Mill Valley is one of many of the towns I find charming, cultured, a jewel. It is located in Marin County, one of the wealthiest counties in California. But this town is welcoming and ti still has an air of a provincial town. The old train station has been converted into a restaurant and bookstore. In front of it and around there are plenty of places to eat, drink, and shop. It feels like you are in the forest although it is not far from the coast and Stinson Beach. You can walk around, sit, stop, relax, and enjoy its peacefulness.
I lived in Mill Valley for almost one year, and have also visited many, many times. I go to one of the coffee shops and sit there for hours, writing, drinking, observing. Inevitably, I think and judge. Its quaintness becomes a source of enjoyment while provoking my thoughts.
“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”
–Thomas Jefferson
Mill Valley has become such a charming town because of the people who for decades created a culture, a way of being, and a way of living. New residents perhaps can pay attention to this fact, respect and cherish what has been done before.
Money does not buy culture; culture is everything each of us creates or co-create; it is not high nor low, it just is. But also those who have been there and done that would help us all by being open to the new and what they can bring and teach.
When we put aside labels: rich, poor, cultural, ignorant, intellectual, superficial, white,
black and even gray, new, old, we all gain.
This planet is here for all of us; each one of us has the right and responsibility to claim it and to claim our place. Frontiers, borders, class, casts, and other limitations have been created for some who at the time thought that would make humanity better. Perhaps they have served a purpose but at this time, they may be obsolete.
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