Ventana Wilderness
Ventana Wilderness
Standing on a cliff Pacific Ocean far below
Flooded by some memories that I have from long ago
The fog rolls in and I’m high above the clouds
A lost and lonely boy, just waiting to be found.
Chorus:
Ventana Wilderness, surrounded by redwoods
I didn’t know anything, doing the best I could
45 years now gone by, surprised at things I’ve done
And now I’m here with you, so much is left to come. (The best is yet to come)
At 18 my north star fell, everything I knew
Like a ship my rudder broke, didn’t know just what to do
Started doing time working all day long
Coming home at night, with my music and a song.
Chorus:
Bridge:
Life can hit you in so many ways
I learned not black or white, only shades of gray.
Last Chorus:
Ventana Wilderness, - always in my soul
Life lessons that I learned that can’t be bought or sold
I’m grateful for these things I never thought I’d see
And now I’m here with you, and you are here with me.
Ventana Wilderness – I wrote almost all of this song because I had to write it mostly alone. Leslie is responsible for changing some of the lyrics to have them fit better. In October, 2022 Leslie and I took a trip to Big Sur on the Central California coast. Big Sur is a magical place. I first went there in 1977 after I left college in Denver. I tried to live there but it was too difficult for me to make any type of living so I moved up to Marin County, just north of San Francisco. That was 2 years after my dad passed away. When Leslie and I visited there, for the third time, she took a picture of me standing on a cliff in front of our hotel cottage. Most of the time we were there a fog bank was far below us. Our cottage was 1,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. Every time we go there, I’m reminded of my time there in 1977. The Ventana Wilderness includes Big Sur and is 375 square miles in size. I learned a lot of lessons while I tried to make it there, and it’s a nice circle of life that Leslie now enjoys it with me. Though it’s a sad song, it’s also a song filled with hope and gratitude, which is a recurring theme on this album. Kate’s vocals on this are so good…..