When I leave this valley – and i will – at some point perhaps a decade away at this point, what will i remember?
i will remember frantic discussions with the simplicity afforded by binary opposition. most discussions of consequence are multi-polar; attracting and repelling but never really annihilating the other point of view. we in the valley live somewhere between foundations and frontiers most days here but frequently confuse one for the other.
i will also remember the way this valley feeds on its young. there is a Higgs field of sorts at work here that gives ideas mass. not really replicable nor understood, but felt most intimately by new arrivals here. in exchange, this ‘field’ is fueled by ideas and their makers in equal parts. like a binary pair of poles or binary stars that are gravitationally bound to each other.
i will not remember code or exhortations of ‘learn to code’.
i want not to remember the massively uneven playing field which everyone pretends is level and meritorious. each link a tensor though we reduce it fast to three or fewer dimensions and pretend other dimensions don’t exist or worse, don’t matter.
i will forget as irrelevant the parasitic entities that grow fast here. people and practices that don’t seem to do anything but seem to be around and present in conversations.
i will remember the confused distance between our reality and its representation in media.
i will remember maps I made here by walking my streets, the constant westerly wind, and the wonderful fog that takes away this valley’s edges every day.
i will remember its lack of visible rivers and streams. i will not remember water temples that have no ritual nor idols.
i will not remember plants relocated here from everywhere. the brown of the hills is its native colour.
i will remember the lack of birds and birdsong in the few remaining redwood groves. forests are quiet here – intimidating.
i will remember my futile wait for thunderstorms in summer.
i will not remember you, this valley of infinite ambition.
i will not forget you, the founders.