# 373 - September 25th, 2013

Greetings one and all – if you are sitting comfortably then I shall begin… So we had a little rain, eh? Got to be good news for many folks, although some people I spoke to had been suddenly shaken into frenzied panic. Go figure… Anyway, it provides us with this week’s Quote of the Week – courtesy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who wisely observed, “The good rain, like a bad preacher, does not know when to leave off”…

       Moving on… Public Service Announcements (P.S.A.’s)… Calendars and pens at the ready… #413 – The Independent Career Women (ICW) meet this evening at the Senior Center for their monthly gathering. This is being catered by Julie from the General Store in Boonville and she will be serving St. Lois-style Pork Spare Ribs braised with Sweet Peppers and Onions, Double Stuffed and Twice Baked Potatoes with Cheddar Cheese, Scallions and Sour Cream, Roasted Eggplant, and Heirloom Tomato Tagine, Mixed Green Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette, and for dessert it’s Coconut Pecan Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – sometimes I really wish I was an independent career woman as opposed to a dependent bird of prey… #414 – The next visit to the Valley by the vets from Mendocino Animal Hospital will be on Thursday, October 17… #415 - The monthly Barn Sale returns on Sat/Sun, Oct 5 and 6, at The Big Barn on A.V. Way just north of Boonville, and runs from 10am to 3pm each day… #416 - Recently I have been remiss in not mentioning one of my favorite weekly activities here in the Valley – a County Dump visit! You can drop off trash and recycling up there a mile or so out of Boonville on Mountain View Road on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and weekends from 9am to 4pm. Remember, ‘No Dead Animals’ - please leave those to me and my buddies – after all, we are nature’s finest garbage collectors...

       As a bonus P.S.A. here is the menu for the Community Lunches over the next week at the Senior Center in the Veterans Hall in Boonville… The Center asks for a $6 donation from Seniors and charges $7 for Non-Seniors for the lunches that are always served by Marti Titus and her crew at 12.15pm… Tomorrow, Thursday, September 26, the lunch will be Buttermilk Chicken, Rolls, Carrots, Garlic Potatoes, Kasha Salad, and Triple Berry Cobbler … Then next Tuesday, October 1, the menu will feature Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes W/ Gravy Rolls, Brussels Sprouts, Quinoa Salad, and Birthday Cupcakes... Remember, all ages are welcome!... Hope to see you there…

       Moving quickly on to a few of the topics and Valley events under discussion this week at The Three-Dot Lounge – yes it’s “Moans, Groans, Good Thoughts, and Rampant (and often Reliable) Rumors” from my favorite gathering place in the Valley where people get together and share their thoughts about life in A.V.…

… Like most bars/pubs we get our fair share of dull and boring folks pontificating endlessly. Some of the worst are those who insist on sharing their dreams with anyone who will listen; yawn-provoking soliloquies about how they were falling and falling endlessly or were a beautiful princess in distress, or a prince riding a magnificent horse into battle and rescuing a beautiful princess, etc, etc… Enough already – let’s leave the dream-sharing to folks such as Martin Luther King…

… Someone who is always welcome to share with us is Malcolm West, the artist who currently has his work on display at Lauren’s Restaurant in Boonville. Many Valley folks talk about being artists and quite a few actually are. Malcolm is surely one of the very best…

… The Madrones, the Mediterranean-styled complex just south of Philo, where according to them you can ‘taste, dine, and unwind’ in the Valley, has now opened its ‘Stone and Embers’ restaurant to complement the location’s four winery tasting rooms and curiosity shop … Open from 12 to 8, closed Wednesdays and Thursdays, this new dining venue features wood-fired pizzas and a variety of small plates… ‘Groundskeeper’ Jim Roberts has created a wonderful location in all its guises, although the offer to view his garden ‘through iron gates’ is not the best invitation I have ever received!... Ha, ha, ha!…

… The Valley’s liquor license discussions continue behind closed doors, down dark alleys, and on fog-shrouded hillsides. Basically, there is a fairly bright light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully someone will be able to serve me a top shelf gin and tonic in the not too distant future, not to mention martinis and some fine single malts… I shall try to keep you up to date but at this point all I have are rumors and possibilities…

… A lovely sight in downtown Boonville on Friday afternoon – a girl on a horse. It was Nicole Johnson (Wyant) – doing something her forebears over a few generations no doubt did many times… Good on yer, Nicole!...

… It’s all very well saying you have an open mind – but then you have to be aware of people filling it with crap…

… From our 3-Dot regular, The Old Buzzard, comes another in his insightful series – ‘Signs that the Apocalypse is Approaching’… Buzzard reports, ‘I wined and dined at Lauren’s, Aquarelle, and Coq au Vin this past weekend – I would have gone to the other Valley restaurants too but that would have been greedy. Each of them offers a different experience and each does what it does very well. It’s quite remarkable that in this relatively isolated spot we have such choices, and quality ones at that. Throw in The Buckhorn, The Boonville Hotel, and Libby’s, not to mention the daytime eateries and deli’s, and I couldn’t help but wonder that when the Apocalypse finally does arrive where am I going to eat my last supper?...’

       Well now I think it’s time to take my leave… So, until we talk again – ‘Keep the Faith’; be careful out there; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; please remember to keep your windows cracked if you have pets in your vehicle; and may your god go with you… Oh, and of course, one final request, “Let us prey”…

Humbly yours, Turkey Vulture…

p.s. You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at <turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net>

p.p.s. Hi, Silver Swan – behaving yourself? Hopefully not!

p.p.p.s Bobwhite Quail - keep up the knitting!