After breakfast, during which I discovered that it takes precise mixing to make cream and Dr. Pepper taste good (but the granola was a special treat) we strolled thru Ashland - found an omm pa pa band



and eventually went for a walk in Lithia Park, which begins right by the Shakespeare theaters. It's about 8 acres and was designed by the guy who designed SF's Golden Gate Park, altho it is on a much smaller scale. It is really a delight. Here's Mary Alice entering the park which extends gradually uphill on either side of Ashland Creek.




The place was beautiful, fall foiliage in display on some of the trees, a little pond with ducks swimming in it



and deer tame enough not to bolt when people were walking past them at a distance of only a few feet.



Finally, I saw this and realized we had crawled thru the back of a wardrobe in one of the antique stores.



People do everything in this park from sleeping, to racing. We went thru about an hour of track teams running down the trail, with fans at various crucial points yelling encouragement to them. Finally, while watching two squirrels play in the tree tops, we met a 44 year old man and his girlfriend, firefighters who had worked on the Weaverville fire, but otherwise free spirits. He explained his philosophy of life at some length but the thing he said which resonated with me the most was his rhyme about Humboldt County:

"Come on vacation, leave on probation."

Either I have just figured out what Shakespeare schollars have spent lifetimes working on, or I read this somewhere and forgot where (there is a name for doing that which Jung invented).

Here's the key: Shakespeare is writing in a tradition of poetry about morality - virtues and vices - written in anthropomorphic terms. True Feeling introduces Desire to Steady Virtue and they visit Lust. Things like that. But Shakespeare makes human characters do the play instead of the virtues and vices. Take Othello, for example:

Othello is a play about distinguishing truth from deception, and the tragic end of Othello and everyone around him shows what happens if you can't learn to tell a lie from the truth. The entire play is about this: we open with Iago, the liar, ("I am not what I am" -he says, a reversal of what God says of himself in the bible) explaining to Rodgrego his philosophy of life. Then we learn that Iago is taking money and jewels from Rodgrego and pretending to advance R's love affair with Desdemona. Desdemona has fooled her father into thinking she does not care for Othello, but then she elopes with O and marries him. The father lies to the Magistrate saying that O used magic to seduce Desdemona. D tells the truth and sets that straight. But immediately the assembled leaders of Venice learn the Turks' fleet is sailing for Rhodes - or is this a feint disguising the real point of the attack - Cyprus. How can they tell? That's what the play is about. Finding reality in the midst of false seeming.

Iago goes on to fool his wife, and Casio (who is unfortunately named after a video game company - Just fooling) and in the end murders Rodrego, tries to murder Casio, Othello murders Desdemona,Othello tries to kill Iago, Iago murders his wife, Othello commits suicide - the stage is littered with corpses. This carnage has been caused due to various characters, most notably Othello, not being able to tell that Iago is lying. In fact one line which is repeated often in the play is that Iago is an honest man (remember Anthony in Julius Caesar "Brutus is an honest man" or words to that great ironic effect).

There you have it. The key to what is happening in the particular play is usually found in the opening scene. Its just that we don't understand that means of organizing drama any longer. Now you do.

Up in the morning and out on the porch of the motel. It was about 30 degrees, and you could see snow on the forested mountains to the west of us. Steam was rising off the hot tub, and the famous Best Western Free Breakfast was waiting. I had raisan bran, and we went for a walk.



Ashland somehow looks like it has been imposed on the landscape, and a somewhat bi-polar landscape it is. Look to the east and its virtually high desert. Here's a nice rock formation as seen from the edge of the Rite-Aide parking lot. But look west, as above, and you see forested mountain sides.



I would say that there are signs that the "old west" does not want the new west to intrude further. The Best Western we are in is at the south intersection of the Ashland road and I-5. As happens at those kinds of exits, there is a cluster of gas stations and motels with E-Z on/ E-Z off. But the intersection community while new is not prospering. Right across the road from the Best Western is the Windmill Motel - a huge complex which is closed down and showing serious damage from defered maintenance. Here's the end of a road of motels around the corner from the Best Western.



There were several new commercial buildings on that short dead-end road that were shuttered and empty. Meanwhile also on that short stub road is the Relax Inn, a reminder that motels used to be utilitarian. It's one of the old cinderblock motels. Nothing fancy.



After our walk we went to the Rite-Aide for sundries, and wandered around it for about an hour like innocents given a glimpse of paradise. We shopped. I got a card reader for the computer, which is why you see pictures in this blog entry. Then to Albertsons for an apple and a coke - my lunch. I'm down to 159 pounds now.

Mary Alice is not on my diet, so when we got to the theater section of town we went upstairs to Alexs Plaza Restaurant, and bar. Luckily I had brought my cell phone, and we spent some time in conversations with and about clients with warrants. I'm turning the thing off now.



Mary Alice had a grilled vegetable plate which she enjoyed while I wondered if lunchtime has passed, which is diet controlled for me, and dinner time had begun, since it is not diet controlled. Dinner time had not begun.



For dinner we went to the Lark in the Ashland Springs Hotel.



At 9 stories tall it is the most imposing building in all of Ashland. We had been advised to get a drink there, and there were no tables available, so we ate at the bar. I had an excellent pot roast, washed down with a Washington state Syrah. "Enjoy the play" the waitress said. I said "I don't know if that would be appropriate. Its about a guy who kills his wife."

Then to the theater for Othello. It was outside, and about 35 degrees. We had arctic coats, and rented blankets, so it was nice and cozy. The infra-red headphones helped alot, too.

Ashland is the home of Southern Oregon University, and the Shakespeare festival, and not much else. It is a long strip town built on the old highway. The festival is the amazing thing. Remember when Garberville was trying to develop an economic base to replace timber and livestock. Well, Ashland did it. Back in the mid-30s a guy named Angus Bowmer evidently got this idea on the order of "My dad has a big barn, lets put on a play." Today they run a season from Febuary to November with perormances in three theaters simultaneously, afternoon and night. Very high quality performances, the core of the presentations is Shakespeare, but they have branched out into some more modern playwrights, too. The thing is that they attract hundreds of people with a good deal of money into a very small town on a steady basis. There are upscale restaurants, lots of motels, a several block long boutique/artsy commercial area, and added to this are the students from the University (who sit around with their dogs playing flutes, and ride bicycles a lot). We have the Mateel Center, we have the Reggae site, we have the Community Park. What we need is to stop fighting with each other so we can get something going - other than marijuana. Nothing wrong with marijuana, but when they legalize it, its going out in to the valley and the party will be over.

Mapquest said take the backwoods roads through the mountains to Rt 36, over to I-5 and you'll be in Ashland 4.5 hours after you leave home. Sweet. Necessity said take 101 to Crescent City, cross on 199, go SOUTH on I-5 and you'll be in Ashland in 5.5 hours. Why was that? Well, we live in the country and every time we leave home there are things that need to be done in town. There are no towns on the backwoods routes. Besides I had to pick something up in Redway and file it in Eureka, then file something in Crescent City. We ate in Grant's pass at Herbs La Casita, where I had a NY Steak. It was better than the Apple Peddlar in Crescent City, but I think NY steaks may not be possible to do well. In the end we arrived in Ashland at the Best Western Windsor Motel about 4 miles from the theaters, just in time to unpack and catch the motel shuttle to the plays. Corilanus was the first.

The scenery is really interesting the whole way. In fact from Garberville on it is remarkable. I think, however, the stretch from Arcata to Crescent City is the most striking. Not just for the shoreline views, but the forests, and the landscaping.

My sweetie and I are going to Ashland to catch the end of the Shakespeare Festival for 2008. We've heard about it for years, and last year we went and it was great. So we booked early for this year. Then I got some Federal matters to do, and the Feds went ahead and scheduled hearings without bothering to consult me. One hearing was set for Friday, the night we see Othello. Not good. But I managed to find a flight from Medford to SF, and back, which would allow me to make the hearing in SF and get back in time for Othello (or a few minutes late). I got the last ticket. Not bad, but certainly not cheap.

A couple of days later I got a notice that the Federal date had been moved to Feb 2009. That's great for me, but now what to do with my expensive plane ticket. Well, I spent $30 on insurance when I got the ticket from Orbitz. Looks like that will pay off now, right? Wrong. It turns out it only pays off if something prevents you from taking the flight, not if the flight's purpose has been removed. This doesn't seem right, since it is clearly a circumstance out of my control, but that's the policy. So, its a kind of rip-off, it seems to me.

Best I could do was convert the ticket into a kind of future ticket. I have one year to rebook the ticket, on any flight on United Airlines, so long as I am the passenger. All good. But they will charge $180 to do it. Not so good, but better than losing the entire $650. I'm out about $30 in service charges to book the flight, $30 in wasted insurance costs, and $180 in ticket transfer costs. Say $240. Next time, no insurance. Then I'll only be out $210.