A visit to the Pumpkin

 I am reminded of an old gag in the Peanuts comic strip. It featured the character of Linus who, on Halloween, would wait earnestly next to a pumpkin patch instead of going out to trick-or-treat, because he would await the appearance of the "Great Pumpkin". He was acting purely on faith, he wanted to believe in this sort of deity, and as much as the other characters teased him about it, he would not desist. Now that I write about it, I don't know if it was during Halloween or during Thanksgiving, but it was always fall. It was a meditation on faith.

So, today was Veterans' Day and I had no Zoom class to teach. It was chilly outside, although very sunny, and I had seen a listing on social media about this trail, the Pumpkin Hike Trail, in the city of Norco. I had to go, because I was not going to wait around at home all day.

I drove to the city which, I have to say it, gives me a vibe that is unwelcome. It is billed as Horse Town, but it is Trumpland. Many "whites" live there, and there are churches on every block, it seems. It has trails for horses everywhere, and they want to bill themselves as very conservative, an island in southern California. Once sees all kinds of Trump banners everywhere, and I was driving there, I saw another one of those arrogant, in-your-face working class whites with a big flag mounted on his truck, waving a Trump banner. The election is over, you lost, but you still have to express your defiance and hate.

I drove to the Engalls Equestrian park and saw many, many families there on the play equipment. Apparently each family has five or six children, it seems. (I am joking.) But where I am not joking is in noting that they do not wear face masks. What a change of pace from Los Angeles, which I visited on Tuesday (yesterday), and where almost everyone wears one. These are a different people out here in Trumpland.

Well, the trailhead is easy to locate next to the Engals Equestrian facility. I was traveling light this time, with a satchel carrying my Fuji GW690ii camera. It was an easy start, and I was glad I was wearing shorts instead of the pants I was considering wearing because, although the sun was blasting, there was a cold in the air. We are in fall, of course, and the temperatures, they are a changing'. 

Climbing up with a face mask is a hard task. I keep stopping because it was a little steep. It was worse than I expected, and I was also afraid of slipping on the trail because of the loose dirt. I definitely need trekking poles, definitely. I will try to order them soon, next week, when they will show up on my credit card bill for January and not December.

So, the hill is not that high, but it is a climb all the way. And, of course, an obstacle course, because I wanted to avoid passing by other hikers. Speaking of which, plenty of moms with hordes of five years olds climbing up this one! What are they thinking! They move at a glacial pace too. I do not like it, I have to turn off to the side while they make up their mind whether to move or to just crawl and play. 

More later.