Wednesday, June 15, 2011

RoadLark: Lake Shasta

I'm on a road trip and yesterday I discovered a sundial bridge that's only correct once a year and walked into a cloud of scotch broom that smelled like heaven. I'm in the Northern California area looking at mosaics, talking to mosaic artists and doing whatever else captures my attention.

The Sundial bridge spans the Sacramento River and is simply for pedestrians as part of the Turtle Bay Exploration Park.  It is glass decked in order to allow light to the salmon spawning habitat below and designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.  It is the world's largest sundial and the only bridge of its kind in the US and quickly becoming a California icon.

 I spent a couple of days in Chico which has the largest city park west of the Mississippi (3800 acres).  The downtown area has a series of "legacy benches" and this is a picture of the one honoring Raymond Carver:




The Current:

These fish have no eyes
these silver fish that come to me in dreams,
scattering their roe and milt
in the pockets of my brain

But there's one that comes --
heavy, scarred, silent like the rest,
that simply holds against the current,


closing its dark mouth against
the current, closing and opening
as it holds to the current.

It is way hot here so today I'm off to the coast to meet another mosaic artist.

1 comment:

  1. What a wonderful trip you're on! I did not know about the Sundial bridge... so marvelous.

    Have fun. I'm sure you'll come back inspired.

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