Dispatch from California: The Coal and Feed

By Cheryl Katz

Having spent nearly thirty Augusts in Truro, a town at the tip of Cape Cod, I had become convinced that there was no other coastline quite as serene or naturally beautiful as that small spit of land.

But I’m writing this sitting at the dining room table in a house that my husband Jeffrey and I have rented with two friends. The house, a converted coal and feed store, sits between the road and Tomales Bay in the small town of Marshall, California. The house is filled with light and offers sweeping views of the Point Reyes National Seashore across the bay.

Like an unfaithful lover, I am overcome with guilt about how much I adore it here and how I know that, when it is time to leave, I will long to return.

And then, I receive an e-mail from a friend extolling the beauty of Northern California. He writes, “It's hard not to think of Cape Cod and Point Reyes as the two exquisite and delicate parentheses at each end of the country, holding the whole thing together.”

To which I say, “Amen,” relieved that I do not have to choose between the two.

The view from the dining room window

Photography by Jeffrey Katz unless otherwise noted

And from the bedroom

Photograph by Deborah Jones

Nasturtiums in the garden

Photograph by Deborah Jones

The kitchen at sunset, just before dinner preparation gets underway

The walkway to the deck

The Coal and Feed, Marshall, California