Violence and radical

I have made it out of the cool, wonderful Bay Area and into the horrid hot valley by early a.m. Driving out of the Bay and hitting I5 south, someone turned up the furnace, even at 2:00 in the morning.

I sleep for about 4 hours and then hit the road again by 5:30am. I feel lucky, as there is a thin layer of clouds, turning the sun a brilliant red and diffusing the heat, I'm sure! I stop for fuel and the cashier tells me it is supposed to be 114 degrees in the valley today! I head out quickly. When I get to the Grapevine, cars and trucks are pulled to the side of the road, steaming with their hoods up.

My truck overheats slightly so I slow down and ease up the hill. I stay at the rest stop until it cools off slightly but before rush hour begins in L.A.

In Redlands, I’m pulled over by an excited motorist who jumps out her car & rushes to give me a huge hug! She turns out to be a Redlands CodePINKer, former green party candidate, and wonderful activist who tells me she feels so isolated in this violent part of California. She tells me about death threats she received as a green candidate, and how a progressive council person is actually getting pot shots taken at him and his house, and the lack of legal and police support for activists there. She warns me about traveling through Redlands – I am going to stop and get on-line so I can blog.

I tell her about the intern we recently had from Redlands – an intern whose friends and family call her ‘radical’ but who quite our chapter less than 2 weeks into her internship, claiming that we were too ‘radical’.

While we are standing in the parking lot, a couple of young white males in a jeep ride by screaming “go bush”. I ask them “go where, bush?” They scream again “go bush” and I yell back “go back to Texas bush!” They are laughing and so are we!

I go to Panera’s in the heart of Redlands, which has free internet access. No one takes pot shots but no one will engage in eye contact, let alone conversation. In fact, there's a hush on the patio as I enter. I ease into the restaurant, find a plug and empty table, and set up to blog. I end up not even having to buy anything this time!