Purple Haze

We were in Eureka for more than a week, and came to appreciate the special qualities of life in Humboldt County. It first struck us when we went to the farmer's market and discovered beautiful produce, much of it multicolored: kaleidoscopic carrots, multicolored cauliflower, poly chrome peppers. The Humboldt creamery is well known for its Purple Haze goat cheese.
There is definitely a thriving agricultural scene here and many small farming operations. We understood this better when we came upon an article in a recent New Yorker about California's medical marijuana law, which can make growing the weed legal under certain circumstances. This accounts for the half dozen thriving storefronts in Eureka advertising agricultural equipment and plant nutrients. There was a palpable aging hippie vibe, as if many people ended up here, a sort of Hotel California place.
For a few days, when the weather refused to change, we feared that we, too, would end up in Eureka forever, but the winds and waves finally diminished, and we are now anchored in Drakes Bay, just inside Point Reyes, and will head into San Francisco tomorrow.