Bang Bang Went the Guns

Today was an adventure day, marking the end of yet another week. It seems like Monday was only yesterday; the days just seem to fly by and I don't seem to have much to show for it. And tomorrow Connor returns home.

But today I headed out on what initially appeared to be one of my regular treks to the Bay Area. But this time, I pulled up the map on my iPhone and picked a spot of green to visit, just 20 miles shy of San Francisco as it turns out. And thus I found Point Pinole, an area I had never been to before, just past an industrial area of mammoth warehouse distribution centers belonging to UPS and Amazon.

The area boasts a vast and mostly flat shoreline overlooking the San Pablo Bay, just north of the Richmond Bridge, and further south, the Bay Bridge. With wide gravelly trails running along both shoreline and groups of eucalyptus trees, it's a pretty nice area to get out and stretch your legs, and enjoy some fresh air. And fortunately, despite the recent historic fires, the air was clear and cool, with layers of cloud cover and a gentle breeze blowing in over the water.

And lots of gun shots. I...think there's a gun range near there. Or else there was a massive shootout at the San Quentin prison. I any case, I came out of the experience unscathed. But the noise sure got annoying after awhile. Bang bang bang. And so on. Over and over and over again. It's hard to understand people's fascination with guns, it really is. I know, I know, don't knock it till you try it, as they say.

Perhaps it was fitting however, as the area was apparently once used as production zone for black powder, the precursor to dynamite, and the eucalyptus groves were apparently planted as a sound buffer for planned explosions. I don't imagine they actually provided much of a buffer, but apparently a hundred years ago not many people lived around that area anyway. But there's still a few historic relics left on the grounds, including a giant black powder crusher under a wooden framed tent. It's nice to see history, left behind by people who came long before. I supplemented this by finishing the book I was reading, The Revenant, which is a piece of historical fiction set in the mid-19th century midwest during the heyday of the fur trade business. Not to mention dangerous encounters with a variety of Native American tribes. And it is in fact based on actual historical events. People who lived and struggled long ago, and slowly carved out the framework of what this nation would eventually become. But I digress.

In any case, it was a pleasant day out of town, and quite a bit shorter than I usually spend when I traipse out all the way to Fort Mason. And I got home early enough to go pull some Halloween decor from my storage unit, so my apartment is at least a little festive now. It's hard for me to get inspired to decorate when it doesn't feel like a real home, not really. Nor do I want to start nesting here. Next year I'll be in my new place, so that will be more of a holiday-decorating time. But for now, anyway, there's a few things up.

Maybe...I'll put some more up. Or at least get some pumpkins. Connor would like that.

Well soon it will be bedtime, my last night of freedom before Connor reclaims the attention of my daily schedule. And hopefully I won't have dreams tonight featuring a multitude of guns going off.  Bang bang, and so on. Sigh. Guns.