Mission San Juan Bautista (haiku, Bay Area Field Trip)

More than two hundred years

Since Ohlone and Yokut folk

Built for Spainiard's God.

How long since a woman's hand first began
to form this grinding stone?

~ ~ ~ 

Web Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Juan_Bautista

Quilting Mission Style: San Juan Bautista

Click on the illustration above for improved time portal access

My friend Marilyn and I took a field trip back through time last Friday, and drove down to Mission San Juan Bautista. The California missions are garden spots filled with architectural charm, but in their heyday they spelled the destruction of culture for native people, not to mention being decidely unhealthy environments. It's tempting when visiting the California missions to see what turns up in the way of time portals. After all this may be our big chance to do a little historical rewriting.

Or maybe we can pretend these are just pretty buildings with lovely gardens?


Born here or not, we're Californians. Our history includes all the people who passed through this mission. Every one of those folks are our ancestors. Like a mission-style quilt, we're all pieced together  whether  our great grandma came from Orio Spain, Ohio, or an Ohlone village.