down from the harmful habits of the the
past, “the more, the bigger, the newer, the cruising, the flying,
and the many things we have considered to be our rights to do, to
essential changes of common sense to save our planet Earth's
ecosystem which sustains our human lives.
There
are Paths in Oceanside maintained by the City and Non profit
organizations.
El
Corazon: “This
mile-long nature trail along Garrison
Creek at El Corazon Park was opened May 2, 2016. To access the
trail head, enter the park at 3210 Oceanside Blvd. at the Agriservice
and Moody’s street entrance, just east of El Camino Real. The trail
will be open to the public Monday – Friday, 7:30 am to 5:00 pm,
Saturday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and closed on Sundays. This slice of
rural life in the heart of Oceanside offers the chance to soak in
peace and tranquility
El Corazon |
You
will have to scroll down to find this text”.
San Luis Rey River Trail |
The City Bike Path
“The San Luis Rey River Trail. This
trail is a Class I bicycle trail which is open to pedestrians as
well. The trail is 7.2 miles, one way, from the Neptune access (west
end) to the eastern-most point on the College Bridge. The trail
follows the path to the San Luis Rey River. This relatively flat
trail is safe for all age groups, is completely separate from
motorized traffic, and is free of stop signs and traffic lights”.(
It is best to have a buddy with you as there are homeless camps prone to this area near the city.)
The
Buena Vista Audubon “Buena
Vista Audubon Society is canceling all its programs & closing the
Nature Center through at least April 30 to prevent spread of the
coronavirus. The health and safety of all of you takes precedence. We
will evaluate the situation at the end of April and give updates. ALL
BIRD WALKS ARE CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. While our nature trail
remains open, we advise against using it as it is impossible to
maintain social distancing and we want everyone to stay safe”.
The Buena Vista Audubon lagoon... |
It
is my intention to go back to the Douglas site, slip through the
fence, when further into the summer and the waters have receded, to
walk in this wild place. A place where the definition of walking is
one of uncharted paths, and the feet will decide the pathway of the
“Wild”.
Looks like some great birding at the Douglas site. It's so lovely to have natural spaces close by!
ReplyDeleteThoreau knew the power of nature on the creative spirit. Thanks for this post with his musings. He swam every morning too--did you know that? Of course he did!
ReplyDelete