Greetings one and all. If you are sitting comfortably then I shall begin. And let’s start off by wishing the following Valley folks hearty congratulations on their January Birthdays – Shirley Hulbert, Eva Johnson, Jim Nickless, Maureen Bowman, Vicky Centers, Gene Walker, Sue Davies, and Patrick Ford. Many happy returns!
Here’s one of my favorite comments about a related topic — birth. It comes from my old friend Bill Shakespeare who wrote a few decent plays about 400 years ago, and in perhaps his best tragedy, ‘King Lear,’ he included the following line, “When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.” Difficult to argue with that.
Moving swiftly on. Public Service Announcements. Lots of ’em this week. #322. Sam Prather, one of the last remaining real shepherds in the Valley, has a few Border collie pups available. His two-year-old female has produced a great litter with working parents and there are four females and three males, although he plans to keep a couple himself, a sign of how good these dogs will be. Ideally the rest will go to working homes but failing that perhaps just good homes would do. I.e., where these highly intelligent yet sometimes highly strung dogs are not left alone all day long in a confined space or rarely get proper exercise. Call Sam at 895-3049 for further details. #323. The Winter Market (this time of year’s Farmer’s Market) continues on the porch at Lauren’s Restaurant on Saturday mornings from 10:30am to 1pm. #324. This coming Saturday, Jan 15th, it’s the first of the two Crab Feeds held in the Valley around this time each year. This one, with music by Dean Titus plus the always-enjoyable raffle, not to mention the vast amounts of fresh crab of course, will benefit the Senior Center and tickets are available from Gina Pardini at 895-3609. Buy them at any one of these Valley outlets: Lemons’ Market in Philo, Laughing Dog Books, All that Good Stuff, or The Fairgrounds Office in Boonville, or at the Yorkville Market. #325. The monthly Grange meeting is on Tuesday, Jan 18th at 7pm. #326. The following weekend will see a presentation of John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club by the AVHS Teen Drama Club at The Grange. Directed by local theatrical impresario, Marcus Magdaleno, the play will be performed on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd, with a 7pm curtain each evening. #327. Next up, it’s the Fifth Annual AV Film Festival, once again at The Grange. Movies, 17 in total, are being screened from Friday, Jan 28 to Sunday, Jan 30 and all the details are at www.andersonvalleyfilmfestival.org . #328. Finally this week, early-ish notice of the chance to see local resident and very accomplished actor of stage, screen and television, Rene Auberjonois appear in a play, ‘Off The Cuff,’ along with co-star Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever, hip d.j. on television’s ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’). It’s at The Grange on Saturday, Feb 12th — one night only.
This week at The Three-Dot Lounge, my favorite gathering place in the Valley.
…Regulars are raving about the free-range eggs available from Jennifer at 895-2585. Large and very tasty, unlike excuses for eggs that we are offered at most big stores these days. She has about 100 chickens currently laying and they are just off the highway about half a mile north of downtown Philo. Stop by, you can thank me later!
…A couple of regulars at The 3-Dot are also ‘members’ of the ‘Cup of Brew Crew,’ a gathering that assembles at Mosswood Market every weekday morning at 8am to sip the morning mud and discuss a wide range of topics. This group is comprised of about ten ‘gentlemen’ and features a wide range of folks from all walks of Valley life. As far as I know, the long-standing and original ‘Daily Grind Gang’ at the Drive-In down the street still convenes regularly too and I eagerly await the first ‘Brew Bowl’ coffee guzzling and debating competition between these two sets of early morning wordsmiths and Cup of Joe slurpers.
…School is back in session and being aware of the amount of sports practices/pick-up games that took place over the holidays, I can only hope that as much effort will be put into the students’ studies over the upcoming months. Come on boys and girls, give it your all, particularly you seniors. You know it makes sense.
Time to take my leave. Be careful out there; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; and may your god go with you. Oh, and of course, one final request, “Let us prey.” Poking and stroking egos wherever necessary and, as always, humbly yours, Turkey Vulture. PS. Keep the Faith. PPS. Contact me with words of support/abuse through the Letters Page or by e-mail at turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net. PPPS. Is that ‘lafter’ I hear, Carroll? PPPPS. It’s not all glamour being a Turkey Vulture but we do get many compliments. My favorite comes from no less an ‘expert’ than Charles Darwin who said about us Turkey Vultures, “A disgusting bird whose bald scarlet head is formed to wallow in putridity.” Thank you for the kind words, Charlie, I rest my case.
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