Greetings one and all. Are you are sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin. It was a veritable smorgasbord of activity and entertainment in the Valley over the past weekend. There was live music all over the place with The Ukeholics at Lauren’s Restaurant, The Subdudes at the Navarro Store Amphitheater, and “Dancing on Ivories” with Tom McDermott at The Grange; not to mention other events such as the Barn Sale on AV Way, the usual wining and dining at our various restaurants, and the wonderful first annual Heroes of Health and Safety Fair at the Fairgrounds featuring all the good stuff that our local firefighters and ambulance crews provide us with. And City folks never fail to ask me what there is to do up here!
The aroma of marijuana was unmistakeable in the parking lots at a couple of these events, not that there is anything shocking with that of course, but more importantly the subject of drugs provides this week’s topic for your Quotes of the Week. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist: “Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine, or idealism.” Actress Tallulah Bankhead: “Cocaine isn’t habit-forming. I should know. I’ve been using it for years.” And Nancy Reagan’s “insightful” advice: “Just say no.“ Timothy Leary, American psychologist and psychedelic drug advocate: “Turn on, tune in, and drop out.” And Jack Nicholson: “The only reason that cocaine is such a rage today is that people are too dumb and lazy to get themselves together to role a joint.”
Public Service Announcements — another busy week here in the bucolic bubble that is Anderson Valley. #713. The Vets from the Mendocino Animal Hospital will not be visiting the Valley again until Thursday, August 13. #714. There will be a fundraiser to benefit the AV Land Trust at 5.30pm on July 25 at Stoney Bottom Gardens in Boonville. A farm fresh dinner will be served featuring local produce and meats, with local wines and live music by Bob Day. The event will also present tours of Walt and Ginger’s wonderful gardens and a silent auction with many tremendous prizes. Tickets are $100 for the wonderful food and wine. Contact AVLT@mcn.org or 895-3150 for further details. #715. The Really Quite Hard Living Fair, known to some as The Not-So-Simple Living Fair, takes place this weekend, Friday-Sunday, July 24-26. For more information on this weekend of rural living skills education, homesteading workshops, back-to-the-land demonstrations, music, and dance go to notsosimple.info/whats-happening.com. #716. The 3rd Annual Barrel Tasting is also this weekend, July 25/26, and 20-plus wineries throughout the Valley will be offering these special tastings on both Saturday and Sunday. #717. The Mendocino Bookmobile returns to the Valley on Tuesday, July 28. They are here on alternate Tuesdays for 45 minutes at each of these places and times: Navarro Store 9am (for just 30 minutes); the Floodgate 12.30pm; Philo 1.30pm; Boonville (Apple Hall) 2.30pm. Phone 463-4694 for further details. #718. The AV Museum is open every Saturday and Sunday, from 1pm-4pm. Situated in The Little Red Schoolhouse next to the Elementary School on AV Way, this is a perfect thing to do in the Valley when you have a couple of hours spare on a weekend afternoon. It is not without reason that it is generally regarded as “The Best Little Museum in the West.”
Here is the menu for the Community lunches and dinners over the next week at the Senior Center at the Veterans Building in Boonville. The Center asks for a $6 donation from seniors for both lunches and dinners and charges $7 for Non-seniors for lunches and $8 for the dinners. Tomorrow, Thursday, July 23, the lunch served by Marti Titus and her crew at Noon will be Chicken Picatta with Better Cake for dessert. Then, next Tuesday evening, July 28 at 6pm, the dinner will feature Chicken Enchiladas with all the fixings, and Tres Leche Cake for dessert. All meals include vegetables, salad bar, and fruit, plus milk, coffee, tea, and lemonade. What a deal. It may be the best $7 you’ll spend all week! Hopefully you will be able to attend — all ages welcome! Hope to see you there.
Topics and Valley events under discussion this week at The Three-Dot Lounge — Moans, Groans, Good Thoughts, and Rampant (yet surprisingly reliable) Rumors from my favorite gathering place in the Valley.
…According to the latest Newsweek poll, Donald Trump leads the Republican pack for his party’s nomination?! Unbelievable! Come on, behave yourselves!
…Open your minds and consider what Carl Sagan, creator and presenter of the wonderful series “Cosmos” once said: “Used properly, television can educate and inspire awe as well as any book, painting, or film.”
…Are the folks who request to befriend you on FaceBollocks really asking, or is this generated by the site from the information they have regarding other friends you each may have? Just wondering as people want to be my friend and they have never met me. Surely I am not that popular?!
…Will the art of face-to-face conversation, wherein human beings interact with one another through interesting and stimulating banter, back and forth, listening and talking, be obsolete in 50 years? Quite possibly, as many (but not all thankfully) of the under-20 brigade seem to have already decided to stop.
…A couple of twenty- and thirty-somethings who work at a local business are probably not a good example to follow. In two separate interchanges at the location on Sunday afternoon, I said ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’ to these young adults and did not get a response. Instead there was an awkward silence as they seemed to ignore me. I repeated my greeting with emphasis and on this occasion they said ‘Hello’ back, but it was if I was a little odd to repeat the greeting. Maybe I am; or maybe it was just me they did not wish to respond to. Or perhaps they just are ignorant of certain courtesies in everyday life, and certainly some that are among the basics of their job. I think I know the answer, and it leads me to believe I’m just another boring old fart who harks back to a different era — which was not that long ago actually. Obviously the vast majority of the many Valley folks in the service industry, of all ages, do provide the social graces when dealing with customers, and in most cases much more, but unfortunately a small few remain clueless, crap at an important part of their job, or simply rude and, being in the industry for most of my working life, it just bugs a curmudgeonly but polite bugger like myself…
Time to take my leave. Besides I’ve got see a man about a sheep. So Keep the Faith; be careful out there; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; be wary of strangers with more dogs than teeth; please remember to keep your windows cracked if you have pets in your vehicle; and may your god go with you. A final request: “Let us prey.” Sometimes poking, often stroking, but almost always humbly yours, Turkey Vulture. still wallowing in the honor of having the 2nd tallest tree (343.6 feet) in Hendy Woods named after me and my ilk. Contact me through the Letters Page or at turkeyvulture9@gmail.com. PS. On the sheep, Grace. Keep on humming, Hummingbird. Missing the Venerable Pheasant everyday.
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