All Camino

Last year around this time I wrote about how the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival signifies the end of summer for me. We didn’t attend last year, but we did go this year on Saturday, September 11, 2010. This of course was the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001. To commemorate it the festival sponsor, Chamber of Commerce Mountain View, held a special Remembrance Ceremony to honor the heroes of September 11 and of the wars that followed.

We arrived a few minutes before 11:00 AM Saturday. We usually park for free in the garage at Villa (if we get there early enough) or on the street, but this year we patronized one of the convenient paid parking lots. It was adjacent to the festival and proceeds benefited Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC). The Remembrance Ceremony began with a single-file procession down Castro Street from Evelyn down to the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts. It was a solemn march of men and women in uniform. At the front were boy scouts carrying their troop banner and a United States flag. They were followed by Mountain View fire fighters and police officers. After them were soldiers from various branches of the military, predominately Army. A policeman on motorcycle brought up the rear. As they passed, festival goers and vendors stood aside and applauded. Some of the soldiers handed out mini flags to children in the crowd.

At the Center for Performing Arts the procession assembled, stood at attention, and saluted as the flag was raised and two talented teens sang the National Anthem a cappella. Air Force Lt. Col. Sanchez addressed the crowd with a moving reminder of the sacrifices the armed services have made since 9/11. He was followed by Mountain View Fire Chief Bradley Wardle who spoke of the terror and bravery of that day. The colors were retired and the ceremony was over. It was brief but inspiring and many attendees took the opportunity personally to shake the hands of our local heroes and to thank them for their selfless service. Watch KPIX’ coverage of the event here. View my slide show below.

It was by then lunchtime so we diffused into the side streets and loaded up with savory delectables. With us was Paulette’s friend Melanie who was visiting us from out of town for the weekend. Among us we had a Thai wrap, jumbo chicken wings (sweet and spicy), pizza, and lemonade. For dessert we found something new: pot holes. They’re fried mini donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar and dipped in chocolate sauce. ‘Sbeen done, you say. Yeah, I retort, but these are made out of potato. “Pot holes,” get it? Apparently they’re not new to the planet but that was the first time I ever heard of or tasted them. I thought they were great. They tasted like donuts, but there was a distinct tater undertone, like a sweetened french fry. The irony is that my son loves the donut fries at Psycho Donuts: donut batter formed like french fries and served in a basket with raspberry “ketchup” and custard “mayo.” French fries shaped like donuts! Donuts shaped like french fries! Stop the madness!

The women went off in search of a jewelry booth that had been recommended by a friend. My son and I ambled Castro at our own less urgent pace from end to end, El Camino Real to Evelyn. Naturally we lingered at the El Camino intersection which I mentally named “Issue Ghetto” because of the political and spiritual free speech tables located there. I took some photos of the historic bell marker in Mountain View Plaza and noted that the nearby flag was flying at half-staff. I stopped at the California Welcome Centers‘ showpiece Airstream and asked them about the Welcome Center sign I had seen in San Mateo on my bus trip the week before. They told me there is in fact a brand new center in the Hillsdale Shopping center to cover the long un-welcomed stretch between San Francisco and Pismo Beach.

The oddest thing I saw was the nyckelharpa, a 600-year-old Swedish musical instrument that’s bowed like a fiddle but keyed with the left hand with a row of buttons, one key per note. It had a beautiful tone and Aryeh Frankfurter played Celtic tunes on it masterfully. The main music stage was at the Center for Performing Arts and we overheard a cover band knocking out some Michael Jackson tunes. Street musicians were scattered throughout the festival so you always had something in your ear. At one point we were sitting in a spot where we could simultaneously hear an R&B backbeat from one busker and some new age flute from another and you know, the resulting mashup was surprisingly groovy.

The festival had a green lean to it. The garbage cans weren’t labeled “garbage,” they said “landfill” instead to encourage you to use the accompanying “compost” and “recycle” bins. Towards the Evelyn end Whole Foods was handing out tasty goodies like bite-sized Lara Bars and Casacadian Farms samples. Cherry pie. Chocolate Chip Brownie. It’s a tough job saving the planet, but somebody’s gotta do it.

With the perfect 81° weather, eye-catching art, and sensory delights taken to near hedonistic excess it was easy for my mind to wander away from the somber anniversary. It pains me to say that; I never want to forget the losses and shining humanity of that day. But it was only nine years ago. This was the 39th annual festival. Mountain View was incorporated in 1902 and the roots of the town trace back to the stage coach stop established in 1852 on El Camino Real on the Rancho Pastoría de las Borregas, originally granted by the Mexican government in 1842. This festival demonstrates to the fullest what no terrorist can undo: when people of good will come together, love and life endure.