Patient, Rugged Joys!
Two Walks in Humboldt County
Dear Reader,
As promised, this is the first installment of Bird on the Wing, a new series (Substack calls it a section) based on my occasional wanderings. My mother—a very busy woman with six children and three stepchildren—used to say with a special smile when she had time away from her duties, “I’m free as a bird on the wing!”
As I mentioned last week, I will be on the move quite a bit this summer, and I’m also trying to find a new balance between writing about books and my other writing projects. Thus over the coming summer, the core Frugal Chariot will appear every two weeks. I am publishing the first two issues of Bird on the Wing for all subscribers, and the subsequent posts will be for paid subscribers only. Please kindly let me know what you think, either by replying to this email or commenting below.
Patient, Rugged Joys!
What does it mean to have a soul that befits you?
In 1874, Harper’s published a poem by Walt Whitman entitled “Song of the Redwood-Tree.” The poem gives voice to the “death-chant” of a redwood that hears the approach of the lumberjacks’ axes. One stanza reads:
You untold life of me, And all you venerable and innocent joys, Perennial, hardy life of me, with joys, 'mid rain and many a summer sun, And the white snows, and night, and the wild winds; O the great patient, rugged joys! my soul's strong joys, unreck'd by man; (For know I bear the soul befitting me—I too have consciousness, identity, And all the rocks and mountains have, and all the earth;) Joys of the life befitting me and brothers mine, Our time, our term has come.
The parenthetical lines, with their imperative assertion of non-human consciousness and identity, strike me in particular: “For know I bear the soul befitting me—I too have consciousness, identity, And all the rocks and mountains have, and all the earth.”
This past week I had ample opportunity to think about the ways in which we bear our souls through time and place, as I traveled to The Redwood Coast of Humboldt County, California to attend a memorial service for my sister Marion Miller, who died of cancer two years ago. Finally, after two long years of separation and isolation, family and friends were able to gather together to celebrate Marion’s extraordinary life, and give her husband and children all the embraces we had stored up.
I have been coming to Humboldt County to visit my family for more than half a century, and I believe that its natural splendors remain one of the great secrets of the Pacific Northwest. The 110 miles of rugged coastline are the most of any county in the state of California. The 1000 square miles of protected forest contain more than 40% of the remaining old-growth coastal redwoods, and include Redwood State Park and National Park. The coastal population center of Eureka-Arcata, which is home to Cal-Poly Humboldt, is 270 miles north of San Francisco and 400 miles south of Portland, Oregon.
The county’s inland areas are mountainous, forested, carved with steep river valleys, and sparsely populated. The economy is powered by timber, fishing, wine, marijuana, and good vibes. The regional airport, ACV, is served by a few flights each day from cities that include San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, and most recently Burbank. But the narrow coastal plain is a fog factory, and flights are frequently delayed or canceled. Fliers should bring patience, good humor, and extra snacks.
Humboldt is sufficiently difficult to access that its quiet charms have endured, largely unmolested by excessive development. My parents liked to call it “The Laid Back North Coast,” and they cherished their visits. This past week Grace and I stayed in the little fishing village of Trinidad, in a funky cottage at the edge of a cliff. Just sitting on the deck and watching the water swish and swirl around the strange rock formations that jut out from the seabed could provide an entire afternoon’s entertainment.
My perspicacious nephew noticed that the closest red bell buoy was looking askew, listing sharply to one side unlike others nearby. Our hosts had thoughtfully supplied a small spyglass, and thus we were able to determine that a sea lion was using the buoy as a lounge chair/pool raft. See what I mean about laid back?
Given a schedule filled with family events, I was able to take only two short hikes. Yet this is an area in which 45 minutes on a trail can transport you to another realm. The first destination was Trinidad Head, a dramatic nub that shelters the local fleet from prevailing westerlies. A simple 1.5-mile trail winds around it and leads up to a cell phone/radio tower.
I ran into a lithe hiker with a long white beard and ponytail, who offered a piece of sage advice: always take the spur trails. Each one leads to expansive outlooks, where you can sit on a bench, look for seabirds, and watch the weather come through. During this hike I remembered a beautiful, brilliant friend from high school who recently died too young.
The jewel tones of the wild Douglas iris and panther lilies were just her colors, and they reminded me of her poise, her kindness, and her grace.
The morning of my sister’s memorial, I hiked the loop trail around the Lady Bird Johnson Memorial Grove in Redwood National Park. This reserve is located in Orick, about 30 minutes north of Trinidad.
The walk leads through truly ancient stands of redwoods. Rhododendrons, trillium, ferns, and mosses fringe their massive bases.
Reader, I leaned against one of those trees and thanked my sister for all that she gave me. It was warmer to the touch than one might expect, and the bark smoother. I sank into it and let it bear most of my weight, then looked far up into the crown.
The trunks are so thick, and they taper very slowly. You can feel lichen as it leaves the bark and settles onto your cheek, slightly pearlescent and powdery—like makeup.
As I hiked out, the canopy was tossing with an approaching storm front. I remembered my sister, who took me to the woods and held my hand when I was a little girl, afraid and unsure. She made me feel safe when we slept in the forest with the owls. She was brave and wild and passionate and super-smart, and extremely strong-willed. With her beloved husband, she knew all “the great patient, rugged joy” of six decades on this land.
I love this line from Whitman: You untold life of me. And I wonder, whose life really does get told? My sister, my friend, all of us, go to sea on a voyage of consciousness that is mostly private, and mostly untold.
Yet I think we can find strength in the knowledge that our souls befit us. They just do. And the Redwood Coast is a place to settle into that knowledge . . . to know a bell buoy as a kind of raft, a winding trail as a kind of home, and a giant tree as a kind of antenna, sending up our prayers for comfort and peace.
If You Go . . .
Two of our family’s rentals were managed by Trinidad Retreats.
The Carter House Inn in Eureka offers warm hospitality in a venerable Victorian mansion.
In Trinidad, we scored our coffees at the Trinidad Bay Eatery. Other popular spots there include the Beachcomber Cafe, the Seascape Restaurant, and the Larrupin’ Cafe.
At Katy’s Smokehouse, Bob has been behind the counter for more than 30 years, and he will hook you up with dayboat-fresh fish or scrumptious, eat-out-of-the-can alder-smoked tuna, and salmon, and more. They gladly ship their products.
We gathered one evening at the Septentrio Winery in Arcata, where Tynel and Jared Humphrey share their wines and serve as anchors of the community. Their tasting room is open to the public, and the courtyard hosts a superior food truck as well as frequent live music and craft fairs.
In McKinleyville, you will find Fieldbrook Wintery set on acres of manicured grounds. The Hodgsons will welcome you with crisp wines and artisanal pizza.
If you love flowers or goats, make an appointment to visit Sarah Brunner just down the road. She is growing spectacular flowers, making cheese, and dying goats-wool yarns with her flowers. Inveterate knitter Marion would have loved to have seen what Sarah is doing.
Ramone’s Bakery and Cafe has three locations and they make a mean huckleberry pie, among other treats.
Other hikes:
Redwood Sky Walk
Arcata Community Forest
Sue-meg State Park
Ferndale
Pacific Outfitters in Eureka is a good source of advice on local outfitters as well as gear.
That’s it for now. Next stop: London. 🇬🇧
Nicie, every time I read something of yours I feel happier, but that's especially true of this post. There are so many threads here — nature, family, poetry, travel, each of these dividing into numerous sub-threads — that many of us would have no idea how to transform them into a flawless fabric. But you have the knack! And the knack as well for making and choosing just the right photographs. Looking forward to the next post, and feeling happier already. Thank you!
You and your sisters handled Marion's passing with grace. This is such a lovely tribute to her. So sad for you Eunice. Marion left a wonderful family.