Deep in the Redwood Empire.
Through the marijuana farms and wineries — is a one-cop town.
The only paved road is the highway; the beating heart of town is a shanty bar bursting with live music.
The illustrious weed is smoked like tobacco and legendary wine guzzled like water — the ‘he-haws’ and ‘yahoos’ echo deep into the night — mirroring the low rumble of semi-trucks as they howl off into the dark forest that lies down U.S. 199.
A sharp gold crescent moon flirts with the trees and shimmers in the eyes of the wild souls staggering out of the bar. They fire up their steel horses and rodeo away into the night — driving dangerously in all directions as they growl back to their woody hovels.
This deep in the forest, one cop car is more of a formality. There’s no taming the wild soul of the forest that permeates everyone in the Redwood Empire.
Keep an ear to the ground, and a light in your heart — for no night is as dark as one spent deep in the woods.
September 26, 2021
