So I promised to start blogging more. I've been in California for the last two days, and the life and climate of this country give rise to many, many different topics to blog about. Maybe this is why many Californians are bloggers. who knows?!
To begin with, I must praise the climate. Warmth and daylight make people happier, and there does seem to be a certain sense of 'sunniness' from the people here. Even if they are serving you coffee in Starbuck's. It is a pleasant place to wander around. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure it has its downside and seedy underbelly too. I have been lucky to see nice parts of it. Okay, enough gushing about the good things.
I promised someone I'd blog about cattle. Yesterday, as we drove north towards San Jose, we were passing by miles upon miles of rolling green pasture. To the west, the mountains rose up about 3/4 miles away. The shade of green was so healthy-looking, I was disappointed to see it so empty. In Ireland that amount of grassy hillside would sustain more cattle or sheep than currently make up the livestock population. Why are there no sheep on the hills? It may just be a symptom of homesickness, wanting to see green hills with the little white dots all over, sheep climbing up to pastures that cows probably couldn't get to. Either way, I wondered where the cows were. I'd seen the TV ads for California dairy products, where the tag-line says "California cows are Happy Cows." Well, I discovered shortly afterwards, and these cows did not look like they were happy. For about 2 miles along the highway, and about a mile deep, what could only be described as a multitude of cattle were pent up in a corral, nose to tail, and barely enough room to even swing a tail, at that. I wondered at the mindset that thinks this is good farming practice, and wondered even more at the quality of the beef or dairy produced. Even this is probably considered 'humane' or 'organic' farming. I do not claim to know anything about farming practice, but I do know that in the modern world, it is all about profit. Quality in food, just like standards in hospitals or durability in products, has been sacrificed in the name of the almighty dollar. I always attempt to eat organic foods, wherever possible, but in the present climate, it is often hard to find food that is organic or homegrown which does not cost a week's wages.
Today's dinner was beef or fish, neither of which was labelled as to origin. I tried both, and found the beef hard and stringy, and the fish soft and tasteless.
I have, in the past week or so, been seriously considering vegetarianism. I think that it would be very difficult for me to give up bacon and ham, and more especially fish. Most other meat I could very well live without. I plan to start my new diet as soon as this crazy touring schedule ends. I think semi-vegetarian is as good a plan as any.
On a completely different note, I saw a band called The Steelwells perform in Visalia and am their new biggest fan. I had a chat with the drummer after the gig and he was a sound guy. In fact they all seem like sound guys. I reckon their music will do well over in Ireland. I'm going to be bigging them up for the next while. check them out: http://thesteelwells.blogspot.com/ http://www.myspace.com/thesteelwells or on Twitter @thesteelwells
And finally, on a note that ties together California, music, and living well, I must just add that I have been back listening to Jackson Browne quite a lot recently. His melodies and lyrics just move me. Sublime.
Peace, Love and Gut Health to you all.
Dermo
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