Getting Real With Shadra Bruce
My grandparents lived in Barstow, California…which meant I spent a LOT of time in the hot, dry desert each summer. I’d seen most of Southern California…from the beaches at San Diego to Disneyland to Hollywood to trips to the flea market outside of El Cajon. It was in Barstow that I fell in love with eating red burritos from Del Taco, shopping outlet malls, walking through mostly dry river beds with my aunt, and generally extending my love of the desert and the not-too-far-away beaches and mountains (from Barstow, it’s only a couple of hours to the beach and to LA, and only a short drive to Big Bear).
I had no idea of the beauty Northern California held, until Dave and I embarked on this adventure. He may be less thrilled than me with the adventure of it, since he had to drive the curvy, windy two-lane road, but I was enthralled with the variety of landscapes and beauty Northern California had to offer.
The most precious moment occurred when the kids asked where we were and I told them we were driving on the “Avenue of the Giants” through the biggest redwood trees in the world. They were totally excited to be in the “Redwood Forest” of Woody Guthrie fame –
- This land is your land, this land is my land
- From California to the New York Island
- From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
- This land was made for you and me.
- As I went walking that ribbon of highway
- I saw above me that endless skyway
- I saw below me that golden valley
- This land was made for you and me.
- I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
- To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
- While all around me a voice was sounding
- This land was made for you and me.
- When the sun came shining, and I was strolling
- And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
- A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,
- This land was made for you and me.
- This land is your land, this land is my land
- From California to the New York Island
- From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
- This land was made for you and me.
