# 81 - October 17th, 2007

Greetings one and all…I have been away for a few days in San Francisco, more of that in a minute, but first here’s the Turkey Vulture Quiz…Answers at the end of the column…
1. There are two roads that run into Hwy 128 between the gas station in Philo and Starr Auto. Name them…
2. What is the elevation of Yorkville?
3. The big red house on Hwy 128 at the 19-mile marker between Philo and Navarro is called what?...Extra point to anyone who knows the original owners…

I am limited for space this week but I thought I must tell you about the wedding I attended last weekend (no, I did not crash it – I was actually invited!). At about 9pm on Saturday night I found myself in the outer Mission district at a beautiful mansion, The Chenery House, drinking champagne in the company of about one hundred very well-dressed, yet quite drunk, guests plus novelist Danielle Steele, also well-dressed yet not so drunk, wearing the largest pair of sunglasses I have ever seen and surrounded by a small entourage. I find people wearing sunglasses inside at 9pm at night particularly odd so having introduced myself I obviously wanted to create a little mischief so I informed ‘the writer of more best sellers than anyone else on the planet’ that I had read all her works.
As she held her cigarette in a holder with one hand and sipped the champagne from a crystal glass in the other, she looked at me suspiciously and said, “Really…and which one is your favorite?”… Having never read a single word she has ever written, I briefly panicked before replying, “Err, well it’s very hard to name just one but The Passion was probably the most enjoyable” – I was far from sober and didn’t really care if this was a feasible answer or not, although it might be a good guess as I vaguely know the kind of books she writes and “Passion” seemed like a good bet for a title…She smiled and said, “Ah, ‘Passion’s Promise’ - that’s one of my favorites too…Thank you, Mr. Vulture”, at which point she turned and walked away…I wasn’t sure what to make of this so I checked it out later – ‘Passion’s Promise’ was published in 1989 and is one of her biggest sellers!...Who knew???
San Francisco is a marvelous city of course but every time I go there these days, the smells, noise, “taste” and overall “bad-ass craziness” of the place quickly wear me down. On this occasion I lasted until the Sunday evening when, as I walked along South Van Ness Avenue, I saw a street person lying face-down on nothing but the bitterly cold sidewalk concrete, with not even some cardboard underneath him. He was in very bad shape indeed. It was quite a contrast to the opulence I had been surrounded by on the previous evening and I paused to think about this dichotomy before thrusting $20 into his cold, grubby hand…I once lived in ‘The City’ for seventeen years, mostly in the Lower Haight district, and dealing with the sight of, and confrontations with, street people had always been a part of the city’s “rich tapestry” but at that moment I thought, “For all its magic there is too much of a gulf between the have’s and the have-not’s in this place and I don’t think I could live here anymore”…I felt very sad...

As the rains approached last week, I realized that my nest brush-pile was vulnerable to the elements so I tried to buy a tarp in the Valley. I couldn’t find one; apparently there had been a rush on them in the previous few days. What were people covering up? I think we should be told…

Be careful out there and try to stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts and may your god go with you…Now I must go, but first - let us prey…Humbly yours…Turkey Vulture (hopefully the next Mayor of A.V. – “You know it makes sense”)…..
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Quiz Answers…
1. Blattner Road and Rays Road…
2. It’s at 950 feet – they don’t call those locals “High Rollers” for nothing you know!
3. That lovely old house is called Reilly Heights and its first owners were James Reilly and Christine Gschwend…