IF YOU remember Maggie's in Yorkville you can call yourself Almost An Old Timer. Ditto if you enjoyed tacos at Leo's in Yorkville where Leo, a wonderful performer, always had the latest jokes and even sang and danced a bit. I remember stopping in at Maggie's one afternoon for a beer when Maggie, an elderly woman inevitably propped up at the door as if to bar entrance to undesirables, of which there were many in her opinion, was still angry at a young man she said had just streaked the place. “He just ran in here naked and ran out again,” Maggie complained. Maggie was No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service to the max, as was the lunatic proprietor of Navarro-At-The-Beach in the same fraught era. He'd run hippies off at gun point, and he'd posted a sign outside that read, “I don't mind the hippie movement so long as they keep on moving.” I'd heard he'd done time for murder, and one terrifying day this guy denounced a combat Vietnam Vet friend of mine as a hippie and ordered him to leave before we'd even sat down. I was able to bear hug my chum out the door before he could jump the counter where Mr. Nut Cake surely kept a loaded weapon. Those were the days.
A READER PASSES ALONG:
Twomey closes AV tasting room.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/twomey-tasting-room-closures-20165439.php
This is the old Hans Kobler place.
COUPLE IN SEARCH OF HOUSING/COMMUNITY LIVING/EXCHANGE
We are a young couple completing a work exchange in Albion. We've grown fond of this place and its people and would like to try and stay on the Mendocino coast (preferably anywhere between Albion and Fort Bragg).
A bit about us: We are clean, quiet and considerate with good references and credit, and take great care of our homes. We like sharing space/land as long as we get along well and there are healthy boundaries/communication in place. Sharing time and meals would be nice and we are open to exploring intentional communities too. We come with a small pop-up camper (this will be parked and is not big enough for us to live in full time) and an indoor cat.
We're open to a few different options but would prefer something for at least one year and hopefully longer:
- house sitting / pet sitting (1 month or longer)
- full or partial work trade in exchange for rent (we can offer cooking, cleaning, caregiving, admin, organization, art making, basic gardening and yardwork, small building projects)
- furnished or semi-furnished studio, room or small dwelling under $1000
Please reply to me offlist at caitlindoherty04@gmail.com if you've got any leads.
Thank you,
Caitlin Doherty
SAM G ADDS:
Ben and Caitlin have done several sessions of extensive house sitting for us. They kept the greenhouses up, did chores very well and we returned to an immaculate home. We also have done a successful 6 week work trade with them through the workaway program. They have attention to detail, great senses of humor and work well together or separately. These are good people. — Sincerely, Sam
CENTRALIZED water and sewer for Boonville? I doubt it will happen because too many of the people in the target area are happy with their own wells and septic systems, defective as they may be. My acre of two modulars and a dozen feral cats in central Boonville is squeezed between two expanses of old Mexico, and I couldn't be more pleased. It enjoys an inexhaustible pair of wells delivering water as pure as any quaffed by Adam and Eve, and a septic system designed originally for a small hotel. Soooooooo, I don't need centralized water and sewer, but if my friends and neighbors vote for it, which I seriously doubt they will, I, or the ghost of me, will go along to get along.
BOONVILLE WATER & SEWER PROJECT STATUS UPDATE
(from the Minutes of the Feb. 6, 2025 project meeting)
REPORT ON CLEAN WATER (Wastewater) PROJECT: As David Coleman was unable to attend, this report was given by Sophia Grubb, his assistant. They are almost completed with the draft engineering report. They also have all the information needed to design the disposal field and treatment plant. They still need to consult with Jim Brown at the Fairgrounds to determine “equivalent connections” to establish flows as well as future billing. Their historical data predates Covid so they need current data. This conference was to have occurred several months ago so there is urgency in accomplishing this.
REPORT ON DRINKING WATER: Brent Beazor reports that he is in the last edits of the Rate Study Calculations. As we have a high level of confidence the outstanding negotiations will be concluded successfully, Brent was able to predict approximately $105/mo. will cover base rate and 5000 gal/month usage. The actual base rate will be calculated soon; this will impact the undeveloped properties that want a grant-funded meter installed. The water board will be able to send out their ballot to the property owners as soon as they receive the final numbers.
Q: Can the wastewater and drinking pipes be laid in same trench? A: No, State code does not allow potable water lines next to wastewater. The backbone (main pipe) of these systems will be on opposite sides of the roads. Discussion about installation (trenchless and open cuts will be used) and traffic mitigation. Reminder that Caltrans will also review the CEQA and construction plans.
Discussion about coordinating the Caltrans “Complete Streets” grant and the finalizing of construction. The State Waterboard Department of Financial Assistance (DFA) will only fund rehabilitation of the trenches to an additional one foot to the sides of trenches. The Caltrans plan to establish the features of Complete Streets (traffic, parking, bike lanes) will have a positive impact on the costs of the Water projects. We appreciate the willingness of Caltrans to coordinate with the installation of our infrastructure. If, in addition, we are able to obtain a grant to remodel the sidewalk areas of Hwy 128, we might be looking at needing emitter connections for landscaping. This was new information for our Drinking Water engineer and will be discussed further in the future. It was suggested that the AVCSD would then be a Water District customer for landscaping connections.
HOW'S MY HEALTH? Loath to be one of these geezers you don't dare ask because you'll get thirty uninterrupted minutes of medical lamentations, I can report it's pretty good apart from minor but persistent discomfort arising from the service demands of my new throat.
REMEMBER when the Chron's “10 Memorable Bottles” of the year included Anderson Valley Brut Rose, concocted at Roederer, Philo? Arguably the most exciting drink ever it was described by Jon Bonne as “Filled with scents of ripe butterscotch, dried roses, wild strawberry, heather, and unfiltered whim-whams, it was just old enough to have taken on a mellow pastry-dough sweetness, yet bright enough to burst with all the energy of the urique raton that gives this drink its unusual pale yellow color.”
BONNE'S mention of “whim-whams” is interesting. Zu-zu’s and whim-whams is prison lingo for candy, although wine writers oughta be locked up for crimes against reality. It's unlikely Bonne was ever locked up anywhere but at a wine tasting.
RECOMMENDED READING: ‘Catch/Release’ by David Ollier Weber, who once lived in Comptche, and recommended because the author captured an important Mendo vibe, the prevalent vibe in certain areas of the county. Set in the Emerald Triangle's most exciting outback venues, mostly along the Mina Road running between Covelo and Alderpoint, Catch/Release begins, “We still pick up hitchhikers in Mendocino County…” Yeah, lots of us do, but only because we know them and there might be social consequences if we don't stop. But if you're deep in the outback, somewhere south of Zenia, basic human solidarity will make you stop for someone who appears to be in need, which is what Ollier's nifty little novel is pegged to, a humanitarian impulse that nearly gets the humanitarian killed. The author has clearly spent a lot of time around low-lifes because the low life he gives a lift to is perfectly portrayed right down to the creative grammar of his vocabulary of curses. The book's a page turner. I picked it up and didn't put it down until I was confident the narrator would survive the Mina Road. Ollier manages to capture both the more comfortable Mendo vibe reflected by the fleshpots of Mendocino Village and the ominous one you can get in the Northeast sector of the county even without a demented hitchhiker as your passenger. In this tale, which is definitely an essential addition to the Mendo oeuvre, you not only get deftly drawn suspense but a nice set piece on fishing, funny encounters with a surly Klamath store clerk and a female Fox News zombie who picks up our hero on Highway 36 when he becomes the hitchhiker. Ollier's a guy who knows his Mendo, from the Pacific to the Yolly Bollys.
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