Following the visit from our friend Chris from San Diego (see previous blog) we headed out the next day for San Francisco with the intention of making a trip to the San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm and hopefully connecting with a few people we knew in the area. Reservations were made to stay at the zen center for two nights (Monday and Tuesday) and then drive back on Wednesday. The 330 miles between the two cities effectively meant that the drive each way would take about six hours, leaving only the middle day (Tuesday) to pack in a lot of activity.
I'm not one to take pictures while on the road so there are none of the trip but it was pretty amazing to see the scale of the farms in the valley laying between San Luis Obispo and Salinas, they were huge. Even more amazing is that we were not even in the central valley (Fresno area) which dwarfs (farm area wise) what we were seeing.
Large cities seem to be becoming less and less accessible by car, and clearly with good reason. An alternative is to drive in as close as possible then use whatever public transit that's available. In San Francisco's case it is the BART.
According to the BART system map our best bet seemed to be Daly City. Unfortunately that didn't work out because the only way that one can park at their station lots for more than a day at a time (we found out after driving in) is via the internet and also required printing out a form for placement on the dashboard. Seeing as we didn't bring a printer we were out of luck and had to drive back to the SFO airport to park in long-term parking. That was much more expensive too. Live and learn.
Anyways, we did arrive and after checking in did a little walking around.
Did I mention that the SF Zen Center is located at the intersection of Page and Laguna? Only a stones throw away from these streets. If you were around in the 60's & 70's chances are that these street names are familiar.
The next morning (bright and early) saw us at the Port of San Francisco waiting for a Ferry to take us up to Larkspur. We were to be met in Larkspur by a friend (David) who now lived in the north bay area near Fairfax and was going to drive us to the Green Gulch Farm. Having arrived a bit early there was time to take in the sights.
Looking to the south is the Bay Bridge.
Panning to my right began bringing the financial district into view. The Ferry seen here is one that travels into the south bay area as will be seen later.
Panning further right is the Coit Tower.
And then there is the San Francisco Belle,
the Belle is a paddle boat.
While we were waiting the south bay ferry backed out and started on its trip.
It quickly went out of sight.
Right on schedule our ferry arrived.
The people from Larkspur debarked before we could get on. I later found out that the capacity of this particular ferry was about 450 people.
On our way we passed this barge.
There are hundreds of trailers on that thing.
A bit of marine layer hangs over the city but the fogginess to these pictures is also due to the salt spray on the windows.
The Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.
The above is Alcatraz.
Our trip up to Larkspur is one of the longer ferry trips and took about 30 minutes. Truth is though, that I was amazed at how fast that vessel traveled. They must have jet engines in them because I really felt that it would have flown if it had wings. We seemed to just skim over the water.
At our Larkspur destination.
Great picture of the Golden Gate Bridge on the ferry.
After arriving in Larkspur David first took us up into his hood. The first stop was at the Good Earth Natural Food Store for something to eat and then we took a hike in an area he found very relaxing. The north bay area is truly beautiful, it's not far from the city but also far enough to escape the negative energy of the city. Next stop Green Gulch.
The Green Gulch Farm is a part of the San Francisco Zen Center.
The above signs gives road travelers an indication of where the farm is since it can't be seen from the road.
In order to see the farm from the road it is necessary to pull over and look down into the valley.
Beyond the hills lays the ocean.
Following the driveway down the hillside we parked the car then walked past some workshop buildings to where the office was located. That's it to the right. The structure on the left is part of the teahouse grounds and in the background is the zendo.
Looking back from the zendo area we again see the teahouse surroundings and the office to the left.
This image is of the zendo on the left connected to residential quarters.
The zendo; though we went inside to take a look I didn't feel moved to take any pictures. I was awed by the beauty of the place.
Moving away from the buildings we head toward the farm land.
An irrigation pond.
Some of the farm hands busy at work.
This area was kind of a little meditation grove.
Peace and serenity.
A pole with characters, I wonder what they mean.
Ahh, now I see.
David & Volker checking out some of the pottings.
I'm wondering what the building behind them is though, it's kind of unique.
It's a toolshed.
A toolshed with an altar.
Very nice, the altar is lit from above by a skylight.
A view from the other side.
And a work bench.
That's one cool toolshed.
David with a sunshiny glow. Gates, as seen in the background, are part of the effort to keep deer out of the gardens.
Volker on the move.
Now were getting into the edible stuff.
Looks good.
Another deer gate, a big smile and, we're off to Muir Beach.
On the way to the beach was this pasture with horses but I wasn't sure whether they belonged to the farm.
The beach was nice however I passed on taking pictures of it and we headed back.
Before leaving I took a few pictures of the teahouse enclosure. This picture is of the handmade wooden door, gate thing.
The stone walkway and plantings.
The teahouse itself.
The backside of the teahouse structure.
After leaving the Green Gulch Farm we stopped for another bit to eat and then it was back to Larkspur for Good-byes and our ferry trip back.
I've know David for at least a dozen years now, since he was a grad student at MIT. He then moved west to attend Stanford for a second masters degree and has remained in the area ever since. I last saw him two years ago when we were in SF for a conference; he's a very sweet guy, I've always enjoyed spending time with him, but it was time to part company. We had to meet another friend (Paul) for dinner that evening.
This is Paul. Unfortunately because our schedules were so hectic I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of our get together and had to grab a picture of him from his Facebook albums. As you can see Paul is a serious kind of guy so I'm hoping he doesn't mind. Anyways, Paul is a bay area native. Though he was brought up in Marin County, we met at a workshop many years ago while he was working in the Boston area. We all had a great time at dinner at La Mediterranee but our time together had to be short so that he could catch the BART back to Lafayette. Otherwise, as the BART announcement says, "if you miss the last train you'll have to take the bus and you don't want to do that."
Before departing on Wednesday morning we had the opportunity to meet with two more old friends over breakfast in the zen center dining hall, Genine and Issho.
Another Facebook album grab. This is Genine who has been in residence at the zen center for at least a couple of years now. We first met her through our association with Manhattan's Village Zendo when she lived on the east coast. I think I'd be somewhat near the mark to describe Genine as a writer/educator and when we spoke with her it sounded like she was likely preparing herself to move out of residency into that area of work. Wishing you luck Genine.
As I mentioned above, joining us at breakfast with Genine was Issho. We first got to know Issho when he served as the resident teacher at the Valley Zendo in Charlemont, MA. During this time he also taught at many of the local colleges and institutions. In 2005 he returned to Japan with his family only to return 5 years later to be Director of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center in San Francisco. The above photo shows Issho, on the right, after giving a talk at our zendo ( now known as Two Streams Zen) in Northampton in November 2010. The whole set of photos for that talk can be seen at this link. While I am far from being someone who does photography for commercial purposes, when Issho mentioned that he had copied some of my photos for his own use I had to fake at least a little indignation with the comment, "Well, I hope you at least give me credit where you use them."
Anyways, our trip fell just a little short of meeting everyone we knew in the area. Randy, a person we knew from Northampton has been living in San Francisco for at least a couple of years now but between the limited time we had and his schedule we just couldn't make it work. By 11am we were on our way back to the airport to get the car for the long drive back.
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