Ken McAlpine
Ken McAlpine is the author of eight books, a collection of fiction, non-fiction, and essays. His most recent novel, "Juncture," is a cerebral "Jaws"; a suspense-filled thriller, a story of primal love and our changing oceans and, perhaps, a final fork in the road. "West is Eden: Reflections on this Gift Called Life," is a collection of his KCET essays. He lives in Ventura.
In this world where so many things are going wrong, so many things are also going right -- like this choir program in Ventura County.
The end of Jalama Road in Santa Barbara County may be beautiful, but dawdling along it can be just as rejuvenating.
I whistle as I drive because this road makes me happy, and long ago I ascertained that getting lost presents no problem if you don't care.
Should you travel to Morro Rock (and you should), you are apt to meet Bob Isenberg. He's been there, off and on, since 1969. He's easy to find. In his words, "Look for the guy with the tripod."
In this cacophonous age when almost everyone is shouting to be noticed, quiet speaks loudly.
There's so much debate, din, and shouting in politics. But beneath all the noise, I hear the whisper of things lost.
"Hearst broke down social strata," says Jim Allen of Hearst Castle. "He was definitely a Californian."
Something is seriously wrong when our most important asset -- the education system -- has to ask for money.
"I want to go away and see things," she told me. Many people say this sort of thing. Not so many have Stage 3 cancer. She had a bucket list, she said. Ambling around the country, going nowhere in particular, was on it.
Should you visit Piedras Blancas beach, I advise you visit in the evening's last light. There is something bizarrely ethereal and comforting about the gloaming that drapes itself on this stretch of sand seven miles north of San Simeon.
I'm betting that the issue of homelessness gives all of us pause.
This natural glory so close to civilization, the Santa Monica Mountains are a wonderful weirdness.