The Dirt on California

Have you ever driven down a road, just cruising, on your way somewhere for whatever reason, and the air is filled with the smell of strawberry fields? Well, if you haven't, think about how sensational the smell is when you're at the market and you pick up a punnet of strawberries and put your face down close and ssssssssnnnniffffffff.

That is how the air smelled driving through Los Banos, the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and east of the Diablo Ranges, all the way to the Monterey Bay coast area.

Oh, the smell of cauliflower, a vegi I rarely give the time of day.Who would have thought. I won't tell you what Glenn thought he was smelling.

Lettuce. LETTUCE. Everywhere I was seeing lettuce. I had a mix of hungry belly and happy heart. I wanted to stop the car and go roll around in the rich, warm dirt. The fields were were endless. On both sides of the road. They were whizzing past me so fast I couldn't keep up my own excitement.

Food. THIS IS FOOD. NOT IN A STORE. THERE IS DIRT. WATER. WARM AIR.

People selling their produce next to the fields they plucked it from. We have food as our language. That is all we need because we have the same intentions.

It is simple, just so simple. When I get caught up in life in a busy world, I need to think what is important to me so I can come back to reality. Food is important to me. Nourishment. Cooking. This is my reality, wherever I am in the world.