Today called for a hike into the hills and a brief visit to the Marin History Museum. The old house there once belonged to a wealthy heiress and adventurer who preferred excursions to Greenland and the Arctic. What was once her residence is now the museum, and the old backyard is now a public park. The exhibits described the 1800s era, when the train traveled from San Rafael to the Point at Tiburon – my next stop on the tour. The ascent up Mount Raffy drew the first sweat of the new season. Glimpsing out at the waterways from Novato to the Bay Bridge pylons, the vantage was superb, even improving as two butterflies fluttered and encircled each other, ascending, drawing my eyes directly up into the craters of the waxing crescent moon. Looping back past the telecommunications relay post and the water towers, I descended the steeper slope to a small reservoir between brick cliff walls. The water passed along adobe-style aqueducts, falling quickly through drainways down to the park. Yes, right back to the museum and old home of one of Marin’s great patrons, who lived on Mission Street, right next to Mission San Rafael. This source of water was probably what caused the missionaries to set up here in the first place, as these agricultural converters always needed to start with a fresh, available clean source. Right at the bottom of the trench, next to the house, I discovered a drinking fountain and took a refreshing sip.
