1California Blossoms and Harvest Delights
The Long Lost Garden of Eden Series
In appreciation of
California's People, Cultures, Wine,
Fruits, Beaches and Landscape
http://bestsellerpicks.blogspot.com
And
UrbanBooksPress and SurfBoardPress
Dedication and Thanks
This book would not be possible without the dedication and hard labor of our farmers, growers and the various organizations that advocate on behalf of California agriculture. I want to give thanks for all the juicy and beautiful fruits we have come to expect every year. The Central Valley of California is the “fruit basket” of the world.
This book is a tribute to the stewardship and sustainability spirit that most Californians possess. I have learned that to better appreciate California one has to be an outdoors person. Think about the sun, sand, sea, mountains and snowfields, dunes, orchards, wildlife and the vast expanse of farmland that the Golden State proudly and generously offers to the tourist. How about Highway 99? Who can forget all the little towns that you meet along the way? You can decide to go to Yosemite, Kings Canyon or Napa Valley, Santa Barbara, San Diego or Pismo Beach.
This book is dedicated to everybody who loves California, eats the fruits of the Central Valley, enjoys her famous recreation sites such as Yosemite, Hollywood, Santa Monica, LA area, Squaw Valley, Santa Barbara and many more.
I thank all my readers who, after reading “The Long Lost Garden of Eden” have told me about their interest in my second book. So here it is.
This book is dedicated to Caleb, Cassandra and Colby. Caleb, this is your book!
Thanks for allowing me to give you my interpretation of what it is like to live in California.
Thanks to all of you for your support.
Table of Contents
Dedication and Thanks
Temporary Problems, Eternal Glory
Bridges of California
Pastoral Delights
Gold Nuggets
The Walls of Jerusalem, The Walls of Fresno
Hypergraphia
This Land Is Our Land
Such Delights Of The Granadas
Pho Soup Fusion
All of a Sudden, Rapture
Abrahamic Promise
Autumn’s Bare Limbs
Sticks in the Land
Wine and Worms
Influx of Cheap Labor
Freeway and Highway Crosses
Decadence
Superb Bowl or Super Bowl Hyperbole
Every Inch and Each Act
Island Figs
Firefighters and the Big One
Cry Over Manzanar
Open-field Nuts Check
Half-life of Parents
Harvest Display
Harvesting Delights of the Garden
Odes to Kings River
Liquid Gold, Sierra Snowpack
Lite Lit Bites
Lost Meditations
Open Range, More Steak Please
Peach and Nectarine Bites
The Good Life. Go Nuts! Will You?
Poetry Like Water
Roosting Marvels, Roosting Headache
Spirit Fog
Tamales For The Holidays
The Redeemer and the Redeemed
Head to Big Sur For Romance and Meditation
College Reality on Alcohol Abuse
Farming Waste Comes With The Territory
California Outdoors Cooking
Summer Grilling in California
Teach Your Kids The Right Way
Obsession and Addiction to Cleaning
Fresno’s Hip Spots
Los Angeles and Jay Leno’s Cars
What’s Special About California’s Multiethnic, Multifaith….
The Museum of Tolerance
Pismo Beach, California Central Coast
Sacramento, The State Capital of California
San Francisco, The City By The Bay
Santa Monica, The Liveliest City on Highway 1
The Unfinished Business, The Vacuum Job
A Living Testament To Our Heroes
The American Good Life
The Migration To The North
Clovis, California
A Brand New Day In San Francisco
Water and the Blossom
Blooming Orchards
Harvest Ladder
Golden Vineyards
Sanger, CA
The Vast Wilderness
Convivialis: Food and Romance
Chili on top of Hot Dogs
Fallen Angels
Prophecy and Revelations
Copyright 02-23-2009 Joseph Jony Charles
http://bestsellerpicks.blogspot.com
No parts of this book can be copied or reproduced without the written authorization of its author.
Mr. Charles is the author of the well-acclaimed “The Long Lost Garden of Eden,” a tribute to the farmers, growers, farmworkers and consumers of California-grown fruits. It’s available at http://shopnowshop.tripod.com, http://bookstore.shopnowshop.com, amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders and many other booksellers.
Once more, Central Valley residents , thanks for your support and encouragement!
Happy Reading!
Bridges Of California
“To live, men need bread as well as beauty,
Oxygen as well as meditation.”
Why should we fear life’s restless stream?
Why should we postpone our dream?
Why should we lose faith in the face of terror,
Calamity, weapons of mass destruction, horror,
germs, biological threats and a torrid storm?
We must continue to search for answers with fervor
Don’t we still have the Golden Gate bridge?
On her wide decks, reflect on her awesome form and history
Don’t we still have the peaks of the Sierra Nevada?
Don’t we still have the Hoover Dam
Where water gets corralled to quench many a ram?
Don’t we still have the striking beauty of Yosemite,
Kings Canyon, Big Sur, the coastal range, and Sequoia Park?
As resplendent as they can be in the sizzling Summer sun,
the bridges of California still loom mountain high, full of fun
Don’t their strong piers still grip the ocean floor?
San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge, Golden Gate bridge,
Richmond-San Rafael bridge, San Mateo-Hayward bridge
We appreciate thy steel arms which support and facilitate
commerce, transportation and quality time
They connect people with people as they link shore with shore
O bridges of California, massive monuments to men’s
Technological advances, determination, and great vision
be exalted on high and break the enveloping foggy mist
Jewels of the west, may your high lights continue to shine
From all the world, tourists will ride through your gates
With pride, your towers will continue to pierce the sky
Pastoral Delights
Numerous heads of cattle are grazing on the grassland
under a spring-like weather in the middle of Winter
Not far from a lone oak tree, the steers concentrate
on the tall non-native grass that grows in the sudden pools
A recent wind has cleared the ozone and the smog that tend
to block the view of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains
From their hives on the edge of the fields,
the working bees of the central Valley have already realized
the appropriate weather conditions to fly from nectar to nectar
Most of them will return the next day to pollinate almond trees
There are no nuts without bees. Neither are there crops
without snow and water flowing down from the mountains
On such pre-spring days, who wants to think about ozone?
Yet, we know that this invisible gas is as sure as Spring,
Fall, and Summer. May this perfect picture last one more day!
The sun shines enough to break the cold and warm one’s heart
in the backroads of Madera and Fresno counties.
Who wants to think about particulate matter or PM?
These solid materials get suspended in the air
of the San Joaquin Valley. We throw ourselves into many
outdoors activities. We breathe the soot, ash, diesel exhaust,
dust and nitrogen-containing chemicals
that rich and poor residents swim through. We are all equal
before air pollution. So are we with asthma attacks, heart attacks,
lung cancer, chest pain, wheezing and many other weather-related ills.
Who wants to think about the days when kids can’t play outside?
Who wants to think about the times
when football practices must be cancelled?
Bad air saps the energy of most valley residents
Isn’t it time that we protect our heart?
Let everyday be Valentine’s day
Loved ones will pay more attention
to their sweetheart’s health.
Isn’t it time we pay attention
to the air quality index?
We, Californians, enjoy outdoor activities
Yet, when the reading of the AQI is above 150,
we should heed forecasters’ advice.
“Limit your outdoor activities. You should be concerned.”
Soon the seasonal rainwater pools of Madera will be the sites
of beautiful wild flowers which will attract nature lovers
Let the ranchers join hands with the environmentalists
to preserve and fight off creeping encroachment,
hungry urban development and sprawls
The majestic rolls of the landscape are potent magnets
that will prevent future generations from enjoying
the unspoiled view and access to the Sierra Nevada range
Gold Nuggets
Organic peaches, nectarines, avocados, hay,
grapes, free-range cattle and chickens are
the new gold nuggets of Calif. farming
A new gold rush is on. It’s time to convert
and change traditional growing practices
It’s time to transition the fields
For three years, the farmer should not use
manufactured fertilizers and pesticides
It’s a return to the land as the repository of many
systems of living organisms needing our stewardship
for preservation and continued production
Like gold mining, organic farming requires lots of work
The virtues of beneficial cover crops must be rediscovered
Weeds become the unconquered forts of the land
Gophers like to hide underneath these weeds
To cause major headaches to organic farmers
Weed control, gopher traps, ladybug and timely pruning
are their only weapons. A new focus on holistic health is born
The organic farmer is in a perpetual war against pests
to meet consumers’ needs to have reliable agricultural products
Farmers, growers, ranchers and food processors are now giving
consumers what they want. We are willing to pay for it too!
Organic farming is a return to uncomplicated and natural principles
The consumers’ perception of what’s healthy and safe
is the new rule of this growing niche market.
Who can be sure of the extent of GMOs infiltration?
Advocate large compensation for accidental chemical spray drift
The organic farmer and rancher will soon become our rock star
Their hollywood-like studios will be the organic certified acres
which have been in the family for many generations
May the day when we appreciate our food producers come soon!
The Walls of Jerusalem, The Walls Of Fresno
A testament to a grand vision,
An awesome relic of the past architectural designs
Or a monument to the ideals of grandeur
Of an agricultural city and its proud people
What was it then? What is it now? A wall of fame?
A Central Valley-based temple to education and
The community college system in California
It’s a benchmark of the State Center Community
College district and a plaque of honor to teachers
As well as students who filled her early classes
It’s a witness to the visceral changes, sprawl of Fresno,
And the flight to anywhere north. Uncontrolled growth