We stayed at Ponderosa Gardens Motel, a vintage, lodge-style motel in the picturesque Paradise, California–a place that’s rising from the ashes after a fire burned down the town in 2018. It’s a fun, relaxed place with a year-round pool and hot tub. And our bright, clean room was big enough to be an apartment! Hear what we thought about this refreshingly low-key Northern California get-away.
The Animals of Paradise, California Record Their Exodus
By Gretchen Gales
It is said, that long ago,
east of the Garden of Eden,
God drove out humanity and placed
a Cherubim with an everturning sword,
the point of absolute no return.
Now, humanity chases us out of our Paradise.
We never sought knowledge.
We never asked for eminent domain.
We settled for the hope that dominion
meant protection, but the Cherubim’s
sword swings where Man oversteps.
For the lucky ones, an encampment
in the safety of a shopping cart or
the arms of the ones who remember
their promise from the very beginning.
For the wild ones, we pass the remains
of wrecked bodies charred homes.
The air is Armageddon orange, and
the ground reeks of used gasoline.
For all of us, we will keep walking.
Whether it takes four or forty years.
We will keep walking past the world
as we knew it, and settle in a place
made to fulfill our own promise.
Watercolor by Christine Stoddard.
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