AMERICA Part IV

The United States of America (4): The Pacific West

The Far West of the United States has all kinds of different landscapes and climates: vast dark forests cover the Cascade Mountains in the Northwest, in the Southwest arid lands lie under a scorching sun. At the very edge of the North-American continent the steep cliffs of the coastal ranges meet the pounding surf of the Pacific Ocean.

Southern Coast Mention the West Coast and people will think of California: sun, sand and surf, but this is typical of only the most southern part of the Pacific coast, which after all stretches through two climatic zones from Mexico over more than thousand miles all the way up to Canada.

The average water temperature hovers at around 60 degrees, even in summer. In this water it’s best to wear a wet suit, unless of course nature supplied you with very thick skin and an ample layer of fat.

These male elephant seals, sunning themselves in a secluded cove, are just one example of the diverse wildlife at home in the cool waters of the California current, which flows along the coast from North to South.

North of Los Angeles the powerful pacific surf pounds a ragged and rocky coastline. These mountains dropping off into the sea are located at the westernmost edge of the North-American continent.

Especially during the hot summer months fog forms over the cool coastal waters . When the wind pushes the fog towards the land, damp gray clouds darken the hills of the Coastal Ranges.

“It never rains in California”, a popular song says. Well, at least for the summer months, this is true. Yet the mountains facing the ocean are covered with dense green plants and flowers. They benefit from the moist coastal fog.

Farther inland the vegetation is parched from months without rain.

Crossing the Coastal Ranges, which run parallel to the coastline, temperatures may vary between 60° to 70° along the coast and 100° Fahrenheit farther inland.

The world famous Golden Gate Bridge spans the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

All traffic travelling the coastal road, 101, will cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Northbound heading for Oregon and Washington, or southbound travelling to Los Angeles and San Diego.

All day long ships pass through this small gap in the coastal mountains. They are carrying cargoes to the major ports in Asia. Or heading into San Francisco Bay, to bring even more goods to the US.

In a seemingly endless shuttle service, huge tankers are carrying crude oil from Alaska to the refineries on the West Coast.

Cities and suburbs around the Bay have grown into one big residential area called the Metropolitan Bay Area, which can be compared in size to Los Angeles or cities on the East Coast. The hub of the Metropolitan Bay Area is and always will be San Francisco.

086a50530c4d280983c3dc7290340628.doc/Reb./tt.04.jj Seite 1 Entering the streets of San Francisco, you’ll find yourself in a relatively small city on a hilly tip of land crisscrossed by roads that are straight as an arrow.

The most famous of San Francisco’s colorful neighborhoods is bustling Chinatown. It’s said to be the largest Chinese community outside of China. That is possible, since 18% of all the population in the Bay Area are of Asian descent.

North of San Francisco a group of harbor seals are dozing on a sandbank. The rising tide is slowly driving them from their comfortable place in the sun.

If animals do have a sixth’s sense for oncoming catastrophies, the people of San Francisco for the moment can put their mind at rest, because these lazy seals are resting right along the San Andreas Fault, which runs through Bolinas Bay.

The hills across from us, on the other side of Bolinas Bay are part of San Reyes peninsula.

Point Reyes peninsula jolted as much as 18 feet northwest during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and it still moves several inches each year away from the continent.

The San Andreas Fault runs along the coast of northern California, divides Point Reyes from the continent and then passing inland at San Francisco.

The San Andreas fault marks the junction between the North American and Pacific Plate. Although both plates are moving northwest, the pacific Plate moves faster by about 2 inches a year. When they get stuck, and the pressure gets too high, it causes an earthquake. Should these plates continue to slide past each other, Los Angeles and the area marked red, will eventually be an island off the Canadian coast.

Northern Coast The cool waters of the California current are rich fishing grounds not only for pelicans and seagulls. Yet in the small harbor towns like Newport, Oregon many of the fishermen are out of work and angry at the federal government, which in the fifties encouraged them to buy boats, but today enforces rigid quotas, because the coast has been overfished.

The only thing booming in this town is the tourist business. Stop wishing, come fishing is advertised on the dock, where once fish was processed. Between November and March, when whales pass along the coast, whale-watch tours are a special favorite with nature lovers.

The long drive along the coast on U.S. 101 has become a year round tourist attraction.

Many of the tiny towns along the road haven’t changed much in the past 100 years.

The local store has a new coat of paint and calls itself Deli, but otherwise everything has remained just as it was.

Fishing and lumber is what moves people in the North-West.

A hundred trucks a day drop off their loads at this lumbermill in Oregon. Douglas fir, spruce and redwoods, building material for houses, decks and garden furniture are stacked high here.

The incoming trucks drive onto scales to be weighed. Then the trees are measured and registered for the lumber companies. With today´s tools of the trade it’s a fast job, the drivers move in and out of as if they were on an assembly line. But the lumber industry has it’s troubles, too.

086a50530c4d280983c3dc7290340628.doc/Reb./tt.04.jj Seite 2 More and more people insist they want to keep the “old growth forests” untouched. Just this summer, the State of Oregon has enraged conservationists, by leasing one entire valley to the lumber industry to cut down. As of now, no compromise is in sight.

Dense “old growth forest” of massive Douglas-firs covers much of the Cascade Range. On the eastern side of the mountains, the annual rainfall decreases the farther you travel inland, while the western slopes are true to their name. Cascades of cool, clear water flow through these mountains. Ferns and mosses grow in the moist shade.

Amidst the Cascades rises the snow covered peak of Mount Hood, one in a line of volcanoes dotting the Cascades from Northern California to Canada.

Looking out across Puget sound, the skyscrapers of downtown Seattle are wedged between the snow covered Cascades and the water.

Ferries cross between Seattle and Victoria in British Columbia. Cruise ships dock in the harbor. Seattle has become not only the industrial center, but also a magnet for people drawn to the North- West.

Not only Bill Gates appreciates this town, where relaxed West Coast style meets European flair.

Shopping in Pike Place Market is an unusual attraction in a country where plastic packaging is the norm and supermarket shelves look much the same all over.

Most of the fruits and vegetables sold here are from within the country, many of them from California´s Central Valley.

Central Valley To get to Central Valley, we head back south through the mountains.

The snow covered volcanic peak of Mount Shasta rises on the southern edge of the Cascades. It marks the beginning of the great Central Valley, which stretches from here 500 miles farther south to Bakersfield.

Interstate 5 divides the green fields of Central Valley from the parched hills of the Coastal Ranges, which form a natural barrier between the valley and the coast.

Like a great artificial river, the California Aqueduct transports water more than 400 miles from the Sierra Nevada watershed to users in Central and Southern California. A net of natural rivers and canals distributes water all over Central Valley, where all kinds of grains, vegetables and fruits are grown.

It rains here during the winter months, but hardly ever during the summer. Without irrigation it would be impossible to grow anything in this arid land.

John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath” was originally titled „L’Affaire Lettuceburg“. Now, just as then, lettuce is grown in the fields around Salinas and the lettuce is still harvested by migrant workers, most of them coming from Mexico.

Working conditions have improved considerably since John Steinbeck wrote of the plight of the migrant workers. Still this is a touchy subject. Many of them are here illegally and the government enforces strict laws against illegal immigration. On the other hand companies want and need cheap labor. Without these migrant workers there would be no harvest. That is not different in the USA than it is in other industrial countries.

086a50530c4d280983c3dc7290340628.doc/Reb./tt.04.jj Seite 3 These strawberries are cultivated to be perfect in color and shape. They keep well, even if transported long distances. But maybe they are just too perfect. Fruits like these can only be produced by the heavy use of pesticides.

Companies work hard to produce a product that sells. They deliver what the American consumer wants.

More than half of the population in Central Valley are Latinos, whose mother tongue is Spanish.

Especially the small towns in Central valley and along the border to Mexico show the influence from “South of the border”.

The Spanish were the first Europeans to come here. Their influence is still visible in the mission churches, like this one at the Yuma crossing high above the Colorado river.

This is all that is left of the waters of the mighty Colorado, before it reaches Mexico. Some wetlands and one more canal with water for the fields around Yuma.

Yuma is situated right at the border between Arizona and California, surrounded by desert.

It’s hot here, even in March. The temperature at 10:30 a.m. is 95°.

In the spring, the desert is beautiful. Joshua trees are ready to flower and cactus are in bloom. But even the most delicate desert blossoms can’t hide the fact that for many people the desert is fairly useless.

America wouldn’t be America though, if it couldn’t get some use out of even the most desolate spot.

This gap in the San Bernadino mountains is dotted with hundreds of generators.

The strong winds between the cool coast and the hot desert turn wheels that generate electricity. Electricity that is much needed in Southern California.

Los Angeles 15,5 Million people live in the Greater Los Angeles Area alone. In the 80’s, the water supply was the big problem. In the summer 2000 California was running out of electricity. 8 hours of power outages are disastrous for the computer industry and unthinkable for a leading industrial nation.

What makes Los Angeles so special? It certainly isn’t the breathtaking architecture. To get to know this town where the palm trees are higher than most houses and roads don’t always have sidewalks, you have to get into your car and drive.

Los Angeles, the town of the angels, is also known as “car city”. 2000 kilometers of highway crisscross this mega city, which is still growing.

Industrial areas, office buildings, suburbs and malls, 88 communities all in one huge metropolitan area. The downtown skyscrapers mark the center of a sprawling city, which really has no center. The attraction of this city is measured by the hours of sunshine.

Los Angeles advertises its cultural diversity. But this cultural diversity is coupled with an immense gap in economic wealth and that is not without problems.

086a50530c4d280983c3dc7290340628.doc/Reb./tt.04.jj Seite 4 Problems which even the most superficial look at this town can’t hide.

The shoppers on Rodeo Drive live worlds apart from people shopping at the swap-meet, and yet they walk the streets of the same city.

If there is one thing the Angelino loves more than his shiny car, it’s sports.

The best things in life are free and so is a friendly game on one of the public courts spread around the city.

For those who don’t play basketball, there’s always the beach.

Supervised by life guards, who in real life do not look quite as smashing as they do on TV, the Angelino can relax in the water.

So after all, on a hot August weekend, that old California dream of sun, sand and surf finally does ring true.

United States of America Part IV The West Coast Vocabulary landscape(s) - Landschaft climate(s), climatic zone(s) – Klima, Klimazone vast - riesig, enorm forest(s) - Wald arid - trocken to scorch - versengen, verbrennen coastal ranges - Küstengebirge to pound - stoßen, schlagen

Southern Coast mention - erwähnen average - durchschnittlich to hover - schweben wet suit - Neoprenanzug ample - reichlich elephant seal(s) - Seeelefanten secluded - abgeschieden cove - Bucht current - Strömung ragged - i.d.Falle zerklüftet westernmost - westlichstes coastal water(s) - Küstengewässer dense - dicht to benefit - begünstigt sein coastal fog. - Küstennebel parched - ausgetrocknet vary - variierend degree(s) - Grad to span - überbrücken, -spannen coastal road - Küstenstraße northbound / southbound – nordwärts, südwärts to head - (in best. Richtung) bewegen to travel - reisen cargo(es) - Fracht port(s) - Hafen crude oil - Rohöl, Erdöl refinery(ies) - Raffinerie bay - Bucht

086a50530c4d280983c3dc7290340628.doc/Reb./tt.04.jj Seite 5 hub - Mittelpunkt bustling - geschäftig, belebt population - Bevölkerung seal(s) - Seehunde to doze - dösen comfortable - bequem catastrophe(s) - Katastrophe earthquake - Erdbeben junction - Kreuzung, Treffpunkt pressure - Druck

Northern Coast pelican(s) - Pelikan seagull(s) - Möwe harbor town(s) - Hafenstadt fifties - fünfziger Jahre rigid - steif, nicht flexibel quota(s) - Quote booming business - florierendes Geschäft to advertise - Werbung to process - bearbeiten whale(s) - Wal tiny - winzig local store - Dorfladen deli - Delikatessgeschäft to remain - bleiben lumber - Bau- und Nutzholz lumber mill - Sägewerk fir - Tanne spruce - Fichte furniture - Möbel to stack - stapeln scales - Waage to weigh - wiegen to measure - messen to register - registrieren tools of the trade - Arbeitsgeräte assembly line - Fließband old growth forest(s) - Urwald enraged - wütend conservationist(s) - Umweltschützer to lease - zu pachten entire - ganz, gänzlich annual - jährlich to decrease - abnehmend, slope(s) - Hang cascades - Kaskaden fern(s) - Farn moss(es) - Moos volcano(es) - Vulkan dotting - punktuelles Vorkommen downtown - Innenstadt wedged - eingezwängt ferry(ies) - Fähre cruise ship(s) - Kreuzfahrt-Schiff to appreciate - zu schätzen wissen plastic packaging - Plastikverpackung shelf(ves) - Regal

086a50530c4d280983c3dc7290340628.doc/Reb./tt.04.jj Seite 6 Central Valley to stretch - strecken, erstrecken farther - weiter artificial - künstlich to distribute - verteilen fruits and vegetables - Obst und Gemüse irrigation - Bewässerung lettuce - Salat to harvest - ernten migrant worker(s) - Wanderarbeiter to improve - verbessern considerably - beachtlich plight - Problem to enforce - erzwingen, vollstrecken strict laws - strenge Gesetze strawberry(ies) - Erdbeere color and shape - Farbe und Form pesticide(s) - Pflanzenschutzmittel to produce, product - produzieren, Produkt deliver - liefern mother tongue - Muttersprache border - Grenze influence - Einfluss wetlands - Feuchtgebiet, Sumpf to surround - umgeben, umzingeln desert - Wüste flower(s) - Blumen bloom - blühen blossom(s) - Blüte desolate - verwüstet, verlassen

Los Angeles generate electricity - Elektrizität gewinnen power outages - Stromausfall industrial nation - Industrielle Nation breathtaking - atemberaubend sidewalk(s) - Bürgersteig, Gehweg crisscross - durchkreuzen industrial area(s) - Industriegebiet office building(s) - Bürogebäude suburb(s) - Vorort, Wohngebiet mall(s) - Einkaufszentrum community(ies) - Gemeinschaft metropolitan - weltstädtisch sprawling - ausgestreckt, ausbreiten cultural diversity - kulturelle Vielfalt superficial - oberflächlich shoppers - Käufer swap-meet - Flohmarkt public court(s) - öffentliche Plätze to supervise - überwachen

Special Terms and Places: Far West - Cascade Mountains - Pacific Ocean - California current - Coastal Ranges – Fahrenheit Metropolitan Bay Area - San Andreas Fault – Point Reyes – North American Plate - Pacific Plate - U.S. 101 - Interstate 5 - Cascades - Puget Sound - California’s Central Valley - California - Sierra Nevada watershed - Central and Southern California - Latinos - Yuma crossing - Colorado River - a.m.- p.m. - San Bernardino Mountains – Angelino

086a50530c4d280983c3dc7290340628.doc/Reb./tt.04.jj Seite 7