The Road Ahead

C.K. McClatchy High School, Sacramento, California 1964-68.

My 50th high school reunion was a blast — some 50 years compressed into four hours of a meet-and-greet mayhem. Faces and names once familiar, were strangely distant until, like a photograph developing in a tray, became recognizable. So many people I had not seen through the years — some have faired better than others but everyone expressed being undeniably young at heart. 

While in town I stopped by some of my old haunts hoping to dig up some old memories.

The State Capital Building was the destination when visitors came to town. There is a fascination with being in close to the center of California politics and the park grounds are famous for the 1140 specimen trees representing 200 types of trees. In the Sunday morning quiet I meandered the hallow halls of the Neoclassical marvel and gazed up at the dome rotunda — not a committee in session, not a politician in sight. Aside from the security detail, I pretty much had the place to myself.

It was by luck that I happened upon the museum exhibit The Road Ahead- the automobiles impact on California.

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Listen here for a reading of Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Once there were just two roads, now there are thousands. Instead of investing in public transportation: “California’s car-centric culture lead to the development of new suburbs, urban freeways, stores and malls with parking lots, drive-in restaurants, traffic congestion and smog.”

The promise of petroleum “created a kind of personal freedom that had not previously existed for the average person and came to be a symbol of California living.” But that freedom comes with a cost — now commuters spend upwards of three hours a day to get to work. Talk of trains is back on the table. With years in the planning and construction, The Smart Train between San Rafael and Santa Rosa is finally on the tracks. And, hopefully, someday soon, there will be a high speed rail between LA and SF. Until then we are concerned about the recent proposal by EPA to roll-back fuel efficiency regulations and air quality standards. We are proud of California’s stance — readying for a fight with the Feds. We are looking ahead — to the many roads ahead.

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