By Artist and Big Sur resident Erin Gafill
"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught." (Baba Dioum, 1968.)
We walk up the ridge hearing birds sing, feeling the sun’s warmth on our skin, smelling the scent of wild sage growing rampant on the trails. A thousand feet below, the blue Pacific spreads out like a carpet of sapphires. Deep purple irises are blooming now. They peak out from beneath the dense brush edging the trail. We have packed a picnic and find a clearing in the sun where we can eat it, savoring every bite as we rest our weary muscles. We are hungry, thirsty, tired, and incredibly happy to be sitting here surrounded by the indescribable beauty of Big Sur.
Before we left the house, I had been feeling a little sad and overwhelmed. It has been a long winter. Last week, walking through the orchard below the house, it seemed the three old apple trees had died. Now, just a week later, their branches sprout new leaves and pink blossoms. The annual miracle.
On the trail now, spring flowers bloom and sitting on this mountaintop above the sea I feel at peace. May flowers have lured us out today, but there is never a bad time to hike the coast.
We never tire of scanning the sea for the annual migration of whales, the frolicking of dolphins, and the soaring majesty of the California condors. Too long without it, I begin to feel like a plant without water, too. Here, Nature is fierce and nourishing at the same time. This spring, the coast’s rugged beauty is adorned with red Indian paintbrush, orange sticky monkey flower, wild radish and patches of lavender lupine and sprawling California poppy.
It is in first falling in love with a place that we are inspired to protect it. We protect it by first paying attention to it, tending it, and allowing it to teach us. We protect it through sharing it in ways that inspire love in others—writing about it, photographing it, painting it, composing music inspired by its sounds and rhythms—and we preserve it by respecting the boundaries of trail and wild spaces.
As we make our way down again, Tom asks me to photograph the wild flowers we are seeing along the way so that later my sister-in-law Meredith can identify them for us. Some, like the red Indian paintbrush, are like old friends. Others require a little research. I did not know that poison oak flowered, or that blackberries grow rampant along some of our beach trails.
When we go into Nature, we seek not to change, but to be changed. We invite its beauty, harmony and diversity of life to ground us, to bring us back into balance. The experience inspires in us a desire to not just feel, but also to understand, and in understanding, to protect.
As an artist and writer, I rarely travel without a pen and paper, though lately “Notes” on my iPhone has taken the place of my journal. Taking time to make notes, I feel more deeply the vastness of the turquoise sky and cobalt sea. Pen in hand, my senses quicken. Instead of just enjoying the birdsong as background music, I find myself wondering which birds I am hearing.
In pausing to contemplate, my curiosity is aroused, and also the pure primal joy that rises up at being alive, feeling that sense of one-ness with all. I am struck again that understanding a place means paying attention to it, and that it is in slowing down that we can best observe it, ask questions about it, study it.
As we finish our hike, we take care to leave nothing behind, and take nothing with us but the memories of this day. But we do not leave empty handed. We have gathered deeply from the well of beauty and wisdom and leave full-hearted.
It is my hope that in sharing my love of Big Sur through image and word, I am part of the ongoing education of others who may not have yet learned ecology stewardship, or the profound joys to be had experiencing Nature first hand.
WAYS TO LOVE BIG SUR
Support the Weston Call Fund for Big Sur of the Community Foundation for Monterey County.
Learn about Weston’s life and initiatives around maintaining a healthy balance between locals and tourists in Big Sur, how you can be involved and local resources visit www.lovebigsur.com.
Take the Big Sur Pledge to protect and nurture Big Sur
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Weston Call Fund for Big Sur was created in 2018 to provide residents, businesses and visitors an opportunity to pool their giving. It is governed by an advisory board which provides oversight, raises funds, defines grantmaking priorities and recommends grants to benefit Big Sur. It is a special purpose fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, which offers administrative and investment support. It is the holding fund for LOVE Big Sur.