Second Saturday

My last day in Sacramento was one of the best I've had since arriving, primarily because it was the first time I was able to truly relax and have some time to myself since AmeriCorps NCCC began. After a long evening of hanging out at Harvey's and late-night conversation with new friends, I slept in until 11:30 a.m. and lounged cozily in bed for an additional two hours. I curled up with a good book, some green pomegranate tea, and a box of chocolate-covered almonds and put on some chill, acoustic music. It was heaven having time to myself, the last that I'd have for a long, long time.

Later that day, I met up with good old pod 22 for a reunion dinner in Midtown Sacramento. Every second Saturday of the month, the city's galleries open for a free event appropriately called the Second Saturday Art Walk. Other businesses join in on the fun with live music, outdoor vendor booths, and street performers.

This particular excursion made me fall in love with Sacramento. During my other trips to the Midtown area on Sunday afternoons, the city was always pretty and pleasant enough, but never captivating or particularly lively. This evening, however, the streets pulsated with activity, showing a vibrant, energetic side that I had not had the opportunity to see. Cafes, yogurt shops, pizza places, burger joints, bookstores, and clothing boutiques were lit with neon signs on every corner, ranging from the edgy to the quaint. But what completed the decidedly urban atmosphere was the people who flooded the sidewalks, loitering under the trees strung with Christmas lights and dancing to the music emanating from the packed nightclubs. I saw one guy doing backflips down the street for absolutely no reason at all. I loved seeing Sacramento as a living city.







Our pod left campus early to catch the light rail but had such awful luck with transportation that it took two hours to get downtown. We missed the first train, and then missed our stop, and by the time we made it to our destination, we were starving. But it was great having the opportunity to spend time with old pod members; we got updates on where everyone was going for their projects and played silly games, which is something I miss since my new team isn't very keen on such juvenile pursuits.







After wandering through town, we finally settled on an excellent diner called Hamburger Patties. It may have been our hunger, but the food was amazing. I inhaled my Buckaroo Burger (with ranch dressing and thick slabs of bacon) in a matter of minutes, and the entrees came with a side of seasoned spicy fries.





Because our detours had taken so long, we only had about an hour left to explore the galleries. Most of my pod mates dispersed to various groups of new friends to frequent the aforementioned clubs and bars. However, due to an AmeriCorps rules that prohibits alcohol consumption 24 hours before leaving on projects, I could not join them, not to mention I still had to pack. Instead my friend Casey and I decided to catch the closing hours of some of the local art exhibitors.

The first place we happened upon was the Smith Gallery, which showcases a wide variety of artists. There were some truly amazing paintings, from photorealistic to abstract, and a very impressive range of California landscapes that showcased the state's mountains and vineyards. My favorite artists there were Steve Memering and Andrew Hindman, who particularly impressed me with their work (check out Hindman's incredible painting "Breaking Boundaries").









We left with plenty of time to spare to catch the final light rail, and even had a chance to take a short detour to visit The Shiny Nickel Art Gallery. This exhibitor was not on the official list of Second Saturday participants, but we were attracted by the techno and hip-hop beats playing in the yard and the crowds of people chatting with beers and cigarettes in hand. The art here was definitely more graphic and avante garde with an edgy, indie flair.









It's a shame that my final day in Sacramento was when I finally grew to appreciate the city, but more adventures await. I was excited to finally be caught up in my posting, but I unfortunately don't have regular Internet access at my housing in Sheridan, Wyoming, making it difficult to stay updated. I've already been here for a week, not including the three-day road trip through California, Nevada, and Utah. I do love it here; it's beautiful, and there are surprisingly lots of things to do for fun. The people are wonderful, and the job is hard, tiring, and very fulfilling. Check my Facebook profile for the latest photos, and I'll try my best to get you details as soon as I can!

Make A Difference Day

Last Saturday, we had our second service project as part of national Make A Difference Day. We started the morning by heading to the Sacramento Theatre Company for a group photo of all the Pacific Region corps members and an orientation. We received printed programs upon arrival that listed almost two hours worth of speakers, which initially had me concerned. After weeks of sitting in training sessions, I wasn't necessarily looking forward to yet another presentation.

Fortunately, the panel of speakers was absolutely phenomenal. We had a brief visit from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson (who also happens to be a former Phoenix Suns point guard) who has been doing a lot to promote service in the city by setting a goal of 500,000 hours of community service by the end of 2009.

Karen Baker, the California Secretary of Service and Volunteering (the first state Cabinet position of its kind in the country), gave a particularly inspiring speech. She was witty and engaging and personal and made us really proud to have committed a year of our lives to national service. She reminded us that our enthusiasm and optimism not only gets things done but also encourages the people we consider our role models who work in public service and the non-profit sector.

We also heard from the St. John's Shelter Executive Director Michelle Steeb, who runs a non-profit serving homeless women and their children; Loaves and Fishes Executive Director Libby Fernandez, who works to feed the house the homeless; and Turning Point Executive Director John Buck, a former drug addict who now provides mental health community programs. Each spoke about the challenges facing their respective programs, especially in the midst of the poor economic climate, and the importance of volunteers like us.

For a different perspective, Sean McGlynn, a former homeless man, spoke about his journey to recovery. His talk gave a very intimate and real face to the problem of homelessness and helped us realistically see how we can have an impact on the issue. I wish I could let you listen to all of the talks by these tremendous speakers and role models, but I only had the foresight to capture the last one. Hopefully you'll be inspired by Mr. McGlynn's story as well.

Click on the image to watch a video of the presentation by Sean McGlynn

For our actual service, my pod went to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, where we were met by Secretary of Agriculture A. G. Kawamura. Despite his impressive Cabinet title, he was an unpretentious and friendly host in his tropical print shirt, blue baseball cap, jeans, and work boots. As a true farmer, his only flaw was perhaps being too interested in his work as he gave us a long-winded but very informative and engaging spiel on the challenges facing agriculture in California, one of the most fertile and productive regions in the nation.

Our task for the day was to plant native species around California Department of Food and Agriculture building as a sort of demonstration garden and a form of "edible landscaping." The gardens are intended to be educational; they show the public various types of plants indigenous to the area and how to grow them. It also helps raise awareness among city-dwellers about the delicate balance required to successfully cultivate crops, even in a beautiful climate like California's. On that particular day, we planted strawberries, various herbs, and a Native American garden that contained flora handy for cooking, basket weaving, medicine, and other practical uses. We also dug trenches around the perimeter of the beds so the irrigation wouldn't run out into the sidewalk It was long, dirty labor, but it was nice being in the shade, and we actually got a whole lot more work done than our sponsor expected.

Afterward, our host was nice enough to take us across the street to the California State Capitol for an impromptu guided tour. I'd been before to walk the grounds, but this time we actually got to go inside. It was near closing time, so we were forced to run through the huge building in about 10 minutes, but we did get to see Arnold's (a.k.a. "the Governator's") office! I still don't know if it's as nice as the Texas Capitol, but I do definitely have a new respect for the beauty in the details, which consist of a lot of intricate hand-carved and hand-tiled corridors and a lovely marbled rotunda.

I'm a little behind in my posting, so this was actually the last service project I had with my beloved Pod 22. As I mentioned in previous postings, I am now part of Silver 3, so hopefully I'll have time in the upcoming weeks to post about the adventures on my new team.