On A Mission
Our friends Gary and Oswaldo have finally moved back from Staten Island to West Hollywood. I tried being a goof and telling them that there really was little difference between the two places and that they would hardly notice the move. That didn’t work even for a quick laugh. I’m not sure what it is about Staten Island that brings out this “run away, run away “ reaction from people, but it very palpably real and far more pervasive than can be easily explained away. We moved there voluntarily for three years to be close to the New York Wheel project and Kim went along willingly and tried hard to immerse herself in the local scene, joining the board of the St. George Theater, singing at the National Lighthouse Gala, and going with me to every not-for-profit event that Staten Island could throw our way. We did lots and lots of local socializing and I even joined the board of the College of Staten Island. The local community (at least the higher-end socially active part of it and the local business community ) embraced us in a very open and genuine way. I commented often about how nice the Borough was towards us and we, in turn, worked hard to show our appreciation by participating and giving generously to many local causes.
But everyone who has lived on Staten Island and then has seen “The City Lights” of the broader world beyond its shores, knows that there is a very real phenomenon which involves feeling that, for whatever reason, that there must be more to life than Staten Island. As much as I liked living on Staten Island for the three years we lived there, now that Staten Island is in the rearview mirror, I understand that my time there was not the high-point of my life. A few years ago, my sister gave me one of those wooden relief maps of Staten Island. It’s a nice piece, but I wasn’t sure I wanted Staten Island to figure prominently in my new life out here in Southern California so I found a spot in the hallway below a window, about six inches off the ground. That may seem like a dis to Staten Island, but in truth, I think it was very reasonable given the circumstances. I will never live on Staten Island again and it is part of my history…just not a particularly memorable part of it.
So, now I have moved on just like Gary and Oswaldo, and Southern California is my new home. When we thought about what we should do together this weekend, I came up with the idea that we should all go and celebrate our Californianess. What could be more emblematic of California that the string of Franciscan Missions that dot the coastline from San Diego to Sonoma, covering 530 miles. Since there are twenty-one Missions in the California Mission system, that means there is a mission approximately every 25-30 miles. Since they were all built between 1769 and 1823, it is safe to assume that their spacing was a function of how long it took someone to ride from one Mission to the next. This is not unlike the Caravanserai that we encountered in Turkey last year along the beginning of the Silk Road. Those were spaced to be the distance that could be covered in a day by the camel caravans that worked the route to India and China from Europe and back. Of course those establishments were set up to protect the camels and their drivers from the marauding bands of road warriors who plundered the silk trade. The California Missions were set up to protect the souls of the faithful from the heathen savages and gradually convert those savages to the piety of Christendom.
I have always thought that the Missions were an important part of California’s history since the blend of Hispanic and “American” pioneer culture is what made California great. The Missions set the stage for the state by giving a toehold to Europeans as they set about organizing massive farms and ranches all along the rugged coastline of the Golden State. The list of the Missions from south to north are:
• San Diego de Alcala
• San Luis Rey de Francia (Oceanside)
• San Juan Capistrano
• San Gabriel Arcangel (Pasadena) – C
• San Fernando Rey
• San Buenaventura
• Santa Barbara
• Santa Ines (Solvang)
• La Purisma Concepcion (Lompoc)
• San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
• San Miguel Arcangel
• San Antonio de Padua
• Nuestra Senora de la Soledad
• San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
• San Juan Bautista
• Santa Cruz
• Santa Clara de Asis
• San Jose
• San Francisco de Asis
• San Rafael Arcangel
• San Francisco Solano
I convinced Kim, Gary and Oswaldo that it might be a fun project for the weekend to start our process of seeing every Mission on the list and collect a memento of each. I felt it would help us all connect to our old and new heritage as Californians. Everyone agreed, so we decided to start with San Luis Rey and San Juan Capistrano. The former has the distinction of being where my father is buried (I placed him there in the wall in 1993) as well as the closest Mission to our home. We took a picnic lunch and had a delightful visit to the 230 year old Mission and its peaceful grounds amidst the hubbub of Oceanside.
From there it was up the coast through Camp Pendleton to San Juan Capistrano, the Mission made famous by the annual return of the famous swallows. We did not see the swallows, but an unusually large flock of smallish crows surprised us with their presence over the Mission. We were not sure what that was about, but the Mission was delightful particularly by virtue of its lovely garden courtyards. We agreed to revisit during the Holiday light show. Then it was up the Ortega Highway and over the hill to Lake Elsinore for the Freeway ride back down to Escondido.
Tomorrow we will go to the Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island, but on the way we will stop at the Mission of San Diego del Alcala, the mother ship and first of the California Missions, established as a Spanish beachhead of sorts in 1769. It’s history includes several annihilations of both missionaries and local Indians, but nonetheless, it started a missionary trend up the coast and launched the largest state in these United States in terms of populations by being a vast 35% larger than the runner-up, Texas, another state with strong Hispanic origins.
When I was on Staten Island, I got into tugboats and now that I am in California, it seems only appropriate that I go on a mission to see all the Missions that helped found this great state.