#nocal

Previously published in:  Redwood MPire News (The Voice of Redwood Empire Mensa) September 2020 Vol. XXXIX, No. 9.

I moved to Forty McFortFace (the town previously known as Fort Bragg) in January, 2019.  Since I have lived here, I have heard more than one person remark that Fort Bragg is Magical.

Taking this as a hypothesis, I have compiled a Listicle of reasons or evidentiary points that might support this hypothesis.

Evidence: Sorrel, Redwood and other varieties.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/1NRTDBSHW4GSr9gZ6 Looks like shamrocks

Sierran Tree Frogs. https://californiaherps.com/frogs/pages/p.sierra.html

The species of Oakmoss in Mendocino County is unique to the region.

Treebeard, also known as Fangorn, was(is?) an Ent.  https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Treebeard How many redwood trees are really Ents?

Little People (maybe).  They're normally invisible, so you usually don't know they're there except by their actions

Frequent Rainbows.  The weather changes rapidly.  There are frequent small rainy squalls scooting down the coast punctuated by sunshine.  Those are rainbow-making conditions.

Pots of gold at the ends of the rainbows?  Probably.  But they're hidden.  See Economy, below.

Selkie Cove, Albion River

Ondine is a Selkie

https://guidetofaroeislands.fo/travel-faroe-islands/drive/kopakonan/

Mermaids

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mendocinomermaids/

The Economy is held up by the Tinkerbell Effect.  (See below) It only stays up because people *believe* in it.

The Economy is largely invisible. (Underground?)

More atmospheric effects: Sun Dogs, twinkling stars and fog. Cape Mendocino, in my observation has, on the average the cleanest air in the Continental US.  http://www.airnow.gov

Views of the sky are dramatic for this reason.  I'm pretty sure that my wife and I had never properly observed twinkling stars in our lives before coming to Fort Bragg I think due to air pollution in the MidWest, Southern California and on the East Coast.

Fogeaters is the Boontling word for Coastal Dwellers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boontling

There is a Whomping Willow at (???) North Perkins Way. https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Whomping_Willow

We live in Second-Growth Redwood forest. Second growth trees growing on top of old stumps -- their roots do the same sorts of things as the Ta Prohm trees in Ankor Wat.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta_Prohm

We live on land where once stood old-growth redwood forest. The houses are commonly built on post and pier foundations. "Some of the houses still have stumps underneath."

The soil is from old-growth redwood forest.  It is really squishy. Nearby earthquakes are rarely felt.  Building houses on old-growth redwood soil is like building them on thick foam rubber mats.

Redwood takes centuries to decay.

Stumps are still standing of trees cut ~150 years ago. Saplings sprung from the roots are now ~150 years old. Mature trunks ~3 feet wide.  Stumps ~8 feet wide.

The town was built by a lumber mill. Everything here is made of wood.  Even water pipes and rain gutters. Local redwood?  (Probably)

Redwood takes centuries to decay.

Fort Bragg was built prior to World War II That in itself instills a feeling of magic.

Houses ~100 years old are in a constant state of decay. But, it will be centuries more before they are completely decayed.

Shabby-chic.

Fort Bragg is frozen in time

Fort Bragg is remote.  It is like an island between the forest and the sea.

Fort Bragg is like Brigadoon -- the town which materializes out of the mist and then dissolves into the mist again.

https://www.braggadoon.com/

Humboldt County (2008) http://www.imcb.com/Title?Humboldt+County Tagline: "Get Lost" Fort Bragg is about 100 miles south of Humboldt County. Fort Bragg considers itself part of the Lost Coast. People come to Fort Bragg to get lost.  Seriously.

Allegedly, fully 30% of the Mendocino County economy is due to Cannabis production.  At the Mendocino County Fair in Boonville, the only mention of Cannabis is the County Sheriff's "Just Say No" to Drugs table.

Mendocino Canna Tours.  Like Wine-tasting tours for the Mendocino County third of the Emerald Triangle.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Triangle People from the City can come to Fort Bragg to be hippies for a weekend.

KOZT FM “The Coast”, a radio station frozen in time.

Jaime Connolly, Sales Director at KOZT, is also a Communications Director at the Mendocino County Board of Tourism.   My guess is that a huge chunk of the KOZT operating budget comes from Mendocino County.  It strongly influences the music playlist.

https://www.craiyon.com/image/4JdXedtSSDiLde59KRpKtQ  "1000 Camp Winnarainbow hippie-clowns disembarking from Peter Max's Yellow Submarine" 

This is what the KOZT 9:00 AM legal station ID sounds like to me.

https://www.visitmendocino.com/ “The Magic is Real”

Aum Construction  https://aumconstruction.com/

The Maharishi Effect: collective meditation reduces societal violence. Psychedelics accomplish the same effect as meditation, only stronger:   “Drugs are like rocket fuel.” What is the collective societal effect of a town of 10,000 stoners?

Monty Python's Flying Circus Mystico and Janet - Flats Built by Hypnosis http://www.montypython.net/scripts/mystico.php "They are as strong, solid and as safe as any other building method in this country provided of course people believe in them."

See also the Tinkerbell effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinkerbell_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pan_(1954_musical)

Glass Beach!  Say no more!