Isolation Diary: I am just returned from a trip north to visit my brother in Felton (just inland from Santa Cruz). I traveled by train and, not wanting to take a connecting bus, Ted, my brother, picked me up in Salinas. And reverse back home. I like traveling by train. However, no wifi service and I missed the debate. Actually on purpose, not wanting to elevate my indignation level to life damaging heights, or depths. I spent a LOT of time looking out the window of the train and here are two observations: California is large and a lot of it is not burning. I don’t mean in any way to diminish the loss and trauma of the devastating fires California and it’s people have experienced but from the window of the Coast Starlight I saw no evidence of fire, current or past. Also, we passed many small towns, isolated farms, and somewhat larger towns, all separated from each other. I thought that it is probably an effort to travel to a larger town or the closest small city. To travel to a large city…San Francisco or anywhere in the Bay Area or Los Angeles or San Diego is a major event. So small town people (fly over people) may think they are overlooked by the ‘elite’ and not understood but, on the other hand, do they understand urban dwellers? I think maybe not. In our large state and our large country, with the clamoring of the media bending our perceptions, how do we acknowledge and learn to deal with and accommodate differing experiences and needs?