# 514 - 8th June, 2016

    Greetings one and all – if you are sitting comfortably then I shall begin… Well, it’s that time of year again - when I leave these parts for the Annual Turkey Vultures and Lesser Birds of Prey Convention at a secret location many miles from here. You will no doubt be pleased to hear that I shall be once again receiving a Special Vulturanitarian Award for my continuing services to the Birds of Prey Community of Northern California, to go along with yet another (my fifth) Carrion-Eater of the Year Title (Anderson Valley Region). Thanks to everyone who has made these awards possible, particularly of course Hummingbird, my fellow Vultures, and the noble carcass-providers... During my absence, it remains to be seen if I shall be able to write this column each week, although I shall certainly try to… Please prey for me…

    Public Service Announcements (P.S.A.’s)… Calendars and pens at the ready… #544 - The Vets from the Mendocino Animal Hospital have one more visit this month to the Anderson Valley Farm Supply on Highway 128, north of Philo. That will be on Thursday, June 16 from 2-3.30pm. They are trying to keep to a first and third Thursday schedule and therefore plan to be back in A.V. on July 7 and 21… #545 - As  mentioned last week, the ‘Second Wednesday Drumming Circle’ will be taking place at The Grange tonight, Wednesday, June 8 from 7-9pm. To confirm, perhaps call Andy at 895-3020… #546 - The Mendocino Bookmobile returns to the Valley next Tuesday, June 14. They are here on alternate Tuesdays for 45 minutes at each of these places and times: Navarro Store 9am (for just 30 minutes before heading out to Comptche); the Floodgate 12.30pm; Philo 1.30pm; Boonville (Apple Hall) 2.30pm. Phone 463-4694 for further details… #547 - The A.V Museum is open every Saturday and Sunday, from 1pm-4pm. Situated in The Little Red Schoolhouse next to the Elementary School on A.V. Way, this is a perfect thing to do in the Valley when you have a couple of hours spare on a weekend afternoon. It is not without reason that it is generally regarded as ‘The Best Little Museum in the West’… #548 - The Anderson Valley Grange is having its regular ‘Second Sunday Pancake Breakfast’ on June 12 from 8:30-11am. Prices range from $5-10 - kids through hungry folks, for a delicious, locally-sourced breakfast. Choices include pancakes (gluten free available although gluten extra is not served), eggs, and bacon, with a choice of juice, tea or coffee included…
    As a bonus P.S.A. here is the menu for the Community lunches and dinners over the next week in the Senior Center at the Veterans’ Building in Boonville. The Center asks for a $6 donation from seniors for both lunches and dinners and charges $7 for Non-seniors for lunches and $8 for the dinners… Tomorrow, Thursday, June 9, the lunch, served by Marti Titus and her crew at Noon, will be Citrus Cod with Triple Lemon Dessert… Then, next Tuesday, June 14, the evening meal served at 6pm, will feature BBQ ribs, and Cherry Crisp for dessert. All meals include vegetables, salad bar, and fruit, plus milk, coffee, tea, and lemonade. What a deal - it maybe the best value for money you’ll spend all week! Tai Chi is now available every Tuesday at 11am, while on Thursdays it is Easy-stretch Yoga, also at 11am, as part of the Active Life Club that runs from 10am to 2pm and which also features games, crafts, and music… Hopefully you will be able to attend some of these events and certainly the lunches and dinners, and 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 (yet surprisingly reliable) Rumors” from my favorite gathering place in the Valley, a somewhat secret location that sees people get together and share their thoughts about life in Anderson Valley and often far beyond, and where we subscribe to the Winston Churchill philosophy that “A lie will get halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put on its pants”… So, with that in mind, I shall quickly put my pants on and continue…
… Following last week’s ‘Most often heard in the Valley’ discussion about commonly repeated phrases heard in A.V., the 3-Dot regulars decided to discuss what sights could be deemed ‘Most often spotted in the Valley’… These made the final selections - A dog running along the road, clearly lost and without a collar… Many different local people gathered in groups of two or three having conversations outside local stores and post offices - a very nice thing to do… Silver-haired men driving sports cars with a much younger blonde woman in the passenger seat pretending to listen to what the old guy is saying… Motorcycle ‘gangs’ of lawyers and accountants dressed in hardly-worn leather biker gear, trying to look menacing, but failing miserably… Very slow-driving tourists refusing to use the many turnouts despite a long gaggle of cars behind them… Schoolkids walking in small groups through downtown Boonville, each staring at an iPhone and ignoring their companions (this can be almost as common as adults doing the same while sitting in restaurants and is not a sight unique to just A.V. of course)… Wine-tasting visitors becoming visibly more inebriated and hence more glib and ‘silly’ as the afternoon progresses… Tourists along the side of Hwy 128 picking raspberries, often completely unaware that they are also standing among vibrant bushes of poison oak…
… New science rooms at the high school? A swimming pool? Are these really among the best ways to spend money at the school? Some would say ‘Yes’. Anyway, that may be the result if the new bond issue passes… How about a chalkboard, some stimulating two-way conversation between teachers and students, a little extra sprinkling of discipline and a modicum of student accountability, and homework assignments and tests completed with passing grades?… Most seniors at the high school have managed this and will receive deserved congratulations at their graduation ceremony this week. They have partaken in video games, boy/girl friends, texting and social media, playing sports, goofing off - all of which are part of the school experience in these times of course, but the graduates have partaken in such activities without excess and have shown that there is still plenty of time for academics… This is a school after all…
… Here’s an old chestnut worth repeating before I head to places where this will not be an irritant - the overuse of the word ‘awesome’… In my humble opinion, the word is expressed far more often than it is warranted, and one cannot help but question whether everything referred to these days as ‘awesome’ is really as awe-inspiring as the way the word is defined? Much of what is so described is, if the truth were to be spoken, ‘especially good’, ‘very tasty’, ‘quite pleasant’, ‘particularly interesting’, ‘very well done’, ‘most impressive’, etc. Things that are actually awe-inspiring and earn the description ‘awesome’ could also equally be referred to as being breathtaking, magnificent, overwhelming, stunning, sublime, and wondrous. So come on, was that burger actually ‘magnificent,’ or was it ‘very tasty’?... Just wondering, and trying to keep it real…

    I’m outta here - I’ve got see a man about a sheep… So, until we talk again – be careful out there; if you break a leg don’t come running to me; stay out of the ditches; be wary of strangers with more dogs than teeth; show love to your pets, they will be faithful and true to you to the last beat of their hearts, and please remember to keep your windows cracked if you plan to leave them in your vehicle even for just a few minutes; think good thoughts; ‘Keep the Faith’; and may your god go with you… Oh, and of course, one final request, “Let us prey”… Sometimes poking, often stroking, yet almost always humbly yours, Turkey Vulture - saddened but ultimately comforted in the knowledge that the old hare has safely moved to his new burrow in the sky…
p.s. You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at
p.p.s. Keep on wagging that tail, Fred… Hi, Silver Swan – behaving yourself? Hopefully not!… Keep up the good work, Round-eyed Robin…