Walking Rancho Hermosa

San Luis Rey Mission Oceanside CA

Rain, Roses, and Horses

No, this is not about the Derby. The Rain is spotty now, the Roses in full bloom in Rancho Hermosa, and the Horse, well, I commune with his Ghost, Kublai Khan, the keeper of the Valley.

Today as I stand overlooking the San Luis Rey Valley I think about where we are in this time of isolation and National Crisis. The Valley looks peaceful on this Sunday morning, and the roads below are quiet now,  the San Luis Rey Mission Bells toll in the distance. I see the old barn where the White Horse of the Valley used to live. The Davy Jones Ranch was an important part of the Valley History, and I had many talks with Mr. Jones about the valley when there were crisis of both flood and flu.

The Old Barn on the Davy Jones Ranch and Farm house.

He told me many stories about the people who lived here, and about his ranch before the 76 HWY came roaring through the Valley. As I look down the hill towards the ranch, it is mostly gone as the construction of the 76 took his land, and the pathway that the great white horse climbed up the hill every day to graze underneath the century plant. There are remnants of the old buildings and homestead located between the 76 and Fratelli's restaurant. The folks of the valley could see him there, and he was our shining white horse of light and peace.

Kublai Khan Oceanside Museum of Art 2015

“He was never ridden, Davy said, He was my daughter's horse and her sweet pet. He was one of a herd of white Arabian Horses and they ran free. I knew this to be true for I would take my sketch pad and sit by him by the hour. Soaking up the peace from this magical place, and he, keeping his brown eye on me.

Stories of the Flood of 1916 and the Spanish flu were some of the events he told of. In the above link, you can read about these events which shaped the history of our Valley and how Dr. Robert S. Reid had good advice then, and now, we should have known this all along using our common sense for wearing face masks.

The Grayness of the light today is wondrous for picture taking. The colors are more saturated, and the light is uniform for the subject. Shadows disappear, leaving the color as the composition's sole element.

As always, Roses are the Queen of the flower world, they leave us with the happy fragrance of new birth in our world of today's uncertainty, and sadness. The are proof of renewal, and that tomorrow will be as Scarlet says, “tomorrow is another day”. It must, be Better, for we as Americans are resilient, and "our can do energy" is our common gift.

A Rose named "Peace"