Back to California: UC-Santa Barbara

By the time we got to UC-Santa Barbara the campus had emptied out. There wasn't a soul to be found in the locked-up physics department, but at least we were able to see the campus. It's a drive from the city of Santa Barbara proper, which I was torn about liking or not liking. Some campuses feel removed from the towns in good ways and others integrate seamlessly into the town in which they live. I didn't get a good sense of this with UC-Santa Barbara, probably because we took the freeway to get there. 

This was the walk into campus from the parking area.

I loved this tree arching over the walkway. The campus was generally very open and bright and these little shady nooks were welcome respites from that brightness.

This image is more representative of the larger campus. I loved the patterns the light/shadow made on the ground, almost disconcerting to someone no longer used to walking around in the vicinity of palm trees!

Another example of the palm tree pattern. 

My absolute favorite part of the campus was the view from the library. In the building, there were elevators on each side, one set called Ocean, the other Mountain. And you can see why:

After living on the southeastern part of the US many years of my life I am used to ocean and mountains being completely apart. Having them both together still makes me smile. 

These photos were literally taken from either end of a big open area upstairs in the library. Through one end you see the mountains and the other the ocean. It was quite lovely, almost like paintings.

Back out to the campus and the very deserted physics building:

I liked the leaning tree.

This part of campus was very nice too, with these very distinctive trees. 

In the distance to the right you can spot my son walking ahead. I often ended up far behind him, between his long-legged stride and my own penchant for stopping to take photographs.

I stood with this tree for quite a while. I loved the root system. The long roots in front reminded me of a cat crossing its paws. 

Generally, although I lived in California for several years, I'm not really a California girl at heart. I miss the lush green of North Carolina, and the very distinct seasons that for me have always been marked by the changing of the trees themselves. I think that may be why I'm so drawn to trees in California. 

I wish we'd been able to see the physics department inside, to get a better flavor of the academics here. But this week I'll post two more UC-Santa Barbara posts that reveal a couple of the things I really loved about our visit. 

November Hill farm journal, 18

This week my daughter and I spotted the first V of geese flying south, and my husband brought in the first ripe wild muscadines. Yesterday and last night Hermine blew through. We got a couple of inches of needed rain and temperatures in the mid-sixties with a cool breeze that felt wonderful.

Today the horses are turned out now that the rain has passed. All of these things, geese flying, wild muscadines, hurricanes blowing about, are signs of the season I love best and for which our farm is named. 

November is the peak of color and delight here. It was the season we moved in and it remains the season when, for me, everything shines.

And it matches my favorite poem in all the world.

"Wild Geese," by Wendell Berry from Collected Poems 1957-1982 (North Point Press).

The Wild Geese

Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time's maze 
over fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

I love the last lines best. The wild muscadines are especially sweet this year.

November Hill kitchen, 1

Recipes on camera-obscura?

Not really. But since I'm on an extended hiatus from Facebook I need somewhere to document the food stuff that happens in our modest little kitchen.

We eat good food here, most of the time. The best meals for me are the ones that are as close to 100% local as possible, and even better are the ones that are close to 100% November Hill produce.

I often share the local and home-grown meals on FB, sometimes with a photo, so here we go:

I'm in a "clear the cupboards and freezer" mode right now. The summer garden is mostly done and now we have a few fall plantings underway (sweet potatoes, garlic for next spring). Once the heat breaks for good we'll add a fall planting of greens. 

In these interim weeks we've been trying to base meals around the things that need to be used up. I love cooking from our garden, but I also really enjoy the challenge of taking a few scattered items and creating a meal out of them. This comes directly from my dad, who, during all of my childhood and teen years, got home from work earlier than my mom did, so he made our dinners.

His specialty was coming up with "on the fly" meals - good ones, but he loved bargains and would often stop by the small-town grocery store on his way home and pick up a few things that were on sale, combine that with something we already had, and end up with something unique and delicious. He never used a recipe. I think I must have soaked that in without even knowing it.

Last night I found a package of frozen Brussel sprouts that screamed to be eaten. I also found a quarter package of bulk hot bulk sausage from our favorite local meat producer. (Who is also our hay grower, and his farming practices are organic and humane and sustainable; his meats have been called the cleanest in Chatham County). Then I realized we had fresh mushrooms that needed using. These weren't local. The idea formed - brown the sausage, add the mushrooms, then the Brussel sprouts. 

And then I looked in the cupboard and found a quarter package of instant Miso soup mix and a little bag of millet. I put the millet on, added the Miso mix, and when all was said and done the meal, served in bowls, was the Brussel sprout/sausage/mushroom mixture over the Miso millet. It was yummy. It was easy. It was aesthetically pleasing in hand-thrown blue bowls (found for a dollar at the thrift store years back). And it was about 50% local. I'll make it again, if I have the ingredients on hand.

That's the beauty and sometimes the sadness of this kind of cooking. When you put things together based on little bits and pieces you have on hand it isn't always easy to recreate the meals later! But that makes them special. And I keep on doing it. 

November Hill farm journal, 17

This morning I spent an hour in the barn with a pocket full of peppermints, a medium-bristled grooming brush, and five handsome equines. 

They were in from night-time turnout, munching hay with the fans blowing. Apache Moon the painted pony and and his best friend and miniature donkey Rafer Johnson had two stalls on the far side of the barn but they were side by side with noses in the manger in one stall, sharing their hay. 

Keil Bay the big Hanoverian and Cody the big Quarter Horse were playing musical stalls between the three open to them, sometimes in one together, other times splitting up, sauntering the barn aisle, and little Redford donkey wandered in and out between them, happy to be with the big boys.

There was a little uproar as peppermints were unwrapped, but once they knew my pockets were empty they returned to eating.

I'm not sure there is anything better than being in the barn with busy munching horses and donkeys and pony. They were all fairly clean but appreciated the brushing. Summer coats are shedding and winter coats are growing in. I'm happy to see it. And to feel it, the cushiony thickness that wasn't there a couple of weeks ago. 

Keil Bay has not gotten enough attention lately and when I put the brush away and headed back to the house he followed me all the way to the gate, standing there waiting, as we have let them in to the back yard many times before but can't now because of the cat fencing. It was hard to leave him there, looking over the fence at me. 

Cool weather is coming, Big Bay, and when it does we'll have a ride. 

Back to travelogue, the road to Santa Barbara

From Santa Cruz we headed down the Pacific Highway to Santa Barbara. I got a scant few photographs of this lovely drive, but you get the sense of it from the few I took.

Eventually we turned slightly inland and were able to see the many fruit and vegetable farms that in some cases lie very close to the sea. We drove through orange and lemon and grapefruit groves as well. It's amazing how much food is grown in this area.

We had a date with an Apple MacBook Pro in Santa Barbara and I took this shot to remind me where I'd parked. I felt like my brain was in lockdown by that time! It was a long day.

Finally a cocktail when we got to the hotel. 

We were happy to be in Santa Barbara and ready to explore the campus the next day.