Parkfield

Well, I didn't stay home long. On May 8, I headed to Parkfield for a visit with Dave and Geoff. It was a flight, not a road trip--which turned out to be a challenge due to a series of severe storms in the Midwest, but I was able to fly in and out of San Luis Obispo, which is only an hour from their house.

Unknowingly, it was my last visit with Geoff. He passed away a week after I came home. I am so grateful and blessed for the time we was part of our family and for the chance to share these last few days. It was a quiet, peaceful ten days spent gardening, star gazing, listening to music, cooking, visiting with friends in the neighborhood, and taking long walks. And there was napping too! We found time for an afternoon at the beach and attended an artist's talk at the one-room schoolhouse.

I arrived just in time for the annual Parkfield Bluegrass Festival. For three days the population grows from 18 to about 1,000. We were surrounded by tents, campers, and music.

Here are some views from the house.

And views from my walks.

This is a place Geoff loved and he will rest in peace here. ​

 Geoffrey Hart Tuck(1960 - 2019)
January 19, 1960 - May 25, 2019 Geoff Tuck, artist, blogger, baker, friend of all things winged, and loving husband, passed away unexpectedly of complications from brain cancer. He was diagnosed with Gliobastoma on Friday, April 13, 2018. He conquered many medical adversities in his life, thanks to his stubborn and willful nature and the outstanding care of dozens of staff at Kaiser Sunset over the past 20 years. He met this latest challenge with his characteristic tenacity, but it overcame him suddenly in the form of a seizure when he was thinking about where to go for dinner last Saturday. A true child of California, Geoff was born in Anaheim, grew up in Diamond Bar and La Canada, lived in Hancock Park for 16 years, and retired to the town of Parkfield, in southern Monterey County, in 2013 - smack on top of the San Andreas Fault.

Geoff was a tireless champion of the contemporary arts for over 20 years. He authored the blog "Notes on Looking" for more than a decade, his observations on art, artists, music, and most everything else. He led the Fellows of Contemporary Art for two years. He was also, at various times in his life, a doughnut fryer, an employee of the Federal Reserve, a Construction Administrator, and a jewelry maker. With his husband he organized 20 artists' retreats on the V6 Ranch in Parkfield, and edited 5 issues of "The Parkfield Review," as well as "Classical Music for Artists" and a collection of his own writing. For the last several years he was a painter himself. He loved the excitement and energy of Los Angeles, and he cherished the peace and quiet of the San Andreas back country, the Diablo Mountains, and the beach at Cayucos. He leaves behind his partner and husband of 22 years, David Richards; his brothers Mike and Jim; his sister Amanda; his nephew Matt; his cousins Mary and John; his dear friend Sheri Sutton; and dozens of friends. There will be a community burial in Imusdale Cemetery outside Parkfield on Saturday, June 15, followed by a celebration of his life. As Geoff would likely say, "Yay!"
Published in the Los Angeles Times May 30, 2019

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