The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

The little spoiled rotten retarded child pretending to be king over in North Korea is just another of many examples of how far off we’ve come in mis-prioritizing what we consider our realities and truths.
With our National News organizations (yes, including all the extremist ones) slowly turning away from real news, their new prime objective is to provide nothing but entertainment for the obese, drugged out huddled masses, only looking up from their far too large servings, when they hear someone screaming insanities into a microphone. A microphone being shoved in their faces by some catastrophe chasing numbskull pretending to be a real news reporter. The fact is, the ones screaming the loudest are the feature story of the nightly absurdities passing for real news.

Another fine example of course would be Lindsay Lohan. In the madcap, made up world of the entertainment/news business, they would have us believe she is some kind of misunderstood genius actress, something along the line of a James Deanish female. As if genius cannot exist without complete chaos and uncontrollably bad behavior.

The clear truth to normal people, who care at all about these kinds of clowns, is she is nothing but a spoiled rich brat. The entertainment/news always hints that the poor dear is under the dreaded influence of horrid drugs and booze and that’s why she acts the way she does. Again people with real minds know those things are only excuses the weak and lazy use to justify their insanities.

Truthfully, these kinds of dysfunctional idiots are of the same proportion as crazies to normal people in general society. Same as in real life, they are an extreme minority. Most people, famous or not, are normal, upstanding, caring, honest, hard working, family orientated citizens, you would welcome as neighbors.

So we watch Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen and too many other actresses and actors on the nightly entertainment/news being chased at 3:00 am after leaving some loud obnoxious bar for the far too rich and famous in downtown tinsel town. We watch them being chased by the dreaded paparazzi, then crashing into some other Denison of the shadowed night.


To prove my point, have you EVER seen folks like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington or Gene Hackman drunk out of their minds, running around half naked, being chased by the paparazzi?
No, you haven’t! You know why? They have real lives, just like the rest of us. They are at their homes, getting a good nights sleep along side their loving families.
These people also know what honor, responsibility and acting like an adult are. They have pride in what they do and have no need to flash their incredible talents around.

So, the next time you see a supposed news story about some poor actress or actor ending up in the slammer once again for acting out his or her delusional fantasies, take a quick look, the same as you would a crash along the roadway, flinch in shame for looking and then go back to your normal lives.
Lives by the way, you should certainly be proud of.

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Is life mostly luck or self-determination?

The longer I live the more important this question seems. As I slip and slid past 39 years old, (I got land to sell ya, if you believe that) and look at those around me, I’ve noticed an amazing thing. More and more people long of tooth are doing great in the general health and fitness department.


I know, I know….What about all the folks at the mall pushing the obese scale to the limit? Not to sound to uncaring, those I’m afraid are tipping toward thinning the gene pool, so my little theses today is forced to exclude that group.



No, I’m talking about the regular relatively healthy people I come in contact with daily. Disregarding for now all the unfortunate folks with real or imagined serious health issues, I see everyday people I would consider lucky. I have to include myself in that group.

Knowing it’s bad luck to make huge blank statements about things like this, after a hard knock on wood or three, I have to admit some things.



At my young tender age…”^)…I’m in pretty darn good condition. Even though my career involves standing all day, for more years than I care to admit, I have no back, leg or foot problems. Even though my career involves holding my arms at shoulder level and in constant repetitive motion, I have no carpel tunnel issues, no joint pains, no arm, hand or finger aches whatsoever.

Every year for years on end, I have a complete physical and all the readings are perfect except very slightly higher blood pressure and cholesterol numbers. So far, thank the goddesses above and gnomes below; I have no indications of pre-diabetes, lung problems, hearing or any other pre-ism’s at all.



Knowing full well our mental state is also important, I’m proud to admit, I love the constantly emerging high tech world and try and stay up to breast on all things digital as much as possible. In fact that is one of the subjects that brings the little kid out in me.

I have an ongoing worldwide blog, I write a newspaper column and have written and published a book with another one in the womb as we speak and there were many times in the last few years, these three things were happening at the same time.

I’m telling you this to proclaim that at least so far, I am showing no implications of any mental problems like Alzheimer’s disease, or symptoms of any kind of pre-stroke, heaven forbid.



Here’s the deal though. I see people everyday just like me. People with active, seemingly fulfilled lives that are either hiding their infirmaries well or are in basically very good health.

These are people in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and a few into the low 90’s who still have full or part time jobs, or at the least live active, energetic lives. They walk with a spring to their step and have a quick and easy smile for those around them.



So all this takes me back to my original question. Are all these others, including myself just lucky, or have we all decided to live life to its fullest come hell or high water? Have we self-determined ourselves into staying healthy or is it just blind luck?



So, sheer dumb luck or self-determination? Which is it?



To be honest, I thought for the longest time it was just luck. That somehow the powers that be decided to hand the luck card to a select group of deserving souls. The more I’ve thought about it though, the more I think like most things, it’s probably a combination of a lot of factors, with luck certainly included.

For my slightly higher blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, the docs have me take a low dose of meds, which brings everything back to perfect. Then the apparently magic baby aspirin a day to ward off the devil.



Having been raised on a farm, it’s always been in my blood to eat as much freshness as possible from the land, so we’ve always had a nice garden. What’s for dinner more often than not depended on what was ripe and ready. For years now, I’ve walked, if not daily, at least when I can. I’ve been told this is one of the best exercises one can do. After all this time, if I don’t walk, I don’t feel as well, so I continue following that yellow brick road as long as it leaves it’s runway lights ablaze.



So I think I’ve learned that as in most things, I have to take some of the credit but mostly I feel nothing but incredible gratitude and thankfulness that this thing called life has and continues to treat me pretty darn well. I have to extend a little friendly tip of the hat to all others I see jauntily walking along enjoying their moments on this crazy blue ball in the ether also.



Thanks, powers that be. Thank you indeed!






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The meeting of words with what is.........

This was my very first blog I published in 2007. I thought I would republish it now to tease what mind you have left in your old ages.
Before reading, it very well might require a glass of strong wine or even some kind of organic substance but to each their own huh?


Back in my hippie days, I spent years studying Eastern Philosophies and

practicing meditation. At 2:00 a.m. in 1971, With the relationship between words and reality roaming through my mind, This story hit me in one big flash and I wrote it down.



So, put on your rose colored glasses and

ENJOY........





Far, far away, farther than the human mind could understand, in a place so unlike our universe, that if it were right in front of our faces we would not see it, lives the subject of this story.



It is a world made up of words, just words. Even the world they live on is a word. When the words developed themselves, by giving birth to new words, a very special new word was born. He was QUESTION. As soon as question was old enough and fully developed, he asked the ultimate question--



What is the meaning of our existence?



This started a giant argument between all the words, for each word thought he was the meaning of their existence.



Soon they realized that none of them really knew, so they decided to leave their world and find other new words to answer the question. They all got into a huge ship, which was also a word, and went on their search.



A long time passed before they came upon a real realm of life. A planet, filled with real life. A meeting then took place between words and

realness.



The name of this story, then, is....



The meeting of words with what is............







Words were a strange lot. They existed in and for themselves, or so Thought thought. Eons of time passed uninterrupted until one day Question came into being.



He was a very troublesome existence for Words, but a necessary evolution just happened. Since his being, Words were in a constant state of doubt about their being. They could not find the answer of his being in their existence, so they planned a royal search, which would last forever if need be, for the answer of Question had to be involved in words, Words had not perceived yet.



So the trip was planned by Plan, power provided by Power. All that was left was for Time to speak. He said "now", so Go was gone and They were off. Off usually didn't like being They, but this time he did. He wondered why he did, then remembered the importance of the mission with the help of his friend Remember.



Then one morning after Sleep were, and Morning was, all the higher words were in Control Room's room. "The day after yesterday is going to be beautiful", Weather replied, with Beautiful at his side being beautiful.

Beautiful liked going to be. Agree agreed, of course, then went on

agreeing. "Weather", Worry worried, "I'm worried about Calculations. He's been with Flight Plan again. The last time they were, Off joined Course and tried to take over Control. Only through his Greatest Effort, a friend by proxy, did Life, our beloved leader, remain living. I say we let Lock retain Calculations in Security's custody the remainder of the trip".

"yes", Weather said after consulting Agree, "I agree, send in do". Shortly, Do came in. "Do", said Weather, "do what Worry wants and don't worry him about details. Details will handle it. Then Schedule came in with Time at his side as proof saying, "Weather, Hunger wants you and One Hour to go visit Sleep". Weather liked Sleep, as did all the Words because Sleep was the only one who could drop Question, but Responsibility always chased Sleep around, so he could not stay with any one Word too long.



The trip was now with Gone and Long with Time forever there. Sighting, of other Words they had found in their travels in this new unfamiliar galaxy, had been time long now. Days, Weeks, Months, Years, Eons, kept coming and going, back and forth until all words were almost taken over by Boredom the Evil. But one day, Day stopped, looked at Scanner, then watched Dials and Lights dance the dance of discovery. Discovery danced with Joy. Closer moved in so Sight could see. What was it? Question's Power Words were the strongest now, so they moved in with Closer and Careful, but an answer did not seem to live on the new newness.



Life and Thought, with the help of Now and Felt, felt that a grand chamber meeting was a now. Time said when and Place was there, so all Words gathered with Gather in Grand Chamber's chamber.



All the great Higher Words sat with Front. Facts and all his Definitions sat with Right. Intellect and his Definitions sat with Left. Emotion and his sat with middle. Life sat high above his definitions in Throne's lap.



"The meeting", Ready proclaimed, "is now in order". Order liked being in. Testimonials started then, allowing each Word a turn. Turns were an

uncomplaining lot, so they didn't mind. Thought took Floor and said,

"We've given thought to this new thing extensively, but thought doesn't

seem to exist on it". Then Sight took Floor and said "We can see it

but we can see no sight". Then Feeling with Floor said "We can feel this

strange thing, but we can feel no feeling". Hearing and Floor then said,"We can hear this thing but we can't hear hearing on it. Then Nothing stood up, but Words knew what he would say.



Life, with Stood and Up, finally said, "It is dead then, for if it is not

thought, sight, feeling, hearing or nothing, then it is dead". "no", said

Death, "for death doesn't live here either.



Suddenly Real with Stood and Up took Floor and said "Real is not there either, so we say this new thing is a Not. Imagination probably imagined this not for us". But Not, with Say, said "it is not a not".



Life and Stood was Now and said, "If it is not a Not and not an Is, then not even needed is Now, so we will move on into this new galaxy for forever and search until Find is here. Our search for other new Words to answer the question, will be enriched and moved with the help of Upwards.



So Forget forgot and Words moved on.



As Words moved away, WHAT IS smiled and watched, without smile or sight. He even felt a little sorry for Words, without feeling or sorrow.....................





WHAT IS.....IS!








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One of life’s great mysteries revealed

I have a story for you. It’s a story seldom, if ever discussed, nor revealed. Why, I no not but it’s remained an enigma only such as I attempt to explain. Why I dare take on such a renowned mystery lies within the providence of disclosing the truth to the light of day for all to gaze upon without veiled eyes once and for all.
I’ve no idea who started practicing such an arcane and shall we proclaim here and now silly hobby but I have a feeling it’s been around as long as there were rocks haphazardly laying on the earth and humans with only one oar in the water stumbling along with absolutely nothing better to do.

For those adventurous exercise nutcases reading this, I’m sure this is nothing new. In your nature wanderings along lakes, streams, canyons and mountaintops, I’m sure you’ve come upon this weird unexplainable phenomenon, probably more than once by now.

Wherever plentiful rocks of all sizes abide, scattered by the elements alongside mostly water sources but sometimes far from, these one-oar folks can’t help themselves. Unlike normal people who are comfortable putting the square block in the square hole and calling it a good thing, these folks see natures disorderliness as something to, shall we say fiddle with. They feel an incontrollable and inescapable compulsion to force their own ideas of form and function on nature’s mostly haphazard and chaotic arrangements.

They do this in most cases, I’m guessing with great pride in their compulsive weirdness and with complete anonymous abandon. They obviously care more about what they consider their supreme creations than what any other human thinks when they happen upon these towers of insanity.

Here’s another layer of craziness they possess. The idea is not to simply practice balance with stability and long lasting the main goal. Oh no. The whole idea is to have their creation be within a hairsbreadth of tumbling to its doom. They purposely make it as unbalanced as possible, yet still miraculously holding it’s course against all odds.

All it would take is a slight breeze or a tiny bird desiring a resting place to disassemble the whole thing, leaving an unsightly jumble at its base.
What brought this whole tale on for me is as we speak (well, I write and you read) was a mystery rock stacker in Newcastle California practicing his or her insanity daily. Whomever this variable nutcase is, they are creating a supreme rock stacking basically hidden from public eyes down at the north end of town, between the end of the fruit shed and the public monument, right before the tracks.

Here’s the weird thing though. This has become my daily walk observance and most everyday, it’s nothing but a jumbled rock strewn mess lying there but when I come back around the sheds, there it is, stacked high and with great pride and apparent joy once more.

In perfect barely there form, waiting for the next gust of wind or the rattling train zooming close by to lay it back down in its rock strewn magnificence.

Now in my daily walks, I’ve had other walkers wonder at the craziness but none of us have ever caught the person responsible. We’re thinking seriously of assigning someone to hide with a camera in hand to finally out this person and their obsessive need to rearrange nature’s perfection but so far have found no one willing to stay the course throughout the night to do so.
I’ve heard from my reliable network of spies that this phenomenon, with possibly the same perpetrator has invaded Foresthill California also. They tell me they’ve spotted these crazy rock stackings in the medium of Main Street, again with no eyewitness accounts of who is doing it.

I’ve also heard the sickness has spread into the Helicopter Pilot world. I know of at least two Helicopter pilots who when landed either in the wild tundra of Alaska or the mountain tops of America, secretly and with glee plant their own dysfunctionaly driven madness for some unsuspecting person who happens upon them in the future.

I wonder if Foresthill’s favorite whirlybird flyer also participates in this madness? Maybe someone should ask, then wait for the sly mischievous grin.



NEWSFLASH UPDATE:

In my normal quest for accuracy, truth and justice for all, I showed several townsfolk this piece for their input before publication, on top of setting on it for a couple days. When I arrived at my business this morning, this note had been pushed through the mail slot in the door:

“Dear sir. Your need to discover the artist responsible for the masterpieces in town will remain undiscovered. For you see, this “one oar in the water” person, as you so callously called me, is far smarter than you or any of the other denizens of this hoboken burg you call a town. So hide all you want, load your cameras with film, place motion sensors there, the mystery of the rocks will remain an enigma forever more.


Signed, Big G Man…...”





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The Human Miracle

This will most likely skirt a tad close to the edges of a lot of folks moral, ethical and common sense boundaries but being the inquisitive soul I am, here goes:

My proposition today is anything the human mind can think of, devise or create is ultimately completely natural. To think otherwise implies humans are somehow an unnatural mistake.
Even those that believe we were created by a higher being or source have to either admit we and everything we do is natural or that higher being screwed up in our case, which of course would imply he/she is flawed.
I think most intelligent people would agree whether we exist from divine or natural sources, we're probably not just a random mistake. That anything man can think of would have to be considered natural in it's ultimate definition.

So all this brings up a recent discovery, I and many other scientifically minded  people are super excited about.
Scientists in Japan report they have created eggs from stem cells in a mammal for the first time.  The researchers went on to breed healthy offspring from the eggs they created. While the experiments involved mice, the work is being met with excitement and questions, about doing the same thing for humans someday.
A bio ethicist at Stanford University who studies stem-cell science said. "Repairing hearts, repairing brains, repairing kidneys, that's all good and important, and we'd all love to be able to do that but this involves making the next generation."

Scientists obtain the versatile cells from embryos. Embryonic stem cells are controversial because researchers destroy the embryos to get them.
Because these stem cells can morph into any cell in the body, there's always been the possibility they could do something especially profound. They could offer a way to create eggs from anyone at any age. That could change how humans reproduce.

Moreover, they did something potentially even more astonishing: They bred healthy mice from eggs made from another type of stem cell. Cells that look essentially identical to embryonic stem cells but instead of coming from embryos, they can be made from adult cells, such as skin or blood cells.
So they don't have any of the ethical baggage of embryonic cells.
So now they've gotten to what was the Holy Grail, which is making eggs. It's like cellular alchemy. They can turn skin cells or blood cells into eggs.
The big question, of course, is whether anyone could or should do the same thing for people. No one knows for sure.

So if they can make eggs from stem cells, then the biological clock becomes a mute point for future women
but that could be just the beginning. The same team previously made sperm from stem cells. So, the power to create sperm or eggs for anyone would be big news to many gay men and lesbians.
Now this line of creative thinking goes even further into territory charted by the book Brave New World. Combined with other techniques, eggs from stem cells could some day make it much easier for parents to pick babies with blue eyes or blond hair, or a talent for sports or music.

Now, it's important to remember that this may end up being nothing more than speculation. Even if it does prove possible, choices like these are probably decades away. All this would most likely require years of moral and scientific decision making processes to be sure.

So all this brings me back to my basic premise. I truly believe that we were put here or evolved from natural selection intact. In other words, having a mind capable of unlimited possibilities. I also believe we should never put limits or judgements on those clear facts.

So if we allow humans complete freedom to do anything and everything they're capible of, would bad things come of it? Would the scientific commuties start making monsters?
Since all of life consists of bad and good, up and down and yin and yang, the answer is of course! Should we let that fact manipulate, limit or set the rules for our scientific future?
Just like most other things, my opinion is a resounding NO! We should never let government, religion or any other man made institution interfere with whatever the human mind is capable of.



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Charlie’s Kayaking adventure…

There was a small upper alpine lake about ½ hour away. It only allowed fishing boats, which suited Charlie just fine. He didn’t have anything against powerboats, thinking it must be a lot of fun but it wasn’t his style. Not only that, speedboats produced huge waves which were the devil incarnate to Kayaks, so Sugar Pine Reservoir was a perfect place to paddle.

When he’d first moved to the area, he had heard a few volunteers were going to transfer an old Eagles nest from a dead tree in bad condition to another tree in better shape. Using a Helicopter to do the transfer was all Charlie needed to hear to be there. A few other interested folks showed up also and cheered wildly when everything was secured and in place. They were mostly interested in the nature aspect of the whole thing, whereas Charlie’s interest was twofold.

Yea, the nature part was indeed cool but the Helicopter………oh that Helicopter… hovering there in front of him, with the very skilled pilot keeping it perfectly still. As the brave or crazy guy, depending on ones perspective, hung around 75 feet in the air, retrieved the nest from one tree, then securely attached it to the new one. The whole operation only took about ½ hour or so, which were minutes in heaven for Charlie.

He hadn’t kayaked there this year yet but heard people talking about a family of Eagles having made it their new home. This was one of the reasons he thought to go out there on the weekend, to see this year’s nesting Eagles, with their young charges. People were saying you could see their little heads peek above the nest screaming out their hunger, as their doting parents delivered the fresh caught fish from the waters below.So he loaded the Kayak on top his car with everything including lunch and pulled out very early in the morning.

The earlier the better for Kayaking, for first thing in the morning the lake surface is like a mirror. After assembling his gear, he got in the Kayak and with a couple of paddle strokes, escaped across the placed water. Feeling his physical energy propel him through the environment inspired primeval thoughts; He was free from the noise, gas fumes, and all the electronics of the modern world in this pristine environment.

As the morning sun peaked over the tree line, the water was golden glass, with the air suspended in silent haze. Snaking smoke from the campfires on the north side campgrounds drifted softly through the trees, with tendrils suspending over the water in places. It was the most beautiful time on the water, slipping across in almost perfect silence, leaving a small wake that seemed to linger forever trailing behind.

As he approached the north side of the lake, a six-foot wingspan filled his eyes as a bald eagle, trailing his shadow glided over the water, then retreated back into the sky to land on a white pine limb that reached out high over the lake. Charlie quietly floated beneath the limb and looked up into the eagle’s eyes. He paused there in silent communion with this almost spiritual denison of the wild. Her eyes were like windows into the unknowable wonders of the universe. It felt like a dream floating there in the perfect stillness, the only sounds his breath and her occasional fluffing of wings.
Not wishing to disturb her living perfection, he pushed off once more, starting on around a small island there.

Sitting four inches above the water’s surface in a kayak presents a unique perspective of the landscape both above and below the surface. He always enjoyed paddling in shallow water, where he could see the bottom. It gave him a seldom seen view to marvel at. At times he would spot a fair size fish in its natural setting.
He always wondered about the little mysterious bubble streams floating up from who knew where? How oxygen could be trapped and released from the bottom of a lake was something he always marveled at. Everyone he’d asked offered plenty of logical sounding guesses but nothing yet he felt comfortable with.

Once the motion of paddling becomes a rhythmic routine, his mind always began focusing on the details of the environment; Puffs of wind across the water’s surface, fish jumping off in the distance, frenzies of tiny insect swarms, natural etchings on the shoreline, straight from an artists palette. Then there were the varied shadings of color in the trees, the sometimes almost magical patterns of bird flights above, and the mysterious panorama of aquatic plants softly swaying below.
Every time went out, this almost forgotten Kayaking poem crossed his mind. It always amazed him to find the words still floating around his mind.

Water surrounds me, constantly,
it undulates beneath me,
its motion, soothing, gliding, lulling,
its sound so seductively, caress,
unduly stresses, it slowly undress,

paddling renews in me,
the sense of peace and wonder,
brings in the child, long surrendered,
rejuvenates the soul,
brings me back home,
where to nature's bosom
I truly belong,

paddling lets me free,
distance me from the din of society
glues my sanity,
opens my mind to creativity,
empowering my whole being profoundly

paddling is contentment,
brings back memories, carefree and pleasant
I'm one with the water, I'm in my element,
outdoors always a pure enjoyment,
nature's vista, its colors pleasurable,
its hidden bounty, its secret joy,
silent beauty incomparable.....
It always takes my breath away,
truly inspires me in no other way...

By Gina Layog

The sun had burned through the morning haze as he paddled back south to continue on around the lake. He couldn’t imagine a better start to the day. The south side contained the dam, which was installed years ago, creating the lake. He was told a few years ago the local community of Forestville bought the water rights there for the town’s water source, which had to be a great investment for the towns future water needs.

In the early afternoon, he stopped at his favorite little peninsula for lunch, with its view of the entire lake panorama. Then he returned to the boat ramp to reload his Kayak and head back home.
Each time, as he was heading back down the mountain towards home sweet home, it always struck him how lucky he and everyone else living there were to have such an incredible high alpine lake so close by to enjoy.

He just hoped it could be kept our little secret. So......shhhhhhhh.......



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Thank You!

Well, looks like we all survived the Robbers firestorm relatively unscathed. Being one of the Spring Garden Road bunch, we learned a lot of things from this shall we say “Interesting” experience.

First of all we learned how living in the forest environment of Foresthill comes with it’s own sets of inherent pleasures and potential dangers. Having lived there over 20 years in our own little hidden in the forest utopia has been a dream come true for us. The other side of that shiny coin reared it’s ugly head on Thursday, July 12th when we came home to find our road blocked by a Highway Patrolman telling us we weren’t going home.

No amount of shocked hand waving, starving cats, important business papers, dying house plants or plaintive pleas of only having one set of dirty jeans got us past his cement exterior that night.
“Now what the @#$% do we do?” We cried in anguished dismay and body shaking fear.

That’s when the angels of mercy stepped up to the proverbial plate and saved us. Turns out the owners of the place my wife has worked at for years offered to take us into their home for the few days we thought it would take to quell the monster roaring up the mountain north of us.
So like the lost children we felt to be at that point, we slunked over to their wonderful abode, where they fed, reassured and in general gave us hope that “This too shall pass.”

Scared to death about our cats, the powers that be let us retrieve them and the few items we thought we needed a day or so later, so now our angel friends house was full to the brim with this ragtag homeless bunch they so generously deemed to help in our great time of need.

Then as you all know, that few days turned into far, far more. That’s when we learned so much more about how wonderful folks on the divide truly are. It turned out there are angels galore in our little mountain paradise.
We learned from the meetings first held at the Memorial Hall, then at the High School that the offered evacuation centers set up by the Red Cross for folks with no place to go remained mostly empty. As far as I knew or heard, almost everyone had friends, neighbors and I’m guessing in some cases total strangers who took those evacuees into their homes.
Now whatever your views about life there’s only one accurate word to call all these wonderful, giving, selfless people and that’s angels in the best sense of the word.

I would be amiss not putting a lot of others in that same category.
Obviously we all owe great debt and gratitude to all the Firefighters both local and from as far away as San Diego and points between for their dedication and service. Also all the law enforcement personnel who tried their best to keep our evacuated homes safe from the few low lives I heard they caught looting.
If that’s true, we have some lovely trees up in town plenty strong enough to hold their weight huh?

Last but surely far from least would be to thank all the aerial bomber and Helicopter pilots who made such a difference in such steep inaccessible areas.
I’m not positive but I heard one of those Helicopter Pilots is a homeboy a lot of you know personally. I’m one of those nutcases who runs outside like a little kid every time he flies to and from work up or down the divide. The next time you hear him in the air above, run outside and give him a wave.

If I’ve left anyone out, I’m sorry. As I’m writing this, I’m waiting in glee to once again sleep in my home in our mountain heaven for the first time in 7 days, so please forgive any omissions.


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