Bedlam in Bolinas

Chap 3

                            RETINA PASTEL RIOTS

            Jeb realized that the sun would soon plunge into the ocean and so he sauntered off with frisky ole Aristotle to catch some beams. They approached the cliff face and a stiff wind smote their nostrils with salty brine. The sea breeze enchanted Jeb's mind and Aristotle strutted like one happy dog. They neared the slope crest and Jeb spotted a man clad in white, sitting erect on the edge of the cliff.

            "Ah, he's settled in my favorite spot," he thought.

            A little closer, Jeb could see the man was sitting erect in some kind of yogic posture and he thought, "Hm ... one of those eastern types, I'll go over to the lower ridge and stay clear of

him."

            Jeb veered to the lower end but Aristotle seemed to have a

mind of his own, and he trotted right up to the man in white and

plopped down next to him. Aristotle just sat there and stared

stoically out into the sea. He fixed his gaze straight ahead,

his body still like a statue. His back straight and muscles gaunt, not even a twitch of an ear, seemingly lost in deep thoughts.  

            Jeb thought, "Good show Aristo, what kind of dog am I to have? A Philosopher like your namesake, or are you some eastern mystic?"

            Jeb hesitated and stood his ground, waiting, sure that Aristotle would soon break out of his reverie and return to his master. But the RCA dog act just continued, not a muscle twitched.

            Keep it up Aristo and you'll be sitting in lotus before long ... ah ... what the hay? I'll just stroll over there and get a peek of my favorite view ... before the sun goes down. The yogi won't mind ... it's public property.

            Jeb gingerly approached the edge of the precipice and looked seaward, and he sucked in a quick gasp of air as his eyes were assaulted by the pristine beauty of the sun going down over the pacific. It cast a riot of oranges, and reds and yellows, that blended into the mist, as only a Bolinas sunset could do.

            If meditation will get you colors like that, well, I'd be sitting there shut eyed all morning and night, thought Jeb to himself.

            "Extraordinary, isn't it," said the man in white.

            "Hope I didn't disturb your meditation?" Jeb said.

            "No meditation ... I was just soaking up some `prana' and getting a glimpse of the sunset ... it's a real wonder."

            Jeb thought, Oh no ... not another airy-fairy new-ager like my mom ... no offense mom. I'll be as polite as I can.

            "Yeah, it's a new wonder here everyday. This is my favorite spot on the cliff," said Jeb.

            "You don't say ... it's one of my favorite spots too. I've been out of town for awhile and I've missed it. Say, I don't think I've ever seen such a meditative dog."

            "That's why I named him Aristotle, he's so rational and grave sometimes, I wonder what planet he's from."

            "Or what philosopher he was in some past life," he said as he laughed.

            Oh, thought Jeb, there's that `other life' stuff my mom babbles about. Jeb then said, "That's interesting, I've heard about the past life theory from my mom."

            He looked at Jeb with a smile and said, "I can tell from your demeanor that your horoscope is dominated by heavy air signs, such as Libra or Aquarius, am I close?"

            "I thought a person had only one sign, but you're right about Libra as far as I know."

            The man pulled on the tip of his beard and said, "It is true that most people from the western hemisphere think in this `one sign' way, but actually there's more to a person than one of 12 signs, much more. I can see you are a Mercury man with a majority of air signs, obviously you're a high thinker and a seeker of truths..." He gave Jeb a look of "am I not wrong?"

            "Why yes, very intuitive ... and I agree that the western view of things is sort of naive sometimes ... and I am a seeker of a sorts."

            Aristotle meanwhile broke out of his trance and trotted around the cliff's edge as if he had purposely engineered this whole conversation ... and now he had dog things to do.

            "Keep seeking, you know there's too many wonders out there ... too many to fit neatly in a few college textbooks. My name is Jehrom," he said, extending his hand. Jeb warmly took his hand and gave his name in return.

            "We're fairly new around here. Just moved onto that spread up there," said Jeb. His nod indicated the direction of the house up the road. "Tell me a little more about those heavenly signs ... if you've got the time."

            "Sure, I'd be glad to. This sign business is how I make a living, I'm an Astrologer. In fact, I live down the road, and you and Aristotle are welcome to come over for a while, if you'd like. I could fix some tea."

            Jeb was amazed on one hand with the instant prelude of mutual confidence with this stranger ... but even more amazed at his willingness to go and take tea, when he usually would have opted to decline.

            "That's kind of you, I'm a bit predisposed for tea," he said to his amazement. "What do you say, Aristo?"

            Aristotle looked at Jeb as if to confirm his decision, and then dowsed a scraggly shrub and then took the lead in front, strutting straight ahead as if he knew were they were going.

            They angled down the sloping cliff and took a left on the dusty road that ran east into a thicket of eucalyptus trees. Aristotle inspected every notable tree trunk and bush that lined the road. Jeb walked along and admired the high tree line of the towering eucalyptuses. Those tall majestic trees swayed in the ocean breeze and engendered a good feeling in Jeb's chest. It was a day for feeling good about everything ... no particular reason. The air and sky and trees and land all fit so neatly together ... and Jehrom seemed like an old friend to Jeb.

            After passing through the grove of Eucalyptus, they came upon a clearing of green meadows, and in the center stood a quaint log cabin, surrounded by a circle of cypress trees.

            Jehrom led them to the door and said, "First I'll get some water and food scrapes for Aristotle, and then we can go in and sit down."

            Aristotle was satisfied with some leftovers and a bowl of water, and then they entered the cabin. Jeb was awed by the nice scent of incense and the exotic wall hangings.

            "Please sit, my weary seeker, and rest your feet, and I'll make some tea," said Jehrom.

            Jeb looked around at the metaphysical wall hangings and before long he savored the scent of peppermint steeping in two mugs on the table.

            A smile touched his face as Jeb said, "After searching for years in bookstores and campus libraries for the big answer, it seems that the quest has ended up here ... found in the nature fields of Bolinas and a log cabin."

            Jehrom smiled too and tilted his head in a dreamy way and said, "Yes, this land is chock full of wonders ... and horrors too," he ended in a whisper, as if he didn't care if it was heard or not.. His eyes gazed out the window as he talked about the wonders, like he was seeing them ... but as he said horrors, his eyes sort of darted over to Jeb with a look like, well ... that's right, things like that happen ... even in small town Bolinas.

            Horror ... Jeb's mind balked at this word. In Bolinas? No, not here ... but maybe San Francisco. Sure ... I could believe San Francisco. There's enough horrors there to keep you up all night. Crime, pollution, mental tortures. Kind of like putting a pack of rats in a small box, those cities. Put little doses of strychnine in the little devil's food and watch the filthy rodents go crazy. Fighting and biting and gnawing each other. That's city horrors. But small town Bolinas? Nah.

            Jehrom seemed to read Jeb's mind and looked out the window in a pensive mood and said, "I think about when I was a boy, young and idealistic, maybe we all were that way once. You take a young boy with a head full of wonders, and you grow him up, and put all this media junk and toxic waste in his head ... and watch the wonder slip away ... that's what you call real horror. The boy lives in a secret world that builds wonders unceasing, but then he grows up ... and is covered bit by bit, and the boy within is lost in a maze of grown up botherations and trivia. That is the horror of it all. We grow up and ignore the most astonishing things of life, even forget they exist ... sorry ... I'm rambling."

           "No, that was nice. I almost felt the boy wonder start to peek out of his covers inside myself ... thanks."

           "In fact," said Jehrom, "there was some portentous work of vileness perpetrated in our land only last night. All that lightning and thundering were omens, to be sure. After double checking my astrological readings - I was amazed at my conclusions. All signs definitely indicate that some malevolent being …or thing happened around here ... amazing as that may seem."

            "Malevolent you say?"

            "Yes. Last night when the thunder and lightning was at it's peak, I cast a horoscope ... I knew that some thing was born near here. My suspicions were confirmed. Venus and Mars exchanged houses of the 2nd and 8th, and Saturn was the karmic control planet in the 12th, in the lunar mansion of Rahu. This all makes a very sinister yoga, indicating the appearance of a very tormented personality."

            "Sometimes there occurs some astrological point of contact between two or three people or whole groups of people. It may be an unusual alignment of karmic planets, like evil aspects of Saturn or Mars or Rahu, causing a cosmic replay of past collective karma."

            "Collective karma. Hmmm. What exactly is ... Uh, this karma stuff?"

            "Just a continuation of past life activity, a sowing and reaping sort of thing ... if you will."

            "Yeah, but do we just read a book and believe? This karma kind of tweaks my brain."

            Jehrom laughed. "Sure, I don't blame you. But it's more common sense, not just books. Think about it ... without karma, how can you explain the fact that some man is born in bleak poverty, scrounging for bread, while the other man is born with the Jaguar keys in his hand?"

            "You got me there."  

            “The cosmic waves, out there in the zodiac and planets, they envelope every turn in life, every pattern, every beginning and end of life, from the forming of the embryo up unto the end of life. Waves create the matrix of future crossroads and journeys, future joys and sorrows. Some get a bigger slice of war, more combat in life’s battlefields, and others avoid it all - without trying. Karma.  Some try to sidestep to a safer path and yet the bullet still carries their name. Some trick the game and sideslip the pattern, step out of the matrix and look back and forth and all around, and control the ride - somewhat - get more choices.”

            "This planetary alignment may be a cosmic repetition of something that happened a long time ago, perhaps several decades. It acts like an astrological trigger that trips off some major conflict or gathers many souls together into some sort of flux of pre-ordained karmic reckoning. People with past-life ties are sucked up together, to act out some unfinished business ... or perhaps, some unfinished nonsense."

            "We may compare it to a trigger of a gun, or the button that blasts off a nuke missile. A celestial dynamite fuse that trips off some dreadful ordeal ... engaging souls from a past era to repeat some dark destiny."

            "As unbelievable as it may seem ... this whole thing appears to be happening here ... right here in Bolinas. And the signs don't look good."

            "Anyway, enough of that, I'm glad to have new neighbors such as yourself," said Jehrom. "Please let me do some astrological readings for you and your family ... I assume that you have some family?"

            "Yeah, a mom and dad and a bunch of wild cats in the woods, heh heh, and a sister in puberty and in a temporary state of insanity." They both chuckled on that one.

            "If you have a bit of astrological antidote that would counteract the ravaging effects of 5000 megahertz of death metal sound blasts, I'd like you to administer it to my slightly confused sister."

            They both chortled until Jehrom thought that perhaps it was a little serious after all, when Jeb's face turned a tad concerned.

            "Sounds like it must be a Rahu period," said Jehrom.

            "Rahu?"

            "I'll explain that later, and don't worry, it will go away in time."

            "I hope so. Yeah, I would love to hear about this astrology of many signs, maybe some other time, but now I think it's time for Aristotle and me to head back."

            Jehrom smiled, "All I need is your birthtime and place."

            "Ok, I'll do just that." They shook hands as if they closed a big business deal. Jeb then thought, "Would Nietzsche be proud of me now? Probably not, but anyway, a little exploration is always feasible."

            "Let's go Aristo." Aristotle perked up his head to show that he was ready to go, and started for the path.

            "Come back soon Jeb ... you too, Aristotle." Aristotle's ears went back in reply.

            "Thanks a lot Jehrom, see you soon."

            Aristotle glanced up at Jehrom as if to say thank you and goodbye and then took to the path. As they passed through the eucalyptus trees, Jeb heard the wind rustling the tree branches like an eerie song ... and he saw an owl slice through the trees, silhouetted in the moon disc. They soon came upon the sea cliffs and the ocean air brought it's familiar salty smell to Jeb's nostrils. The air was cool and damp and the breaking waves of high tide were splashing on the rocks with a tumultuous noise. The crashing waves made such an alluring sound that Jeb was irresistibly drawn to the din. He and Aristotle pursued the pounding clamor up the edge of the cliff and Jeb stood at the edge and stared at the white frothing waves that hit the rocks and explode with a silvery whiteness due to the waxing moonbeams shining brightly above the sea.

            It seemed that Jeb was there alone with the moon and sea and Aristotle, just the four of them sharing some secret. Jeb then felt something strange and undeniable. He fought off a strange urge to leap and fly out from the cliff and glide like a seagull over the breaking waves, or to soar up to the moon like a god. He was surprised by these strange thoughts and shook his head.

            Then his eyes caught the sight of some large object on the rocks. It was hard to see, but he strained his eyes and finally realized it to be the limp body of a deer, it's body crushed on the rocks. Jeb was shocked to recognize such a misfortune. He was sure that the deer was not there before, just a short hour ago when he stood at the same spot to see the sunset. Now he could understand how horrors can indeed come without any warning, in the most uncanny places, and yet, in the most beautiful scenery. How could an agile deer fall to it's death! They are animals of sure foot and most dexterous of any species.

            Seemingly, the forces of the elements had drawn the beautiful thing to fall by the sheer beckoning power of it's magnitude. Sort of like Jeb's absurd feeling to jump and fly. As a vortex may allure and draw within it's funnel a passerby by magical conjuring, Jeb could feel the uncanny drawing of this untamed scenery. He felt the magnetic force that tugged at his frame. The power was coming from the strange rock formation below, with sea swirling all about. The sea and moon and rocks and waves had pulled like some powerful sorcerer upon the poor deer and forced him down to the hungry rocks, which appeared as huge teeth eager to chew on some tasty morsel of life.

            The whole scene appeared to Jeb as if it were some gigantic monster with one eye. The moon was his eye, the rocks his teeth, the waves his tongue, the sound of crashing his bellowing, the salty breeze his breath, the deep sea his belly. A huge monster trying to suck him down ... yet an alluring and splendid monster at that.

            Jeb reeled as he thought of his urge to jump and fly like a bird. He felt dizzy and backed away from the edge in strange trepidation and fear of falling off the precipice into the monster's gaping mouth. His head swooned as his legs bent like rubber and he dropped down to sit and catch his breath and grapple for his sense of balance. His wild imagination made him feel as if the sea breeze could suddenly suck him out and over the cliff face at any time, or else the cliff could just break off by the magnetic power of this thing, and hurl him to his death. Aristotle sat next to him and looked at him with concern.

            "It's ok Aristo, I just had the strangest dream thoughts, more like a nightmare ... how strange! What tricks the mind can play! No worry though, since I got my ole buddy here with me," he reached out and pet his dog. Aristotle panted and seemed to smile like all dogs seem to do, making Jeb feel secure.

            He got up with effort and walked off with Aristotle. The wind seemed to sing a song like a siren that beckoned him to please come back and jump into the sea and play around like a kid in his wading pool. Jeb shook off the crazy thought and jogged down to the road. He walked back to the house assuring himself he was all right, but a weird fear hung around his head like bats in a belfry.

            He thought ... Just forget it man ... all crazy stuff ... just a bunch of unreal crapola! Come on ole Jeb boy, let's get back, back to the real world, you can do it, I know you ... you're the boy who can philosophize the world away, so lets get some dignity back, and forget this hocus-pocus fiasco of the mind.

            Aristotle looked up at him just that moment, just to confirm what he was thinking.             "That's right Aristo, and if you say so, then it must be true ... Heh heh."