The birth of Mount Diablo:
Geologic Summary: 165 million B.C. Mt Diablo began as volcanic rock beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean and was scraped into a mass between the Pacific tectonic plate and the overlying sedimentary layers of the North American plate. As ice ages affected sea levels, sedimentation continued in shallow coastal seas. About four million years ago, the older, harder volcanic material from the sea floor forced its way up from between the two plates heaving the weaker sedimentary layers up an angle. Over time, younger rock above eroded and by 2 million B.C. the older rock we recognize as Diablo’s peaks was exposed as low-lying hills.
Human History: ca. 2000 B.C. According to one tradition, at the Dawn of Time, Mt Diablo and Reed’s Peak were surrounded by water. From these two islands the creator Coyote and his assistant Eagle-man made Indian people and the world. In a Plains Miwok creation account, Mol-luk (Condor man) lived on the north side of Mt Diablo. His wife, the rock on which he roosted, gave birth to Wek-wek (Prairie Falcon-man). With the help of his grandfather Coyote-man, Wek-wek created Indian people, providing them with “everything, everywhere so they can live“.
Yes sir, that’s my baby. Tiny little mountain, multiple history options. One is long, hard, and science-ish. The other one has talking animals, and magic! Guess which one I like more?
“…created Indian people, providing them with everything, everywhere…”
Later, a lot of that was reposessed, but it was a nice thought.
So far the highlights of my day have included a child abuse discussion with my boss and gnawing hunger pains. But tonight is baseball, salve of my heart.
Hey, I like you guys. All my normal, healthy, funny, charming, intelligent, wonderful friends. You too, Allen.
Hm. Is she coming down off her morning coffee and feeling clingy? Or just trying to get us to read her blog more often? We’ll never know.