Manifest Destiny: America from the Bottom Up - 92 - Fullerton, CA - Patrick McNelly

Reaching California

I actually slept on the Amtrak Texas Eagle for about 3 hours on the way to Los Angeles, where I was to connect to the Surfliner to Fullerton. I had a reserved seat from Tucson and it was much more comfortable than my other overnight trips. When you reserve a seat on an overnight train, often you get both seats and they are set far apart from the ones in front and in back. In my case, I only had the wall of the car in front of me. Unfortunately, that also meant hearing people frequently come through the loud door as they moved between cars. But like anything, you get used to it. And, as the evening wore on there was less activity so it wasn't too bad.

I'd forgotten to set my watch back by one time zone, so I woke at 3:30 am thinking it was 4:30 am. That fixed, I tried to go back to sleep but was too excited by the prospect of reaching this mythical land--the Golden State.

Of course it was still dark when we got to LA (about 5:30 am), so I couldn't see much of the city on the way in. Train tracks are usually lined with industrial manufacturers, warehouses, shipping lots and other business that either use the freight trains or aren't bothered by the sound of the railroad. So just about every town or city I've entered by train looks a little bit dumpy from the passenger's perspective. Such was the case with the approach to LA's Union Station. We passed strip clubs, a million small markets, one warehouse that had to have been half a mile square and dozens of trucking and shipping facilities.

The train stopped and I deboarded. I walked down the long siding to the gate and then up through the immense halls of Union Station.

Tunnel to the Gate Union Station, LA

Journey to the Main Hall

Outside Union Station, LA

Forty five minutes went by in a flash and I was on the Surfliner and headed south east to Fullerton. The sun rose shortly after and I was treated to my first California morning.

We were delayed just west of Fullerton by a freight train that was changing out one of its cars. Unlike the Superliners (double decker trains that travel very long distances) the smaller regional trains have WiFi. So I was actually able to PM back and forth with my friend Patrick McNelly, who was planning to pick me up at the Fullerton Station.

These smaller trains with WiFi also have a neat feature that shows you a web page of where your train is at any time along its route. It didn't take long for me to realize how short a trip it was from LA to Fullerton.

We finally arrived a bit late, but I had told Patrick it would be much later. So I just sat outside the station in the morning sun and drank it all in. Patrick finally called to me from the other side of the track and I walked over the short bridge and met this man who I'd been friends with online for more than a decade.

Meeting at Fullerton Station

We climbed in his truck and he took me out for breakfast at a place called, Monkey Business Cafe. This place is much more than a cafe. It calls itself a "non-profit social enterprise." It does some amazing things for the community...

Monkey Business Café Workforce Development Program 

At Monkey Business Café we are giving teenagers and young adults an opportunity to be employed in a business learning environment. Our program is designed for a six (6) month commitment, where they learn the skills necessary to be a productive employee in the workforce, as well as a self-sufficient adult.
Participants work one-on-one with a job coach to foster a pathway to success that includes work experience, employability skills, and living skills. 

Description of Workforce Development Program 

The goal of the program is to help  at-risk youth and young adults, by giving them the services necessary to enable them to reach their goals and dreams.  Services include but are not limited to:

• Planning – Creating a vision for self-sufficiency and developing a plan to make it come alive.  All consumers are assessed so that an individual service plan can be implemented for each consumer to best meet their strengths and interests.

• Advocacy – Assisting in the understanding of resources available in the community and encouraging each person to utilize resources to meet individual goals.

• Hands on experience – Assessing obstacles for employment and implementing rehabilitation services to overcome such barriers, while providing employment in an actual business setting.  At the end of the six (6) month program, each client will have a bank account, resume, work experience and job placement in the community. 

• Case Management – Locating, coordinating, and monitoring community resources, benefits, and entitlements.

The food was delicious. I ordered a SoCal Omelette (an omelette with three kinds of cheese and bacon, covered with strips of avocado, whole wheat toast and very tasty home fries). We drank our "coffee with a conscience" and got to know each other a bit better.

Patrick worked in Fullerton until his retirement about one and a half years ago. He rose through the ranks becoming the Principle Staff Analyst for the Orange County Sanitation District. Before that he was a photo analyst in the US Army. He worked hard during his life and raised two (now adult) children. 

He is also an award winning poet, under the name "Will Patrick." This is a poem he wrote that resonates deeply with me...

A Necklace of Galaxies 

The magnolias are not in flower now
but the bees drone
in the golden rain
on this hill
of October blooms. 

They seek no elusive nectar here.
These places spin among
many other closer stars. 

The waters warm the children.
We brace for winter storms.
Piers tremble in the tide, surfspun 

Sheltered in cautious symmetry,
we align with distant planets
in other conjunctions
on distant shores. 

Victor talks about cobras.
I sift the castings to remove the rocks.
Occasionally I find a gem among them. 

I seek solace in the ancient sun.
I sing of paradise.
I wear a necklace of galaxies.
I live in eternity here. 

© Will Patrick

Courtesy of The Writing Forum

But it was hard to choose among his work to post here. Different pieces are perfect for different times and places. I urge people to check out his writing at the link above.

Patrick is a warm, very brilliant and easygoing guy. I will have more to say in the future about just what a difference it makes to meet someone you've only known online, in person. Adding the 3rd and 4th dimensions to a relationship has value beyond measure. I had already thought extremely highly of him, but he is ten times what I'd presumed. He has supported me in so many significant ways over the last ten years that I have lost count. I have nothing but pure brotherly love for the guy.   

We talked a bit about our shared Cosmic Philosophy. He is the online manager of a forum which discusses such things. In fact, that is how I first met him. We see things very similarly and it was easy to talk to him about the "Bigger picture." 

We finished and climbed back into the truck. He offered to drive me around the hills overlooking the city. So we drove up through some of the most lush neighborhoods I'd ever seen. Every house was packed to the brim with a huge variety of plant species. Basically just about anything grows there.

There were some great views of the mountains. Mount Baldy Peak was majestic in the distance, tipped with snow. We sat there looking at it and talking about the plants we'd seen, and knowing my deep interest in botany, he suggested we go to the Fullerton Arboretum. On the way to the arboretum he described how the land it is on used to be a citrus farm. Man! It isn't any more.

We parked in front of the open gate, got out and entered the webbing of small paths that led all around the area. The plants are kept in sections that reflect different parts of the world (here is a great interactive map). It was extraordinarily beautiful and I took far too many pictures to post here but below are a few of my favorites...

Waterfall

Plantains (Banana Trees)

Plants for Sale to Support the Arboretum

Huge Flower Spike

Prickly Pears

Agave

Snowy Egret

College Ornithology Class

Rain Forest Tree Root System

Bird of Paradise Plant

Mallard Ducks Munching Algae

Patrick knew the scientific and/or common names for most of what we saw. We walked around for quite a long time but still didn't see it all. If I lived there I would probably go at least once a week. Fullerton is doing some great things. Projects like this really highlight that.

We got a little tired and decided to head back to Patrick's house to relax. He showed me into his very comfortable and inviting home and asked me if I wanted to go out back and have a beer. What do you think I said?

We sat at his patio table drinking a bottle of Rustic Rye IPA, brewed right in town. He has a large aloe plant - Aloe ciliaris (climbing aloe) - in the middle of the yard. And he has a cactus - a night blooming cereus - that produces these flowers...

Photo by Patrick McNelly

He pointed out the plants he had. His lime tree - a Bearss Lime (Citrus latifolia) - is stuffed full of fruit. He got up and walked over to another tree, called a Brush Cherry and picked a handful of red berries. They were about the consistency of cranberries, slightly larger, but juicier. He said they can be made into a good jam.

Patrick is also an expert on composting with worm castings. He gets a most superior grade of rich compost in this way. Here are the little guys...

Photo by Patrick McNelly

We were really enjoying ourselves and I asked him if I could see the lap dulcimer that he made. He went inside and brought it out. What an instrument! I'd never played one before. He played it a bit and I got the idea of why the frets are spaced as they are. It essentially lets you play all the major notes in a key (in this case D). I played it for a while myself and got lost in the sound. He went back in and grabbed his acoustic guitar. And we jammed there in the sun, me on guitar him on dulcimer. I even had the good sense to record it. We improvised some very slow and interesting things--a little loose but patterns emerged. If you want to hear part of what we played click the following link...

Fullerton Afternoon

We had another beer and talked pretty deeply about each of our lives, our Philosophy, his time in the army and my journey across the US. It was fitting in so many ways that I would end the coast to coast leg here with Patrick. 

We decided that we would go downtown to his favorite pub, Bootlegger's Brewery, and have a couple of beers from the source of our afternoon imbibement. When we got there we walked in and he introduced me to some of his friends. Young and old, male and female, Patrick gets along with everyone. We got a couple more of the Rustics and sat to discuss the next day and the next trip north.

Photo by Patrick McNelly

Bootlegger's Brewery - Wearing Patrick's Hat

Pat's Friend Jim - Bootlegger's Brewery

We talked with the people at the table, especially a guy named Jim. I also got some advice about whether I should go to places in between the LA area and the Bay area. By the end of our time at Bootlegger's I was pretty sure that I wanted to skip the middle part of the state (at least on this trip).

We got back to Patrick's at a respectable hour, then went each to our own room. I had planned to write and work, but I was so exhausted from not sleeping much the night before and the whirlwind of things we did that day, that I laid down on the bed with the laptop and simply passed out.

The next day was just as beautiful as the day before. That's how it is there practically all the time. The Santa Ana winds were picking up though. We decided to drive over to Huntington Beach to take my symbolic wallk in the Pacific.

On the way over the wind really got whipping. Palms and leaves were blowing all over the road, and the taller palm trees would bend and then right themselves. We arrived at a very empty but immense white sand beach. We parked and I felt funny, as if it had all (my cross-country journey) gone by way too quickly. Nevertheless, fate picked this day for a wade in the ocean.

Rebaptized by the Pacific Ocean, through the Feet 

Photos by Patrick McNelly

I felt ocean water on my feet for the first time since last summer in Maine. It was decidedly warmer--though most Californians might call it cold. I stood there and thanked the Spark for guiding me to California, and for letting me experience so many adventures along the way. 

It is truly a profound experience to see the sun rise over an ocean in the east and three months later to see it set over one in the west. My mind was filled to bursting with emotions at the same time that it was tangled up in thoughts about the present and the future. Looking back, I saw myself sleeping in the woods, in fields in deserts. The further west I came the more I had to choose motels. But, I'm not a purist about actually walking or camping. That was not what this journey happened for. It was about the personal challenge, and the interpersonal relationships that were built or maintained along the way.

I also tried to carry a message as I moved westward about a New Time soon to come, when inside ourselves we would be strengthened. This strengthening would lock us all together as American brothers and sisters as we have never been before. I have no idea whether it made sense to anyone besides myself. But I HAD to exclaim it. The journey required it of me. And I'm glad I sang this song.

We drove back into town to Patrick's and had another chance to sit outside for a while, before I bought a room for the night and planned the West Coast part of this trip. Patrick recited poetry (some very relevant) and read me passages form his own journal, written in his twenties. I was shocked at how similarly we wrote and thought. 

Eventually it was time to leave, and Patrick helped me find a motel right down the street. It was the perfect place to get to the train station the next day.

I will never forget my time with Patrick, nor his gentle introduction to the state of California. The state is so mind blowing, so astonishing in so many ways, that he was the best person to first be in touch with here. I know in the next couple of months that I can always take comfort in the memory of sitting in his backyard with the sun pouring down and playing the music that let our souls enjoy a little time on the outside of ourselves. It will be my "happy place" when new problems arise in the future.

* * * * * * *

I think many people consider that I must be done with my journey. But such is not the case. It will not be completed until I spend time in Oregon and Washington. There is much more for me to go through. I am worried that interest is waning in this last stretch. The adventure is not over! There will be things that happen that none of us have anticipated. The end is near, but it is not yet here. Thanks very much again for wallking beside me and keeping up with this project. You and the Facebook friends I have literally made it possible. It is not something I did. It is something WE did. I'm so fortunate. I don't take it for granted.

Please, if you'd like to make a donation or contribution click the PayPal "Donate" button at the top right side of this blog page. I appreciate anything you can give, even if it is moral support. Also please friend me at Facebook if you haven't already, to see a vast collection of pictures and videos that are not on this blog. 

Love to All!