#4 - December 15th, 2004

A Bird's Eye View of The Valley…….. by Turkey Vulture

Although it was wet and wild outdoors last Monday night it was no deterrent for those who gathered at The Buckhorn Saloon for fine ales, tasty bar snacks, and stimulating conversation (at least according to those assembled in the bar !). With new Monday night barman, Jim, 'on loan' from The Boonville Hotel, doing a splendid job, everyone seemed to have a great time, helped by the fact that the football game was a nail-biter right to the end. Yours truly had a vested interest in a Dallas Cowboy victory which finally came about at approximately 9.30pm and obviously this had to be celebrated accordingly. Thus I left the still 'happening' scene after 10pm and hopefully Jim was able to finish his shift and be out of there before midnight - an unthinkably late hour for a miserable Monday in Boonville…
The following night I witnessed a similarly festive group gathered at Libby's to celebrate local 'celebrity' and occasional carpenter, Olie Erickson's 40th Birthday. Balloons and Irish whisky seemed to be in abundance and although the latter remained officially unopened for legal reasons, the Mexican beers and wine were more than sufficient. Libby's did themselves proud with the friendly, prompt ,and efficient service of Carrie Sanchez to go with the always excellent food produced in the kitchen - mmmm, I'd have to say that the carne asada is hard to beat anywhere… and I lived and ate in and around the Mission district of San Francisco for many years…
Rain, rain, and more rain…but very few power outages in the Valley up to this point…Now I suppose I've spoken too soon, eh ?…..Talking of which, during power failures in the past, I found a very comforting thing to do, along with candlelit dinners and cozy wood fires, is to stay tuned to Ft Bragg's radio station, The Coast - KOZT - 95.3 FM. I strongly advise listening particularly when station co-owner and d.j. par excellence, Tom Yates, is on the air, although I must say all the station's d.j.'s maintain a high level of professionalism that is so often lacking on the airwaves today. If you can ignore the too numerous Grateful Dead songs over a day of listening, you will discover that Tom has the perfect calming voice for times of trouble and his up-to-date pg&e repair schedules are most useful. Furthermore his obvious sincerity is most reassuring and his encouragement for all of us to "think good thoughts" seems to work …..and this 'warm and fuzzy' advice comes to you from a cynical, curmudgeonly vulture like myself who would not normally enjoy being told to "think good thoughts"…..
I only managed to catch a few of the recent basketball games at The Redwood Classic and did not manage to see our Anderson Valley Panthers in action. However, having spoken to a couple of people who did and who know the game and are coaches themselves, apparently our boys did not cover themselves in glory . Whilst they cannot be faulted for being beaten by more skilful opposition, there is no excuse for lack of effort and numerous fundamental errors…… Now don't 'kill the messenger', I'm merely reporting the feelings of some very disappointed fans , just as I will talk about our team's better performances when they happen and the joy to fans which they bring…
The Dogs with No Name…nor address……Stray dogs without name and address tags seems to be a common occurrence up and down the Valley. Too bad that humans are once again getting it wrong. It is beyond my comprehension why someone would not take care of this basic duty of pet ownership/guardianship and thus enable those who find these stray animals an opportunity to return them to their homes. I suppose I could be wrong in assuming that they are wanted as this is by no means certain given the disregard for the animal's well-being in the first place… I personally have returned numerous dogs with tags to their owners and although some have been extremely grateful I have been very surprised at others who have given me just a cursory "thanks" - country life and country attitudes perhaps ?….Anyway, this week's count was three dogs - one outside the Boonville Hotel at 10pm on Monday night in the middle of Highway 128; another near the Redwood Drive-in at 11.30am on Tuesday, also in the middle of Highway128; and a third at the end of Gschwend Road near it's junction with Highway 128 at the far end of Philo on Thursday….None of the dogs had tags and I have no idea whether they found their ways back home… Surely we can do better.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would rarely enter any political minefields in this column. There are others who contribute to this esteemed organ who are far more qualified to do so than I. However, I have to say something about what I witnessed the other night on television. I watched Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, come face to face with troops in Iraq and field questions from them. He was pathetic. It was shocking how clumsily he answered their questions about poor equipment, useless intelligence, and the misleading promises the soldiers had been given about how long they would be expected to serve in that particular theatre of war. He even shamelessly tried to excuse his incompetence by making a joke that he was an old man and that it was early in the morning. For someone who has one of the most important roles in world affairs today it was not only a display of utter ineptness but also a very scary , even terrifying, preview of what we can expect over the next four years while this administration is in office …
Latest on the search for "The Complete Night out in Boonville" sweepstakes……The A.V. Brewery Tasting Room will very shortly be offering local wines by the glass for those of you who need a respite from tasting the beers they make - wonderful though they are……..As far as Christmas trimmings are concerned, on a visit to town last Friday evening I noticed that The Buckhorn Saloon has done a marvelous job once again and will be hard to beat in the annual competition for the cash prizes awarded to establishments with the best holiday decorations - Well done, Diana and the crew !….There is also a prize for the best decorations at a private residence and based on what I've seen already this will be a very close call indeed…..
Stop the presses - last minute news-flash ! … Reliable sources (two guys in a bar) have informed me that this award cannot be won by the same business two years in succession and as The Buckhorn apparently won last year they are ineligible for the prize this year. Well, it looks great anyway…
A number of local business owners are commenting on how slow business continues to be. Obviously things are quieter at this time of year with the influx of out-of-towners and bright lighters at its annual low point but this year seems to be a little worse than previously as we approach the middle of December. So, if you are thinking about visiting the metropolitan areas of Ft Bragg or Ukiah and you could get the same thing here in the Valley may I respectfully suggest perhaps you could offset the money you save on the gas for that road trip by buying locally at the slightly higher price. At least you'd be supporting a neighbor and at the same time you'll probably run in to someone you know for a holiday chat…..Say "hi" from me !…..