A vernal pool on Figueroa Mountain. A male and female mallard were seen in the pool. March 27, 2020
I find it difficult to live in a society governed without reason.
My mind operates logically. I am irascible by nature. I am not submissive. I am free thinking and independent. I do not subscribe to dogma nor doxy. I’m off the reservation. I’m wild and free in spirit and mind. My vision is not blinkered. I am obnoxious and loud mouthed with my opinions and points of view and I do not hedge against this trait nor offer apologies. If confronted, I can be rather confrontational. I fire from the hip. My fuse is short. And, as a student of history, I am deeply suspicious of authority and organized power.
What I see transpiring in my hometown of Santa Barbara, the Gilded State within which I live, and these United States at large is a daily irritant that festers with each new headline.
On March 19, Governor Newsom declared a statewide lockdown order that compels by force citizens to remain home. Citizens are only legally allowed to leave home for “essential purposes” such as work, purchasing food or medicine or for healthcare purposes.
Newsom’s dictate is backed by the threat of a fine and jail time. This is a law with teeth, not merely a suggestive guideline.
People are now being arrested in other states for violating these statutory lockdown orders and for being outdoors.
The Chicago mayor stated this in no uncertain terms.
Lightfoot added that spending long periods of time outdoors, anywhere, is not allowed.
And neither is going into closed spaces, like playgrounds.
“You cannot go on long bike rides. Playgrounds are shut down. You must abide by the order. Outside, is for a brief respite, not for 5Ks.”
Chicago threatens fines, arrests for coronavirus crackdown violators
https://nypost.com/2020/03/26/chicago-threatens-fines-arrests-for-coronavirus-crackdown-violators/
The ruling class tells us to stay home and socially distance and isolate ourselves to prevent our own infection and to prevent ourselves from infecting other people. To “bend the curve” and lessen the ballooning infection rate, they tells us.
Then the same officials threaten to incarcerate us and force us at gunpoint into closed and confined areas with other people, thereby violating their own distancing protocol at the same time prisons are releasing convicts to avoid such conditions for fear of an outbreak.
This is madness!
Headlines:
Checkpoints set up on Kauai, 2 arrests on Oahu as police enforce stay-at-home order
Coronavirus behind bars: Prisoners being freed to slow spread in ‘virus vectors’
The smooth weathered slopes of chaparral carpeted hills along Sunset Valley.
In Santa Barbara the ruling class has told us that the local recreational marijuana stores are “essential business.” And so they remain open catering to potheads. Because getting high in Santa Barbara is “essential.”
A MESSAGE REGARDING
COVID-19At Coastal, we are vigilantly monitoring events related to the novel coronavirus outbreak COVID-19. At this time, Coastal will remain open for both medical and recreational customers for normal business hours. . .
These stores operate out of closed and confined spaces–buildings–where it is not possible to maintain the stated six foot “social distancing” protocol and where vectors of disease are set out for patrons to freely handle and set to their faces to smell.
I do not have a problem with adults being allowed to legally purchase weed from documented licensed vendors. I do not care if people want to smoke flowers or the derivatives there from.
But at the same time, the backcountry campgrounds like Davy Brown have been cordoned off and closed and are actively patrolled by goons from the abusive and overreaching moneygrubbing Parks Management Company, as I myself have recently witnessed.
(Previous Posts: Parks Management Company’s Red Rock Racket, Parks Management Company’s Red Rock Racket Continues)
This despite the fact that the campsites are well spaced and it is easy and possible with no extra effort to camp in each site and maintain a far greater distance than the six foot protocol.
Stoners are legally allowed to walk around inside a building and carry on transactions with clerks face to face, exchanging forms of payment and presenting identification and each touching what the other touched, and patrons breathing on and sniffing the same product containers at the display cases.
This is utterly senseless.
Yesterday, the family Elliott spent the afternoon on Figueroa Mountain in gross and flagrant violation of Governor Newsom’s stay at home lockdown dictate. And we were happy to do it.
To take our children to the mountains to play is now illegal and punishable with a $1000 fine and six months in jail, as per the Governor.
(EDIT 3-30-2020 8:08 AM. To clarify, I am taking a strict constructionist interpretation of the Governor’s order. Yes, indeed, the lockdown dictate permits limited outdoor recreation. But as per the Governor these activities are only allowed within your “local neighborhoods.” We have been instructed that “Californians can walk, run, hike and bike in their local neighborhoods as long as they continue to practice social distancing of 6 feet.” I do not interpret that to mean the entire county. https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/#top)
We’re all outlaws now. We will not submit to this madness!
Do not misunderstand. We take the novel coronavirus deadly seriously.
We are highly educated people. We are well read. We follow closely the minutiae of current events on the national and world stage. We have susceptible seniors and old folks in our family like most everybody else. We have family members on the front lines working in the hospitals right now. We do not take this threat lightly!
We removed our children from school before the government finally decided to close them down. We began to self isolate and stopped interacting with friends and family and the public at large before the government decided to issue the various dictates and protocols regarding “social distancing” and home lockdown. In our essential business, which remains open, we formulated specific protocols to limit interaction between employees and clients before any of our professional peers in the county, so far as we know.
In point of fact, we have as a family and as a business been ahead of the curve with respect to self isolation and distancing and proper protective measures.
Santa Barbara County is mostly rural. This is a demonstrable fact. Large swaths of the county are unpopulated if not unpeopled and much of the land here is designated National Forest and Wilderness. Within just a couple of minutes from my doorstep I enter the forest.
Santa Barbara County is not a densely populated metropolis. Yet, the same rigid one-size fits all lockdown dictate applies as much to citizens here as it does to those living in the middle of Los Angeles city proper.
This is senseless.
The Dude will not abide!
To paraphrase Kipling: If you can keep your head when all about you men are losing theirs and blaming it on you. If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too. Well then, you’ll be a man my son!
In Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey wrote of the wilderness as a refuge from abusive government:
“The wilderness should be preserved for political reasons. We may need it someday not only as a refuge from excessive industrialism but also as a refuge from authoritarian government, from political oppression. Grand Canyon, Big Bend, Yellowstone and the High Sierra may be required to function as bases of guerrilla warfare against tyranny. What reason have we Americans to think our own society will necessarily escape the world-wide drift toward the totalitarian organization of men and institutions?”
UPDATE April 5, 2020: Please see my remarks in the comments for further information and opinion.
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure 
I was out on the trails, Matias, Arroyo Burro, Buckhorn, Camuesa, earlier this week…there’s no one enforcing a quarantine of any kind. All of Santa Barbara is lackadaisical at this point. Don’t let it wind you up so much! Fig looks pretty. Stop reading the headlines, they’re clearly just agitating you more.
On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 8:22 PM Jack Elliott’s Santa Barbara Adventure wrote:
> Jack Elliott posted: “A vernal pool on Figueroa Mountain. A male and > female mallard were seen in the pool. March 27, 2020 I find it difficult to > live in a society governed without reason. My mind operates logically. I am > irascible by nature. I am not submissive. I am fre” >
Thanks for taking time to comment, Tam.
I hear ya, man. The way things are going, seems inevitable that front country trails will be closed, and they have been my salvation.
Every Forest closure I have seen has carefully pointed out that dispersed camping is still available as long as “social distancing” can be maintained. The State Parks have closed parking lots, but then state that trails are still open for day hikes, although more of them are further closing because people stack up into them to the point where they cannot maintain “social distancing”. BLM has closed visitor centers and offices, but makes it known that day hiking and dispersed camping is still allowed. (They’re also increasing closures. They suspended permits to the King Range yesterday. I’m annoyed because mine is for tomorrow. Yes, I do consider that part of my neighborhood at the moment.) The various agencies, including state agencies, seem to think they’ll still get visitors.
In short, you’ve got a better argument that you are operating within the law than the pot dispensary, especially if they are conducting their business in a way that allows customers to handle product before purchasing it. There have been a lot of businesses claiming to be essential and getting told otherwise.
Standard I-am-not-a-lawyer disclaimer because I am not a lawyer.
Hey Norton. Thanks for dropping by. We saw a few people out there doing the dispersed camping thing. A guy and his dog with a pop up trailer slid into our parking spot right as we pulled out. We spoke kindly at a large distance. Kind of funny the distancing thing that goes on unspoken, each person lingering at an odd distance. Everybody looked happy and safe. Sorry to see your permit was suspended. That stings. Where else better to be than way out there away from it all? It’s amusing. They want us to distance ourselves. But not too much distance. We’re not permitted into the deep back of beyond.
Good article and perspective. I am giving up pot for a while because I don’t trust the stores. I don’t smoke that much anyway so it’s no big deal. My wife and I are moving from Anaheim to Visalia have been taking trips in our car to move what we can. We stayed in our apartment an extra month to respect the lock down but eventually we have to get our moving van set up so we don’t have to worry about overlapping rent and mortgage. Anyway I guess I would either just stop paying rent or ask the mortgage company to allow me to defer payments. I would rather stop paying rent because I don’t want to delay paying off the house. At the same time we have ordered our furnishings so we have to take delivery and I wanted the internet to be set up. I hope they have a good prediction for when the “curve has been flattened” so we can all get back to normal. At the same time I don’t agree with our leaders saying it’s OK to go back to business as usual, just so they can “rescue” the economy. I am trying my best to not judge any one party or nation for this coming about. I think it’s the world’s fault that we didn’t have a vaccine in process after the first SARS virus, and certainly after the second one. We don’t have to give Bill Gates the credit for having warned us……..there were probably enough experts giving us the same warning which we foolishly ignored.
Anyway be safe and take care of your family. I agree totally with going to the outdoors, especially when you’re only going from your house, to your car, to the trail, and back without making any stops in between………What do they think??? That the boogyman is out there waiting for you???
Thanks for taking the time to comment, and your kind words. I just noticed your comment stuffed in my spambox right just now, hence the reason it didn’t post sooner. I hope your move and all works out well. We certainly have enough to deal with as it is! Cheers.
Well-spoken. All of us have the same love of nature and the suspicion of little pols making laws that won’t affect them. But remember what Kipling says – keep your head. Fortunately, here on the east side of the Big Hills, in a place without California’s recent embracing of the police state (it was hard for a fourth generation Californian to leave but the place is not longer paradise) we can walk or hike pretty much as we wish, and we do so. As to how we respond to such nonsense – and especially the privatization of public assets under the thuggery of concessionaires – keep another poem in mind. Here’s the conclusion:
Come, my friends,
‘T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Tennyson
Thanks, Don. Sounds like you may be out US-395 way.
PS. I am making it a point to raise the issue of the privatization of public assets with local so-called liberal Democratic representatives. Frequently and firmly. This should be a major political issue, so I suggest that all of us insist that those who are supposed to oppose such things do so.
It is indeed a rather odd course of action for the liberal-progressive Democrats to so easily go along with, the corporate takeover of the forest, when they so often oppose that sort of thing on so many other fronts as a matter of routine course.
Thanks, Jack.
But they haven’t been Democrats for decades. They’re Hamiltonians – that is, they like the Republicants want the world Alexander Hamilton – “that bastard brat of a Scotch pedlar,” John Adams called him – wanted: A huge tax-supported standing army, a police state, a libertine lifestyle, and a corporate state.
Here’s how Adams described it: What a pity it is that our Congress had not known … that Alexander Hamilton’s projects of raising an army of fifty thousand Men, ten thousand of them to be Cavalry and his projects of sedition Laws and Alien Laws and of new taxes to support his army, all arose from a superabundance of secretions which he could not find whores enough to draw off! and that the same vapours produced his Lyes and Slanders by which he totally destroyed his party forever and finally lost his Life in the field of Honor.” …
And here’s poet/doctor William Carlos Williams on Hamilton: …Paterson[NJ] he wished to make capital of the country because there was waterpower there which to his time and mind seemed colossal. And so he organized a company to hold the land thereabouts, with dams and sluices, the origin today of the vilest swillhole in christendom, the Passaic River; impossible to remove the nuisance so tight had he, Hamilton, sewed up his privileges unto kingdom come, through his holding company, in the State legislature. His company. His United States: Hamiltonia—the land of the company….
It seems to me that for those of us who resist such a weird and unAmerican marriage of libertinism and militarism and corporatism need to begin working on a new direction for our community. Picking one or two issues and holding the pols feet to the fire is the way to start. Privatization of public assets is one of those issues. Letting your reps – especially the so-called liberal democrats — know how you feel is a good way to begin.
It helps us to ventilate, and I rant a lot. But how much better to put our shoulder to the wheels of real progress and use that energy to roll ourselves toward our ideals of freedom and public land. Like Kitty does with her group and your local reporter (who she mentioned in a post) shining his light on the dark forces in that parks management outfit.
Here’s a final quote, from a teacher in LA about such privatization:
Chase Stauffer, another English teacher in the making, said no one should be surprised that teaching is not well-compensated.
“It’s by design,” he said. “Neoliberalism is the siphoning of funds from public programs into private
funds. Los Angeles has more millionaires than any other city and yet we’re constantly told there’s
no money in education….
Yes, Jack, I’m living on the border between the Sierra Nevada/Carson Ranger and the Great Basin. I can get away with the occasional rant here – so far – and the place still has pleasant walks and strenuous hikes.
By the way, here’s another quote. a poem which underpins what you’ve been saying:
The Peace of Wild Things
by
Wendell Berry,
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Bravo! very well written post and exactly what’s happening here (although they haven’t got quite so draconian with the fines and imprisonment yet but they will…)
I’m literally going out of my mind with frustration – mainly because I can’t get to my beloved mountains (which I’m now having visions of in my head all the time and it’s driving me crazy). But the thing really, really bugging me is what you’re saying – it’s safer up in the mountains than down here walking around our narrow lanes. I met far more people today at close proximity than I ever would have if I’d gone up the hills.
Also, when I did sneak up some hills after work the other day to exercise my legs after being stood in a shop all day, some busybody left a note on my car. Wouldn’t be so bad but I just KNEW I was going to come back to a note on my car! It wound me up for the rest of the night. I’ve never felt so permanently aggrieved and grumpy!
So… a police state is coming and everyone is going to turn into extra ‘secret police’ – yuck!
Thanks, Carol. I hear you!
Great column Jack. I’ve been creating the April/May issue of Condor Call, which is not finished but not yet posted, and it’s been a balance to urge people to go outside and enjoy nature for physical and mental health. “Watching the River Flow” as Dylan put it. Yet some developed camps and trails are closed and our organized outings have been suspended for now. My wife and I are getting out each day, along the bike trail, Ventura River, beach etc. and we haven’t seen the crowds that LA has and maybe even SB front country trails. Meanwhile, I like the photos in your column, notably the tree through the rock hole and the Figueroa Mt. vernal pool. Any chance of reprinting them in next issue of Condor Call or beyond? If so, I’d need higher resolution versions. Also if okay, send me a link to your column which I can put in the caption. thanks, Condor John
On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 8:22 PM Jack Elliott’s Santa Barbara Adventure wrote:
> Jack Elliott posted: “A vernal pool on Figueroa Mountain. A male and > female mallard were seen in the pool. March 27, 2020 I find it difficult to > live in a society governed without reason. My mind operates logically. I am > irascible by nature. I am not submissive. I am fre” >
I’m sad for you Jack. Your photos are so breathtakingly beautiful . . . it’s too bad that one who is out in nature taking such lovely shots is also so angry and paranoid. The “rules” ask for social distancing and it seems to be helping. Your interpretation might be a bit strict, I doubt there will be issues with roaming the back-country for the serenity and peace it brings (as long as you don’t go in a huge pack). Chill and enjoy!
I appreciate hearing from you. No need to be sad. I’m not paranoid. I’m always angry; that long predates COVID. The law is pretty clear and to the extent that it is not fully enforced doesn’t lessen the impact and legacy of its precedent.
I have no idea why you think I’m angry just from reading this one post, though. That conclusion seems to be unfounded based on this post alone. I think you are reading way too far into it. But maybe you were just referring to my own confession of being irascible by nature.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-03/paddle-boarder-arrested-in-malibu-after-flouting-coronavirus-closures
It’s not paranoia. It’s educated and informed foresight.
Los Padres closes Monterey Ranger District roads and trails to the public until June 1
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/lpnf/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD725280
In alignment with current Federal, state, and local guidance for social distancing and to ensure the health and safety of its visitors, volunteers and employees, Los Padres National Forest will temporarily close roads and trails on the Monterey Ranger District to the public effective April 16, 2020.
This forest closure order will be in effect through June 1, 2020.
These roads, trails, and trailheads are drawing increasingly heavy vehicle traffic and large groups of people, creating circumstances where social distancing is not possible. Additionally, some roads, trails, and trailheads are located adjacent to residential properties and could potentially contribute to exposure risks to local residents. Roads and trails may create unmanageable vectors for further community spread of COVID-19.
This forest closure order includes the following roads, trails and trailheads:
Roads
Tassajara Road – Forest Road No. 18S02
Milpitas Road – Forest Road No. 19S09
Nacimiento-Fergusson Road – Forest Road No. 22S01
South Coast Ridge Road – Forest Road No. 22S05
Baldwin Ranch Road – Forest Road No. 24S06
Los Burros (Willow Creek) Road – Forest Road No. 23S01
Sycamore Canyon Road – Forest Road No. 19S05
Trails
Boranda Trail – Forest Road No. 20S03
DeAngulo Trail – Forest Trail No. 2E07
Kirk Creek Trail – Forest Trail No. 4E17
Prewitt Loop Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E06
Sand Dollar/Jade Cove Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E13
Cruickshank Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E10
Soda Springs Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E17
Buckeye Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E09
Salmon Creek Trail – Forest Trail No. 6E11
Trailheads
San Carpoforo
Salmon Creek
Buckeye
Soda Springs
Cruickshank
Prewitt South
Prewitt North
Mill Creek
Kirk Creek
De Angulo
Boranda
This closure is an interim measure. Los Padres National Forest will continue to evaluate the emerging circumstances around COVID-19 and follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, as well as State and local health departments to ensure that the safety of our employees and our visitors remains our top priority.
Go Jack. We need you to go out and keep nature alive. I’ll contribute money to help pay your fine …or bail!
Heheh. Thanks Paul. Good to hear from you.
So here we are. People now being arrested for recreating outdoors in violation of the statewide governor’s lockdown order. I believed it was coming. And I don’t think it has anything to do with paranoia to have held that opinion, because, as I had said, the law was pretty clear.
(UPDATE April 5, 2020) Note that this man was arrested for violating the statewide lockdown order by the governor. He was not arrested for violating a county ordinance closing the beach.
The man was, as seen in photos, as reported, in the ocean and near nobody whatsoever in any way.
This is an important distinction that disputes the idea that people may hike or recreate freely outdoors so long as they maintain the advised six feet social distancing, as is now being reported in Noozhawk by the venerable trail guru Ray Ford, “the governor’s order, which allows the public to walk dogs and go for a walk or hike as long as 6 feet of distance is maintained between people,”
https://www.noozhawk.com/article/could_local_outdoor_activity_pose_a_serious_health_risk_20200404
April 3, 2020
“Paddle boarder chased by boat, arrested in Malibu after flouting coronavirus closures”
“A paddle boarder was arrested Thursday after ignoring lifeguards’ orders to get out of the ocean. . .”
“he was arrested on suspicion of disobeying a lifeguard and violating Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order, a misdemeanor.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-03/paddle-boarder-arrested-in-malibu-after-flouting-coronavirus-closures
Wow glad to know there is A sane person still left in AmeriHA.
We are violators too and will head out for another 10 day violation tour.
What is local recreating?. For us local is within the state.
We go into no store, other than the one near home which we normally supply at, so we won’t spread the virus and only pump gas without going into the stations.
What a perfect money grab by the powers to be… 4 trillion dollars to be given to buddies and a few token “let them eat” cake $ barfed at the public.
Thanks for your comment, Michael. Have a great time out there the best you can!
Los Padres closes Monterey Ranger District roads and trails to the public until June 1
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/lpnf/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD725280
In alignment with current Federal, state, and local guidance for social distancing and to ensure the health and safety of its visitors, volunteers and employees, Los Padres National Forest will temporarily close roads and trails on the Monterey Ranger District to the public effective April 16, 2020.
This forest closure order will be in effect through June 1, 2020.
These roads, trails, and trailheads are drawing increasingly heavy vehicle traffic and large groups of people, creating circumstances where social distancing is not possible. Additionally, some roads, trails, and trailheads are located adjacent to residential properties and could potentially contribute to exposure risks to local residents. Roads and trails may create unmanageable vectors for further community spread of COVID-19.
This forest closure order includes the following roads, trails and trailheads:
Roads
Tassajara Road – Forest Road No. 18S02
Milpitas Road – Forest Road No. 19S09
Nacimiento-Fergusson Road – Forest Road No. 22S01
South Coast Ridge Road – Forest Road No. 22S05
Baldwin Ranch Road – Forest Road No. 24S06
Los Burros (Willow Creek) Road – Forest Road No. 23S01
Sycamore Canyon Road – Forest Road No. 19S05
Trails
Boranda Trail – Forest Road No. 20S03
DeAngulo Trail – Forest Trail No. 2E07
Kirk Creek Trail – Forest Trail No. 4E17
Prewitt Loop Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E06
Sand Dollar/Jade Cove Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E13
Cruickshank Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E10
Soda Springs Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E17
Buckeye Trail – Forest Trail No. 5E09
Salmon Creek Trail – Forest Trail No. 6E11
Trailheads
San Carpoforo
Salmon Creek
Buckeye
Soda Springs
Cruickshank
Prewitt South
Prewitt North
Mill Creek
Kirk Creek
De Angulo
Boranda
This closure is an interim measure. Los Padres National Forest will continue to evaluate the emerging circumstances around COVID-19 and follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, as well as State and local health departments to ensure that the safety of our employees and our visitors remains our top priority.