# 75 - September 5th, 2007

Greetings one and all – The Valley hot enough for ya? Well I suppose we’ve been fortunate in that this recent little heat wave is really the only severe one so far this year. Still, it’s not very pleasant for scavengers like myself. The large dead possum that some of my fine feathered friends were devouring at the side of Hwy 128 near Jack’s Valley Store, had been “cooking” in the sun for quite a few hours when I flew by. Based on the odor, it was well-past it’s “edible carrion” date in my opinion and those guys were just being greedy… That leads me conveniently to a little “Jive Turkey” – Despite the sordid tale reported above, we Turkey Vultures prefer meat as fresh as possible and will not eat extremely rotted carcasses, well most of us won’t! Furthermore, we have an extraordinary sense of smell, the largest olfactory (smelling) system of all birds in fact, and we can tell rotting flesh that is more than twenty-four hours old from a mile or more away. That stuff is not for us. Now you know…
Let’s get to the T.V. Quiz…Answers at the end…
1. How much will it cost you to camp for a night at the Indian Creek County Park just outside Philo?
2. In 1925 and 1926 two Lodges were formed in The Valley – one for men and one for women. What were their names?
3. There were six towns/communities in The Valley for many years. Yorkville, Boonville, Philo, and Navarro are obviously still here but what were the other two, no longer in existence?

Next up, it’s Helpful Hint #41 – Do you like Blackberries? Fresh blackberries are a beautiful thing and we in The Valley have some of the very best. Leave the tourists to trample through the poison oak to pick the dust-covered berries from the side of the road and get some of the finest and freshest, for just $12 a gallon, by leaving your number at the Navarro Store and ‘someone’ will be in touch - I did, they were, and I ate…

Just a “quickie” (as the bishop said to the actress) …I was in a great hurry whilst at the Navarro Store last week (“so why didn’t you leave earlier?” as Dave Gowan would wisely say). Anyway, I had to get some supplies and gas and meet up with Hummingbird. I left my various purchases, along with some money, with Dee Dee, who was working the counter, and asked her to grind the coffee I’d bought. I then went and pumped the gas.
As I turned to walk back to the store and collect my supplies there was Dee Dee behind me with everything in a bag and my change in her hand. “I could see you were in a hurry”, she said, “So I thought I’d save you a little time. You left enough cash for everything.”…
“Now that’s what I call service” I beamed. “Thank you so much”. As I drove away I thought this just couldn’t happen in a big city and how life in the country can be so, err, “nice”…Yer gotta like that!...

Another twist in the on-going saga of the white picket “wooden” fence (which is obviously not wood) at Breggo Cellars Winery on Hwy 128 opposite Anderson Valley Way – you’ll no doubt be fascinated to learn that it’s been taken down. Something to do with the apparent new vine work going on behind it?…And what about the dust-creating field work on the other side of the road? Yet more vines going in perhaps…Now you may have correctly surmised that I do like a little tipple of wine on occasion but just how many vines do we need? Oh, well, I’m sure there’s plenty of water for them all (???)…

Finally this week, just a brief comment about an August Friday evening in Boonville – what a lot of fun! Despite it being Labor Day weekend there were not that many tourists around but the locals were out in force, frequenting Lauren’s, The Boonville Lodge, The Ox, Buddy’s Ice Cream, The General Store, and The Hotel…Hey, if you’re up in the hills and thinking how a chat with friends, seeing a few familiar faces, and sipping a cold beer or glass of wine might be a pleasant thing to do, then Downtown Boonville is the place to be on a hot summer evening – trust me on this; you’ll thank me later…
I’m outta here…Be careful out there…But first - let us prey…Humbly yours…Turkey Vulture…..
You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at…turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net
Quiz Answers…
1. Just $10
2. The Lodges were the ‘Odd Fellows’ for the men and the ‘Rebekahs’ for the ladies
3. Wendling and Christine – back in the day both were distinct communities north west of Philo.