Hi Everyone,

I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunny day and that old urge to get out and touch and see geology was buzzing in my head. Before I knew it I was packed up and ready to head out to Marin County.

Today I revisited a place I had only been to before briefly, Nicasio, California. One heads west from Petaluma going toward the coast and perhaps 15 miles or so along the way, your turn left to catch the two lane road that leads into town. Right about that moment your eyes catch a view of Nicasio Reservoir. It's massive and along the side of the road is an old curb. I noticed some offset on the curbing and decided to take some photos so I'll have a point of reference after the next earthquake happens.

Many people fish in the reservoir and there were maybe forty of them out there today. It's the place where I caught my first fish as a teenager. A little tiny bass.

This area is mostly rolling hills and now lusciously green which makes the numerous outcrops every more dramatic. Most are comprised of serpentine but I found a few that are basalt too, and very weathered. As it's springtime I found very large wild lavender plants and little tiny purple while flowers too. They are so pretty, but you can't pick them.

I inched along the road trying to get the best shots I could of the outcrops and at one point I wanted to climb a hill to get a better view, but climbing six or more feet straight up with no graded area's to get back down seemed a little foolish. I couldn't get close to anything but the locals have everything wrapped up in barbed wire the their homes are at least a half mile off of the road and usually behind locked gates as well.

If any of you remember watching the movie, "The Birds" you may recall the schoolhouse and just outside of the main area of town is that very schoolhouse. Today it's painted red with white trim, neat, clean and still has the same white picket fence surrounding it. I just missed a piano concerto that happened earlier in the day, but the sound from the interior today was an old time piano playing something I'm sure was written in the 1800's. It's very charming.

I headed into town which really isn't much of a town and had a look at St. Mary's of Nicasio, which is a traditional white clapboard sided building with a steeple on top and was constructed in 1840. I found something unusual inside of the black iron fence surrounding the property that I've never seen in front of a church before. It was a half bust of the Virgin Mary which was in horrible shape with paint peeling all over. It was sitting on top of a brick base where a plaque gave the details of its installation in I think 1965. Half of a Virgin Mary struck me strange.

Then I did what I love to do the most, I headed into Rancho Nicasio the only eatery in town to chat up the locals. It has a mini deli where you can get sandwiches if you want to take them on the trail, a terrific bar inside with lots of animal heads on the walls, and outdoor seating is available for those who want to go out there.

I took a seat at the extended bar ordered a Lagunitas IPA and let nature take it course. If you want to know about everything and anything that is going on, you just have to belly up to the bar and make friends. I ordered lunch and made friends with the barkeep. He was pretty cool as they usually are and then lunch arrived. I'm not sure if a truck driver would have found the tamale special enough to eat, but it was way more than I could consume at lunch, let alone dinner.

I latched onto one of the local free newspapers and had my greatest laugh of the day when I was reading the personals section. These poor lonely men are touting their wish list for a girlfriend and I'm thinking, get real, it won't happen in a million years. The descriptions were very exactly as to how tall they were allowed to be, what age group and at least ten other things. I would have rather read, I'm a decent person, how about a cup of coffee some conversation and we'll figure out the rest later. I don't care how tall you are, relationships weren't built on height. Now don't go thinking I'd ever meet anyone that way. Not this girl. I like the up close and personal thing. I've got to see the eyes first. You know they say you can see a persons soul in their eyes. That's what I look for, to see if there is one.

While I was there they were making arrangements with the next musical group to play next weekend for stage set-up and I heard one of them say, "Hi, we're the band" and my mind took me to the Blue Brothers movie with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd impersonating The Good Old Boys who were supposed to play that night. It's funny how we relate so many things in life to what we see in the movies. Some years from now we'll find out if a cracker jack scientist reminds anyone of something they saw in a campground one time. Sex and science may seem like a strange combo, but I've discovered in matters of the heart, geology and a couple in a vacant campground under the stars at night is a hot topic for sure.

It was another great day in earthquake country. Great sights, good people and a view of local geology which is always a good excuse to get out from behind one's computer. It gives us pause to think about how everything got to where it is today and speculate about where it will be one hundred years from now.

Petra