Home Conversation -- with lyrics.

It all began with some gripes about how the places we grew up had been
utterly devastated.

"There's a light brownish haze on the meadow
there's a light brownish haze on the meadow.
The traffics as thick as an elephants -" [1]

"Al, you're posting in a public place. The kids could be reading
this."

"Oh, right. OK, I'll try it again."

"There's a light brownish haze on the meadow
there's a light brownish haze on the meadow.
This backup's as long as an elephants -"

"Al!"

"Well, you know how I feel about what they've done to this place."

"Yes, but even so. Try another song."

"OK, how's this [2]:

"I'm getting a grip, I'm leaving today.
I'm taking a trip up Big Basin Way.
I'm going to settle down and never more roam
and make the San Lorenzo Valley my home.

I'll be sinning new sins, I'll be making new friends
where the trees begin and the smog belt ends
'cause I've decided where your's truly should be
and it's the San Lorenzo Valley for me.

I think that I'm safe in statin' noise will be abatin'
where my journey is done
and the old water district promises to restrict
future development to none.

I'll be hitting the trail to the redwood trees.
forward my mail care of R.F.D.
I'm going to settle down and never more roam
and make the San Lorenzo Valley my home."

Al Moore
DoD 734

(short form. My wife and I bought a house just off of highway nine, on
the fresh air side of the hill.)

[1] to the tune of "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" with apologies to
Rodgers and Hammerstein, and a passing nod to Dan Nitschke for the
first version above.

[2] to the tune of "San Fernando Valley" with apologies to Gordon
Jenkins.

 

Bwahahahahaha. Love it.

 

Congratulations on the new house. How long do you think it will take
before you start kvetching about the reckless and noisy motorcyclists
going by your place? ;-}

Rich, Urban Biker

 

Quite a while, probably, since we don't actually plan to move over
there yet. Maybe when my job goes away...

I did notice that I could hear a guy on highway 9 on a motorcycle with
straight pipes. Even so, it's quieter than here, within a half mile or
so of two major freeways, with a flyover ramp between them. When I was
a kiid, the freeways didn't reach all the way down the Peninsula. One
of the things that made me realize they were getting worse was when
they put one through close to where I lived in Menlo Park. We used to
call it Bayshore, then Bayshore highway, then 101. Before that 101
referred to El Camino Real.

Al Moore
DoD 734

 

That's before my time. When I arrived in 1965, El Camino Real was
already CA-82. But Sunnyvale was planted in orchards, not office parks.

Rich, Urban Biker