Mahoney for California

It is back to school for me, and I feel as though I am where I belong. I will continue to advocate for democratic reforms and am slowly piecing together a perspective of what I have learned as an outsider trying to get into the “party” without an invitation. I want to publicly acknowledge the hard work done on the campaign by my family and friends, by Citizens for a Better Veterans Home and by the Moderate Party. In these people I found reason to believe that the future will be livable, and ultimately that may be more than enough. The focus of this site will now turn away from promoting my campaign and will become a more general forum for anyone who wishes to write about California and its future. Feel free to write about sports, art, education, politics, healthcare, or anything else. Spread the Word. Change is gonna come.

Thank you to all of the people who have been reading about my trip up the historic El Camino Real. I have a great number of updates to make, but for now suffice it to say that I have made it to Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma, and have walked well over five hundred miles of the route, and have not gathered enough signatures to be on the ballot in November. I am satisfied with my effort, although I know there were many things I would have liked to have gotten done. The possibility exists for the campaign to continue as a write-in effort, but it is hard to imagine that I would have much energy left for it, so that decision will be made in the next weeks. I will continue to write here, and will fill in the details of my trip as the days pass. Thank you to all of the people who supported me, who signed the petition, who gathered signatures, or who read from a distance and sent their good wishes. This love is what carried me as I headed down the deadly highways on a quixotic attempt to joust a system which was not going to acknowledge my existence. It is this sense of personal warmth and belonging in a world capable of chilling anonymity that I will keep near my heart for all of my days. Thank you. Spread the word. Change is gonna come. Moose.

The number of wanderers and homeless in and around Santa Cruz is almost as interesting to me as the number of musicians. Maybe they go hand in hand, like a bicycle and a guitar. Walking around at the base of the great redwoods and oaks I feel my youth, gazing into the eyes of a freshly killed animal lying on the side of the road I feel my mortality, and watching a man unload craziness in the chapel of Santa Cruz I feel the incedible blessings of a sound mind - but for the grace of God go I. Spread the word. Change is gonna come. Moose. 818-675-6222

Nisene Marks State Park, located in Aptos, CA is a beautiful redwood forest, largely regrown in the last 100 years according to signage in the park. Watsonville and Pajaro are growing agricultural towns and San Juan Bautista is a historic look at what California once looked like. This is an amazing area, rich in history, natural beauty, and personality. Moose, 818-675-6222

Walking the downtown streets of Santa Cruz one gets the feeling that the artistic fringe is alive and well. Not only are the long beards and skirts still flowing, the footwear and watches tend to tell a story of a rebellious affluence - the kind which leads to smoking marijuana and eating organic hummus on a piece of naan bread. All joking aside, it is reassuring to see that the homogenization of our culture has yet to kill off all of our character. Spread the word. Change is gonna come. Moose.

Today the route took me through the fantastic cloud and mist that hang about Carmel like a cool wet blanket. My walk ended at the Mission, which was the second one in California and is in many ways the most historic of the Missions, as both Lasuen and Serra are buried there. As I see the great beauty of the coast I feel privileged to be here and I feel a certain responsibility to preserve it for future generations. Change is gonna come. Spread the word. Moose

Today was an off day as far as the walking, but we visited Monterey Bay and walked around the town. Critics and detractors will surely point out the overly commercial feel, but there is no doubt that both the town and the aquarium represent an incredible turn around for a city and hope for the natural resources we all need. May we all be as compassionate,concerned and curious as the throngs of kids who flock to the aquarium every day. Spread the word. Change is gonna come. Moose. 818-675-6222

The striking image of the Virgin Mary dressed in black, standing peacefully at the back of the altar, is one that I will carry with me long after this campaign. Her celebration of sadness, her resignation to the sorrow and suffering of her fate, and her quiet message of consolation are welcome reminders of the natural rhythms of life and death. This is something we try to ignore in our overly optimistic, fountain of youth seeking culture. From the mission I headed out on Ft Romie Rd until it became River Road and the ranches, farms and vineyards I saw there are among the most scenic I have ever witnessed. I visited along the way with one of the volunteers from the Mission and her husband, and I walked through the beautiful scenery. It was a beautiful day and it made me proud to be a Californian. Spread the word. Change is gonna come. As always you can call me while I’m walking at 818-675-6222

This morning was cool and it was obvious that weather here was returning to its normal pattern of cool mornings and mild days. I walked through King City and out to the railroad tracks where I turned and headed north on Metz Road. The farms along Metz are beautiful onion, lettuce and broccoli farms to the west and dry hilly ranches to the east. Most of these hills were covered in prairie dog towns, which contributed to a large roadkill population. Roadkill is fascinating and in some areas quite varied, although on Metz Road most of the victims were prairie dogs. As I walked along a Monterey County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped and talked with me. After hearing my story and checking my driver’s license - standard procedure for walkers in the county - he helped me plan my route and said he would write my name in on the ballot if I didn’t get enough signatures. He was a model law enforcement officer and it was nice to talk to him.

After that it was a burrito in Greenfield and then on to the countryside and then finally to the small chapel and ruins of Nuestra Senora de la Soledad. It was about a 26-mile walk today and filled with beautiful scenery that is slowly shrinking around the towns of Soledad and Greenfield - both of which have large new developments. This is our state and it is one of the best places in the world, in the future it will be even better. Spread the word. Change is gonna come. Moose 818-675-6222

I had a great walk today, and after arriving in King City from Mission San Antonio I walked out of town and out to Lonoak Rd. I crossed the tracks and could smell onions in boxes that were waiting to get on the train. Then I continued out Lonoak to Rio Farms, where I had a nice conversation with one of the women who worked there. She was worried that it was too hot to be walking, and she said that some of the employees were uncomfortable being filmed. I don’t know why, they were all covered from head to toe and wore hooded sweatshirts. Most when I passed waved. The farm is beautiful and is currently harvesting cabbage, which is done with this slow moving wash platform where a picker hands it to a washer and then it gets taken up a conveyor belt and shot down into a slow moving truck that fills four or five crates and then moves on. It was fascinating to watch. The Rio Farms is a big operation and according to something I read in a story by Bob Johnson at http://www.rinconpublishing.com/white_papers/Nitrogen.html they are among the leaders in voluntary nitrogen reduction. Now if we could only figure out a way to get legal workers doing the work. Spread the word. Change is gonna come. 818-675-6222