#14 - March 2nd, 2005

For a nosey Vulture like myself it is always an exciting time of year to be flying around this Valley and beyond. For a brief window in time, from mid-February to mid-March, you can now see, up in the hills or way off the main roads, all the homesteads which for most of the year are hidden by the leaves and foliage on the trees and bushes…There are so many….So that's where you all are, I had no idea. Now that I know, I shall be keeping a bird's eye on you…..
Complaint of the Week….. I flew over Ukiah way a few days ago and visited the Mendocino Farm Supply where I had to pick up alfalfa pellets for some ravenous friends of mine. Now I know we live in a relatively mellow place but sometimes customer service standards are not what they might be. This is acceptable in many instances but surely your understanding of the words being spoken by the person attending to you should not be hindered as a result of him stuffing his face with a sandwich. Well, on this day I could not decipher what was being said and had to ask the gentleman to repeat himself on a couple of times. When this occurred, instead of an "excuse me", he seemed to think I was at fault for our inability to communicate and so his mumbling was accompanied with an unfriendly and aloof attitude… and he continued to feed. In the scheme of things this episode is not a 'biggie' but it certainly reminded me of why I always try to get such supplies from our friendly and knowledgeable farm suppliers in Anderson Valley. Come on !… As a Vulture who is permanently peckish I know how he was feeling but this was ridiculous no matter how hungry he was !…..
The following night saw the convening of the February meeting of The Independent Career Women in Anderson Valley - a group who not only have a wonderful time when they have their gatherings but also help to raise money for college scholarships for local high school graduates. I was surprisingly not invited but one of my intrepid reporters, Hummingbird, was in attendance and had a great evening. The venue at Wellspring Retreat in Philo was perfect and embellished with a lovely display of narcissus and daffodils. Members take it in turn to make the arrangements for each get-together and on this occasion the evening was organized by Patty Liddy and Terry Ryder who booked the speakers - Tom and Linda of Maple Creek Winery in Yorkville; arranged the caterer - Linda Castagnola with the team at Wellspring; and made sure there was a gathering of nearly forty members in attendance. The meal (Cornish game hens, roasted vegetables, wild rice pilaf, with a chocolate silk torte for dessert) was excellent, not that I was given the chance to confirm this, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the talk given by Tom and Linda, who also provided some excellent wines. This group has been going for many years and in recent times has taken in a number of new members to join those ladies who have been 'independent career women' for many, many years. So this is a good cause combined with an opportunity for a very pleasant time and anyone interested in joining the group should contact Peggy Ridley at 895-3235…
Chaos in downtown Philo last Friday….cars backed up in both
directions, drivers out of their vehicles scrambling around Highway 128, people rushing down to the scene from the gas station and the nearby houses - all apparently in search of the reason for this mayhem on a Friday lunchtime. From my vantage point in front of the Philo Post Office nothing could be seen…and then suddenly two little (obviously) Chihuahua puppies emerged from underneath a van at the front of the westbound traffic. Their owner grabbed them both and thankfully waved the traffic through with an embarrassed grin on his face before returning the pups to the back of his open car parked in the post office parking lot. You just don't see this stuff on the Bay Bridge….
Moving on to hazards of a different nature everyone should be aware of the visits to our fair Valley of the HazMobile. Unless you are able to take your hazardous waste to Plant Road behind the Animal Shelter in Ukiah (Tuesdays from 8am to 2pm) this is your chance to get rid of the motor oil, anti-freeze, batteries, brake fluid, paints, solvents, loose asbestos, etc locally. Apart from the Tuesdays mentioned above there are other collections in Ukiah and Fort Bragg - call 1-800-246-3939 for dates and times…This community service only happens twice a year in the Valley and last week was one of those occasions. Their next visit here will not be until October…..
Although the days are slowly getting longer it still leaves too many hours in the evening to find amusement for myself. This has led to the situation twice in the past week when I have found time to watch both Jay Leno and David Letterman on the television. Dear, oh dear they are bad. Each of them has his list of key current topics which are targets to lampoon and get an easy laugh from the audiences in the studio and many viewing at home, all of whom no doubt hang on their every predictable punch-line….Letterman occasionally reverts to some of the cutting humor which he once possessed but even he has toned his act down so much over the years that my grandmother now likes him - not that there is anything wrong with that of course. Leno, I find virtually un-watchable….and what on earth is that jet of black hair protruding from the front of the otherwise immovable gray mass on top of his head ? I do believe it's the most amusing thing about him….
However, last week he did have the sad story, verified by my trustworthy sources of course, of the Welsh rugby fan who swore he'd cut off his own testicles if Wales were to beat England in an upcoming game, something they had not accomplished for many years. (Leno actually said Wales were to play 'Britain' - an error of epic proportions if made anywhere in the British Isles rather than on mainstream American television, many of whose viewers may not have caught the awful faux pas). Well, and you know what is coming next, a few days later Wales won the game 11-9 and sure enough the deliriously happy and, I should add, extremely inebriated Welshman walked outside the drinking establishment where he had watched his country's narrow victory and proceeded to cut off his testicles. He then returned to the bar and showed his celebrating friends the unhappy and bloody results of his act before he was rushed to hospital. He is presently recovering at The Gwent Infirmary in south Wales and is being comforted by a confused girlfriend …..
Now in my experience the Welsh are very passionate about a number of things - singing in all-male voice choirs, enjoying vast quantities of leek soup, admiring the rows on rows of daffodils in their gardens, and, of course, their legendary admiration for, and relationship with, the attractive sheep grazing on the glorious Welsh mountainsides. Their love of rugby is also something very special - just how special is now more clearly understood…..
On a very similar topic I have to say what a wonderful time I had last Tuesday amongst a flock of sheep, two border collies and a Welsh shepherd. It was a stunningly beautiful afternoon and the time to get all the lambs in for the annual docking of all their tails, the checking of their eyes and general well-being, and the castration of the young males. Everything went very calmly. The dogs kept the sheep in order, the mothering ewes seemed to understand it was necessary for the working shepherd to check on their offspring in this way, and the Welsh shepherd performed his job in a gentle, caring, and bloodless manner…unlike some Welshmen we could mention…..
Now I would say, it's time to prey…..Turkey Vulture.