Madrone

Throughout most of the novel, Nate has grappled with the issue of whether or not to return to finish his college education. Well, here we are again. Do you believe in redemption? It would appear Nate does not. You are not going to believe what Nate does in this, the final chapter. Or what happens when he stops by the post office to check his mail.

Nate thinks everyone is conspiring behind his back…and he’s probably right. Else how would he ever have met the beautiful, raven-tressed Veronica Sambucello, aka Ronnie, the San Francisco literary agent wearing Levi’s and silver-toed cowboy boots. How did she ever get a copy of his Peoplesongs manuscript? She loves the stories, but isn’t crazy about the title. It seems nobody is. Maybe it’s part of the conspiracy, but never mind. Find out what happens when Nate goes to see Ronnie.

Nate takes Jane out to dinner at the famous Nepenthe restaurant in Big Sur to celebrate her completing her epic poem, “Cosmogeny.” Jane tells him she showed the manuscript for Peoplesongs to Gerry, which puts him on edge. He stomps into Gerry’s office to confront him and get his manuscript back. Is Nate a young man of strong opinions, or is he just plain ornery?

It’s October 6, Jane’s birthday. Nate has been working for months on his book of short stories, entitled Peoplesongs. Jane has been working on her epic poetry. They sit at Eddie’s and, surprising each other, present their manuscripts to one another as a kind of birthday present. We finally get to hear one of Nate’s short stories, “Blood Red Sun.”

It’s October 6, Jane’s birthday. Nate has been working for months on his book of short stories, entitled Peoplesongs. Jane has been working on her epic poetry. They sit at Eddie’s and, surprising each other, present their manuscripts to one another as a kind of birthday present. We finally get to hear one of Nate’s short stories, “Blood Red Sun.”

July 20, 1969, the night of the Apollo 11 moon landing. But at The Ethereal Ranch the moon landing may not be the biggest deal of the night. It’s a party, the likes of which may be new to your experience.

July 20, 1969, the night of the Apollo 11 moon landing. But at The Ethereal Ranch the moon landing may not be the biggest deal of the night. It’s a party, the likes of which may be new to your experience.

During Nate’s cognac-and-conversation evening with Will Chandler, who’s the first to lapse into stillness? And just what are the virtues of less words, more silence?

Nate is hitting a bottom of sorts. His mother’s departure was none too pleasant, and Jane thinks he needs to talk to someone about it. Nate thinks he needs to bury his head in his writing. Daniel sits down with Nate for a big talk about relationships with women. And UCSC doesn’t think there needs to be any further discussion with Nate about his admission. How does one cope with all these conflicting interpersonal relationships?

Nate is verbally accosted outside Eddie’s cafe by his mother, Adele.

Jane and Nate are beginning preparations for his mother Adele’s visit. She’s bringing his first brother, Ernest Hemingway Flowers – Ernie – with her. Things are, well, difficult with her, but before long Ernie is having a great time. He meets Doug Haut, owner of Haut Surf Shop just up the street and is soon learning to surf with Daniel, Mikey and LA at Four Mile. Oh, and Crystal. She’s there, too.

Nate and Jane are growing closer. In all ways. Maybe because of making love, but they’re growing closer in their heads, too. They talk about change, and time, and space and what can be changed and what should not change.

Words of wisdom from the I Ching. Of course it furthers one to undertake an activity, a cause, a purpose. But where does one begin? Nate thinks the best place is in the welcoming branches of the special madrone tree he and Jane now share. He quickly learns there are powers here, pushing him to undertake something beyond his understanding and control, which will have an incredible influence on his thoughts – and his feelings.

Nate visits the office of Professor Gerry Iron Moccasin, where the two launch into a most interesting and sophisticated round of verbal fisticuffs.

Nate attends Jane’s creative writing class, led by Professor Gerald Iron Moccasin, and gets a first-hand dose of what the academic is like. It gets real interesting, real fast.

Fall term break at UC Santa Cruz finds Jane and Nate awfully happy together as they head for the madrone at Four Mile. Afterwards, Jane drives Nate’s MG north on the Pacific Coast Highway to her family’s home in Corte Madera, where they talk about their plan for a camping trip vacation to Yosemite. Their happiness seems to flow throughout the household, producing a quite unexpected conversation – and outcome – between Nate and Jane’s father, Will Chandler.

The madrone is an evergreen tree of the Arbutus genus. Especially notable in the family is the Pacific Madrone (A.menziesii), which grows along coastal elevations from Northern California to British Columbia. It wears a red, peeling bark and like its cousin, the redwood, is sometimes found growing in a cathedral or “fairy” ring.

Nate awakens with his two new roommates the next morning and wonders what’s going to become of him. For the first time in four years, he’s totally adrift in the world: no Mamma Military to provide food, shelter, security, purpose. But his purpose is undeterred as he sits at Eddie’s, having coffee and a donut, working on a Chris and Therese short story idea. Then things begin to change. A lot. All because of meeting a guy named Daniel while shopping for a typewriter.

What do Jane and Nate talk about when they talk together? Moral tension, of course. It’s as if they’ve discovered a deeper layer to talking about themselves and their relationship, a topic that pervades not just them but everything and everyone around them. You, too, just might give more thought to moral tension after listening to this chapter.

Nate learns the pitfalls of making the same mistake twice through the lyrics of Bob Dylan. That’s why he jumps out of bed first thing in the morning and gets to work on his life. Over coffee at Eddie’s he gathers his thoughts, sets them down on paper, and watches as many of them turn into revelations. But as Nate strives to keep his consciousness clear and unburdened, will his new awareness help him when he meets Jane’s guru- professor, Gerry Iron Moccasin?

Back from his odd day in the redwood forest, holding a piece of madrone bark with “Christopher and Therese” written on it, Nate settles in with Jane for a literary evening. First he reads one of her poems, then they discuss the story he wrote about Chris and Therese while he was in Germany. Maddie comes back from her dorm meeting, but soon everyone’s in bed and there’s some pillow talk going on between Jane and Nate.

  Right off, Nate is not having a good day so he decides to go for a run through the redwood forests in which UC Santa Cruz is nestled. But things get a little strange when he stops and falls asleep inside a redwood fairy circle. How is it that Jane has metamorphosed into the seven redwood tree trunks that surround him? And who is this giant of a man, dressed like a medieval elf, playing a strange reed instrument and singing some kind of ancient poetry?

Nate shares with Jane a major component of his personal philosophy. His truth. But he also tells her how the German student from Heidelberg University said that the truth is that there is no truth. When he tries to enroll at UC Santa Cruz, he discovers UCSC’s truth about what it seeks in a student has nothing to do with the innate truth of the individual. And if the paradox of truth and lies isn’t already totally frustrating, he has to listen to Jane’s dorm mate Maddie tell him how her major course of study is truth, and the lies of truth slowly seep into Nate's consciousness.

  Nate begins to see what it’s like to be part of a family other than his own, and is also beginning to see what it’s like to be close to Jane. He knows she loves him, but does he know what love truly is? These events give Nate great cause for taking a look at – and into – himself.

Nate joins the Chandler family in Corte Madera for Sunday dinner, where Jane’s mother, Mavis, asks Nate if he plans to attend college and Jane’s father, Will, asks him if he’d like a job at Chandler Lumber Company. Nate’s answers will surprise you.

Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers and Jane Chandler are reunited in California after Nate’s year and a half in Germany with the U.S. Air Force.