Siskiyoutopia

Hey!  We took a trip to Ethiopia.  Follow the link below to watch our home video of the trip!

****   Ethiopia Trip   *****click me*****

And if you’re interested, I wrote a separate blog about the trip while we were there - Acts827

Salom!

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I don’t really like Christmas.  I love Jesus and am grateful He was born, but I really don’t like “Christmas”.  So I tend to come at it with a bit of a rebellious spirit and attitude.  This year I took it out on the Christmas tree.

I have to admit that it doesn’t help that I’m really cheap budget conscious.  So I decided to have an “alternative” tree.  I searched the internet for ‘unique Christmas trees’ and found some really bizarre ideas.  The one I settled on was this ‘Mt Dew Tree‘ (it really helps to follow this link to get a visual of the tree).  I thought to myself ‘wow!  That’s shiny!’  and ‘I can do that’.

There were a few hurdles, like the fact that I don’t really drink much soda…..  so we adopted a new policy in the household - drink more soda and SAVE THE CAN!

So one evening there I was with my box of saved up soda cans ready to put this ‘Christmas Tree’ together.  I didn’t really have the same materials that the very detailed instructions called for; but I figured I could still make it work with some junk I had laying around the house….. how hard could it be?  I’ve got the basic idea down.

Well, as I got started the first thing I realized was that I didn’t have nearly enough cans, not even for a small tree.  So I decided to do a ‘half’ tree that we could just push against the wall, you know, like a semi-circle.  Then I discovered that even then I wouldn’t have enough cans.  I also discovered that the detailed instructions were probably the way to go.

As I attached the last few cans, my kid takes a gander at the ‘tree’, looks at me with a cocked brow and a face that clearly says, ‘are you kidding me?’ and then her mouth says the same thing!  “Mom, can’t we just get a normal tree?”

We all got a good laugh - AT me, not with me, the ‘can’ tree went outside, we went to Hospice Shop and we bought a lovely little fake tree on sale for $3.50.  At least we stayed on budget…. The kid got to decorate the tree and everyone lived happily ever after.  (next year I’ll be more prepared!)

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So, what is it about the nature of people?  It’s Christmas Eve and we are on our way home from church and suddenly realize that the stores will probably be closed tomorrow - after all - it’s Christmas.  So we frantically try to come up with a grocery list just in case there’s something we need that can’t wait until Saturday.

me: “hmmm, I think we need some bread, but of course, we do have those 3 dozen dinner rolls you bought for dinner Saturday…..maybe a little overkill, but at least we have bread of some kind”

husband: “gee I’d really like some Hi Ho crackers (aka Ritz crackers for those of you younger than 50:)  tomorrow for lunch….”

me: “Well we better hurry, they’re probably going to close early on Christmas Eve.”

Arrive at Raleys - closed.  Zip over to the “new” Shop Smart - closed.

husband:  “How about Rays?”

me:  “They’re clear over on the other side of town!”

That apparently was translated as - “you better drive faster to get there quicker”

Screech into the Ray’s parking lot - closed.

OMG!!  We can’t buy crackers until Saturday!!!  Oh no - no crackers for lunch tomorrow!  Uhg! Christmas is ruined!

hee hee!  Merry Christmas and may your home be filled with good cheer and Ritz crackers:)

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I don’t have a lot to say about this topic, except this - a quiet movement is afoot and I for one am a huge supporter.  Check out this link - URBAN CHICKEN

— —- —– —– —-  Post Script —- —– —- —-

Have you ever pulled out an old pair of jeans or a jacket you haven’t worn in a long time, reached into the pocket and found money?!  Isn’t that one of coolest things?!!

We have 3 pet chickens.  We’ve had them since about April and they hadn’t laid any eggs.  Their sweet little lives were on thin ice.  We weren’t going to keep feeding them if they weren’t going to ‘put out’.  This is a two way deal - we feed them, they give us eggs.  This isn’t brain surgery, it’s a simple farming principle.  Well, you will all be relieved to hear that they finally started to lay eggs about a month ago.  Yea!!  We get one egg a day, every afternoon.  I just love going down to their little pen and talking to them in that high pitched voice that’s reserved for babies and pets.  “Hi girls, do you have an egg for me today?  Awww, you’re such good girls.  yes you are, yes you are….”  you get the idea. . . so I peek into the little hen house and pick up that one precious little egg, throw some scratch in the pen and head back to the house.

So, the other day I pulled out a jacket from the closet that I hadn’t worn in a while…. a good week or so….. reached into the pocket… and pulled out an egg!!!  oops!!  guess I forgot to put it in the fridge…. man, I got a good laugh over it!!

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This in from our local Yreka walking tour guide and all around funny guy, Gerald Murphy:

Hi Debbie,
I think a lot of women will be pleased to hear they can make nice tube tops from men’s underwear as show in the attached photo.  That way you can get six tops for three bucks at Walmart.  Be careful about wearing used underwear, however.  Make sure you wash them before putting them on.  It pays to be safe. Jerry Murphy

You are so funny Jerry; however, this is ‘frugality gone too far’ in my opinion!  Although there may come a day when there is no such thing as “too” frugal.

We have done a few things in our house to cut back on costs.  We put up a little clothes line so we can line dry some of our laundry instead of running the dryer (put that darn wind that we get EVERYDAY to some use!).  One of my biggest sacrifices was no more beer or wine - too expensive and honestly I don’t miss it that much - just made me sleepy.

So what are you doing to save a little here and there in ‘these times’?

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The news is so depressing and I keep expecting to hear that eminent disaster is finally at hand, but it seems we only manage to eke bit by bit each day towards that fateful day.  So I ran across this little ditty today and it really cheered me up!  This 91 year old lady has this cute little cooking show - Great Depression Cooking (how appropriate!).  You have to check it out!  Episode 1 is Pasta with Peas.

What does this have to do with warts, you ask?  The bright side of this whole “financial crisis” is that maybe, just maybe the government’s great rescue plans will work.  It’ll just take some time…. like curing warts.  It’s a stretch, but hang on - I can get there!

My kid got a wart on her foot.  Gaw!! It was gross!  (The wart like the ‘financial crisis’, ok?)

Our first inclination was to get that stuff from Walmart to remove warts.  You know, the stuff in the little yellow bottle (can’t remember the name of it).  But the trouble is the stuff stinks soooo bad we couldn’t stand it!  (I’m going to let you make your own analogy of how this relates to the failed attempts to “fix” the economy - ie: it’s like the early failed bailouts or it’s like letting Lehman go into bankruptcy or it’s like not revealing details to stimulus plans, or it’s like taxpayer money being spent on elaborate corporate parties, etc)

So I placed an order with my favorite herbalist - Cara Saunders at Bear Wallow Herbs for Violet Salve.  I gave it to the kid to smear on her wart with instructions to put it on “everyday”.  It took some time (because “everyday” was expecting a little too much from an 11 year old) but one day, that yucky thing finally fell off!  So cool!

It’s like this - expecting the government to do it right is probably expecting a little too much, just like it was too much to expect an 11 year old to put the medicine on everyday, but in time, things tend to work out.

And if they don’t, at least we’ll know how to cook pasta with peas:)

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Sick of winter?!  Tell it to the groundhog!  As for me and our house, we will always BBQ.  Keep summer alive!

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Yreka High School Sober Grad Night  -  Fundraising Efforts
We are all very proud of our graduating seniors.   Grad Night is an all night safe, sober, alcohol and drug free “party” alternative provided to every Yreka High School and Discovery High School senior.

It provides a fun filled, high energy evening of celebration held at the Yreka Family YMCA facility.  Students are provided with food, prizes and entertainment all night long.  This all night event gives students one last event together that they really look forward to, and historically over 90% of the senior class attends.

How it Works
Grad Night is planned and produced by the parents of all high school students, not just senior parents.  Parents are needed from the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes.  Parents work together, under the direction of the Project Graduation Committee, to make this a successful event.

It requires one full year of planning to create this memorable experience.  In addition to parental support, we need help from the community at large.  We need the community, families, and businesses to donate prizes, food and supplies, money, and time.  The budget for this year’s event is approximately $25,000, which we hope to raise through donations and fundraising.

Grad Night is not school or district sponsored. However, our schools and district do sanction and encourage the annual event. Grad Night is a special event for our entire community, because it brings people together to celebrate a milestone in our graduates’ lives.

Project Graduation has planned a series of fund raisers to allow smaller and more types of donations due to our economically challenging times.  HELP IS STILL needed managing and staffing these fund raisers.

Prom and Graduation Dresses Recycling
We are collecting and reselling prom and graduation dresses this spring.  This is a great way to minimize spending but still raise money for our senior class!    We are asking that the dresses be current, from 2000 forward, and should be clean and in good condition.  Drop your donated dresses and accessories at Jim Wilson Ford; the resale effort is set for MARCH 14 at the Elk’s Lodge in Yreka.  We will have a fun filled day with a fashion show and door prizes!    Prom is April 25th.

Recycling Ink Cartridges and Cell Phones
We will be recycling ink cartridges and cell phones.   Drop off your used ink cartridges and cell phones at convenient locations around town. No specific types required.   Please help and also clean out that junk drawer.   Drop Off Locations:  YHS Office, Klanders, Village Grind.

Raleys Quality of Life Card
Raleys supports our kids by donating 1 to 4 % of on all purchases.  It is EASY!  Pick up a card from any cashier at Raley’s and activate by calling them or via their website at raleys.com.
Thank you Raleys!

See’s Candy Sales
Everybody loves chocolate!  The next sale is scheduled in time for Easter.  Starts March 2nd.  842-4913.   If you can help sell or want to purchase contact Jari Robberson.
Donations - Business or private donations of money, food, or prizes for the evening’s event, really help defray the costs.  Please consider this worthy community contribution!

Contacts:
Ayn Perry (Co-chair)  824-7103  aynz@yahoo.com
Jacque Nushi (Co-chair)  459-4171  jnushi@jinkinfo.com
Jari Robberson  842-4913  pinetrailrun@sbcglobal.net

Check out their new website!  yreka.grad-night.org

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Has Valentine’s Day snuck up on you?  If so, and you still want to impress your sweetheart here’s a few happenings around the county:

Fri Feb 13

Half Hour Hamlet & Hornbrook Dance Team

Free Dinner & a show

Sponsored by HUB Community Resource Center

Hornbrook Elementary School

115430 Oregon Rd

Hornbrook

6pm

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Allison Scull & Victor Martin

Mike & Tony’s

501 S Mt Shasta Blvd

Mt Shasta

6pm - 8:30pm

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Free Community Dinner

sponsored by Weed Community Resource Center

Sons of Italy Hall

155 Clay St

Weed

5:30pm / RSVP 938-2426

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Erotic Poetry and Ball

The Stage Door Cabaret

414 N. Mt Shasta Blvd

Mt. Shasta

8pm

Sat Feb 14

Sweetheart Spaghetti Dinner

proceeds support Big Springs Child Care Center

Big Springs Elementary School Gym

Big Springs

5-7pm / Call for Tickets $7.50  459-3981

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Gem & Mineral Show

sponsored by The Scott Valley Gem and Mineral Society

featuring talk by Don Elders, Geologist

Fort Jones Community Hall

Sterling and East St

Fort Jones

10am

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Valentine Special at Coffee Connection

music by Grateful Heart

Desserts for 2 for the price of 1

The Coffee Connection

408 N Mt Shasta Blvd

Mt Shasta

7:30pm

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Kid’s Factory Family Resource Center Fundraiser

featuring Allison Scull & Victor Martin

live and silent cake auction

4103 Pine St

Dunsmuir

7pm / $15

Here’s a “found in Siskiyoutopia” that I’ve been saving for Heart Day - found this on the street in front of my house - cute, huh?

It’s a little beat up and been around the block, but isn’t that how love is?  When you first find it, you cherish it, pamper it and place it in a prominent spot - but as time goes on you start to take it for granted, you’ve seen it enough and eventually you drop it and neglect to pick it up.  It gets run over by the trash truck, stomped on by neighborhood kids and weathered by storms.  Then one day you rediscover it and you think to yourself, “awwww, I remember that!  How did it end up out here on the street?  I think I’ll take a picture of it:)”

My husband asked me what I wanted to do for Valentine’s Day this week (after I reminded him that it was coming up:)  Money being pretty tight lately a fancy dinner out on the town isn’t really practical so we’ve decided to spend an afternoon together watching one of our all time favorite movies - Alien vs. Predator!!  Yep, the romance just oozes from the seams in our house, no?!  But, come on, have you seen AVP?  It’s like pretty much the best movie ever made!

Happy Valentine’s Day:)

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Some artists are simply able to transcend the ordinary, the expected, and the mundane - Lewis Meyers of Turn of the Century Fine Arts in Weed is one of these artists.  He uses quality woods and other materials to create beautiful pieces of functional art and although his work is quite practical its artistic merit stands alone.

One day in December we had the opportunity to stop in for a special exhibit at Turn of the Century.  It took a few times up and down Main street to finally find Lewis’ little gallery in Weed.  It sits way back from the street and we managed to spot it just before giving up.  Thank goodness because we really got a kick out of it!

One of Lewis’ passions, besides his art, is the revitalization of downtown Weed.  He’s doing his part by taking this small bit of property, using his talent and transforming it into a spot of interest in Weed.  While we were there a steel gate was being delivered.  Friends and fellow artists all pitched in to install it.  The gate will definitely help create a landmark for this unique gallery.

Lewis and his accomplices have been working on the gallery for quite some time.  One of the ways he’s made this ‘out of place property’ standout (besides the new gate) is through the creation of a unique courtyard, set off by a beautiful rock wall that’s cemented with the creative flair only true artists could create!  We all got a kick out of pointing out all the kooky stuff that’s been stuck in the wall - good fun!

I just totally dig it when people do something DIFFERENT!!  What a concept, huh?!  It makes our towns that much more interesting, don’t you think?  Check out Turn of the Century Fine Arts online here to get a better sense of Lewis Meyers’ fine crafted furniture and woodwork and then stop in next time you are cruising through Weed to see it for yourself.

crazy artists!  You gotta love ‘em!

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I do a little bit of research when I blog - a LITTLE bit!  I just had to chuckle at the tabs I have opened on my Internet browser right now and wanted to share, so here are some completely random links (random to you:)

• Definition of Wiener
• Phobia Index
• Weird search result from “Fireworks” (are you kidding me??)
• Get a Mac

I think it helps if you’re as easily amused as I am!

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I just read that we won’t have fireworks this summer.  That’s a bummer, but understandable nowadays - you know, ‘nowadays’; this time in history when Americans consider how their new diet of rice, beans and Top Ramen is going to allow them to buy gasoline.

I spent a summer in Washington state a few years back and on the 4th of July everyone gathered in some vacant lots near town.  They brought their hibachis, lawn chairs, coolers, kids, dogs, cousins, second cousins and plenty of fireworks!  It was like a huge community tailgate party.

By the time a few hundred people had lit off their fireworks, the air was thick with smoke and the sirens were wailing (I can’t imagine why???!).  For me it was pretty eerie.  I felt like I was in a war zone, but everyone else was whooping and hollering and having the time of their lives!

Personally I’m a complete pyrophobic (I’ve mentioned it before here:), but for those of you who aren’t this could be a great alternative to “Big” fireworks.  Seems like a perfect fit for Yreka.

I bet a parade would be cheaper than “Big” fireworks!!  How about a parade?!

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I just wanted to give you a glimpse of our trip to Lake Havasu City, Arizona over the Christmas break…..

The palm trees in Lake Havasu are the coolest!!

This is the London Bridge.  It was actually spared demolition in London and brought over to Lake Havasu City piece by piece and reconstructed.  Hence the song - ‘london bridges falling down, falling down, falling down…..’  When I called my folks to tell them how much fun we were having in the desert, while they were sitting in about 6 feet of snow (ha ha ha), my Dad had to trump me by telling me that he actually walked on the London Bridge when it was still in London!!! Touche!

While I couldn’t beat that one, I could brag that we were going out to dinner that night for $1 tacos.  Havasu has picked up on a great marketing scheme.  The restaurants have these great weekly deals - $2 pizza on Fridays at Schlotzsky’s Deli, $1 tacos at this super hip restaurant by the water on Thursdays and Sundays,  another place was advertising 75 cent beer all day!!  I’m telling you - it’s brilliant!  All the locals come out and these restaurants are rockin’ fun!  Siskiyou County should do this!!

We spent an afternoon at the indoor Aquatic Center.  This was so fun!!!  They had an indoor waterslide - so all the kids (and me:) would go up the stairs and down the slide over and over until they turned on the wave machine in the pool, then everyone ditches the water slide and heads to the pool to body surf and play in the waves!  When you start to get tired you can relax in the GIANT jacuzzi.  Oh my, this is the life!!

The outdoor beaches are great too!  There are so many beautiful parks, all with nicely paved walking paths and park benches.  The city has OBVIOUSLY made recreation one of their highest priorities. What a great concept!!

Oh, and the sunsets are gorgeous EVERYDAY!

Why did I come home!?? why? why? why?…….

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This from Yreka Creek Committee:

Not long ago, Yreka Creek friend Marc Reichert pointed out that well-intended people in our community are providing shelter and food for cats along the Yreka Creek Greenway, yet inadvertently causing suffering for both abandoned/feral cats and the native wildlife.  You may have noticed at least two feeding/shelter locations along the creek, one near the north end of the Yreka Creek Greenway Visitor Center lawn, and one on the streamside edge of the JCPenny’s parking lot.

To provide information about the results of feeding/sheltering feral cats, Sam Cuenca, District Wildlife Biologist Klamath National Forest, showed me the attached American Bird Conservancy website here, who sponsors a “CATS INDOORS!” campaign for safer birds and cats.  Perhaps we can improve conditions for streamside wildlife and get abandoned cats protected at the same time, through improved communications, behaviors and policies within our community.  We can begin with removing these feeding/shelter stations from the Greenway/Creek area, and supporting other wildlife and cat lovers through improved communications and support about alternative ways our community can deal with the feral cat situation.  If anyone knows who to contact about these existing feeding/shelter stations, please share this information widely.  Local individuals, the local Purr Angels group, the City of Yreka, and the local media have the opportunity to join forces to develop such alternatives and develop community awareness.  If you have contacts with neighbors or these organizations and see an opportunity to improve things, please DO so !

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On a related note:

Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Clinic

Saturday, January 24th

Call for appointment - 842-0830

There will be adoptable cats available as well - 1pm - 3pm

Isn’t it cool how things come together?!

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Here’s a great “Found in Siskiyoutopia” - Found in the window of Palace Barber Shop on Miner Street - Funny!!

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Say, for those of you who want some like minded company while watching the historic 2009 Presidential Inauguration of Barak Obama, you can go to:

Chris and Dena’s Deli

8am - 2pm Tuesday, January 20th

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On a related note:

Here’s a blog post from one of my favoritest bloggers, Helen!  Her son has some advice for President Obama - cute cute cute!!!  Click here

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I suppose some of you have been wondering what the heck happened to happyapplehead - I dropped off the face of Siskiyou County for a while.  The family and I spent a couple weeks in the dessert - Lake Havasu City in Arizona.  We had a super great time and hopefully I’ll get to share a few of our adventures with you soon.  The unfortunate thing was that the day after we arrived home from vacation I received a phone call that my dear Grandma died.  So, I’ve been spending time with family and helping to settle things at Grandma’s house.

My Grandma was one of those quintesential Grandma’s - you know, the kind that bake cookies and sing you silly little kid songs and take you to the beach and let you eat candy and watch tv.  She will be missed but she is finally home after a very long life.

So, I’m sorry I’ve been so obviously absent from Siskiyoutopia.  Hope to be back ‘on the air’ soon!  Thanks for all the concerned emails!  You guys are the best!

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I’ve always had a little entrepreneurial spirit. When I was really little, living in Seiad Valley, I helped my brother and sister collect night crawlers(worms) at night with flashlights. Shine the light on them, grab ‘em and rub their belly until they come out of the ground. Then sell them for bait!

In high school I joined a Young Entrepreneurs group and we built and sold birdhouses - that actually was a little too structured for me and I had more fun setting out on my own with a plan to sell little vials of crude oil out of the back of my mustang hatchback to tourists that stopped along the freeway to look at the Alaskan Pipeline (we lived in Fairbanks then).

And finally I had an Itty Bitty Ice Cream Truck in Medford - that was super fun!!

But now I’m grown up (sort of:) and a couple years ago I signed up for Jefferson Economic Development Institute’s ‘It’s Your Business‘ class. The homework for the first night of class was to write down what things were most important to you in your life. It was a powerful exercise and I determined that the business idea I had then really wasn’t very important to me and I didn’t go to any more of the classes. Oh well….

But I gave myself a second chance and signed up again last September. I set my mind to fighting through those first few ‘touchy feely’ classes and holding out for the more nuts and bolts info and I was not disappointed. Last Tuesday I graduated! Yea!! Joy Vanskepsgard was the instructor and did a great job facilitating the class and was very encouraging! She is teaching the next ‘It’s Your Business Class‘ in January so sign up!

My classmates all had pretty cool business plans and the funnest part of the class was the last night when we got to hear everyone’s presentation of their business plan. I just love small businesses and creative people!!

In these tough economic times this is the perfect time to hone in on the great resource that the Jefferson Economic Development Institute offers. Whether you are selling worms or crude oil there is always room to do it better, right? 100% all natural, organic, worms (nice!) …. 100% all natural, organic, crude oil???? (maybe not)

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My kid is in band for the first time this year playing the clarinet.  Yreka is so lucky because we have Mrs. Garrett, a super talented music teacher for ALL the grade school level music in Yreka!  Wow!  She must be exhausted!!  But she always puts on a great show!

So despite the blizzard-like conditions with snow accumulating by the minute, proud parents and grandparents and the like made it out for the holiday concert for 5th - 8th graders.  I was pretty excited because the group that my kid was in was scheduled to play first and I thought, “cool, I can do the whole ‘I’m a good parent because I’m here watching my kid’ thing and still get out of here early!”  Win-win!!

Well turns out the little boogers were pretty good and I ended up sticking around because, well let’s face it, we don’t get a lot of entertainment in Yreka and this was pretty fun!

So 5th grade band played - ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’, ‘Hot Cross Buns’, ‘Jingle Bells’………. a little squeaky, but cute!

7th & 8th grade choir were really good and I must say their little piano accompanist, Eleanor Collier, was darling and the highlight of the show!

6th grade band - played a little bit better than the 5th grade band (duh!)

7th and 8th grade band - played and they were pretty darn good!

Then, on stage came the 6th grade choir.  The two most awkward stages in life are at 95 (if you make it that long) and 12!!  Oh my, do you remember 12?  Puberty blossoming, or more like battling that cute kid that once existed - like Alien trying to escape its host! Yikes!  Bless their little hearts! It all would have been fine if they’d condensed their program to about 5-10 minutes (remember, snow accumulating…), but after a half hour of bad scripted dialog, that these kids probably spent a gazillion hours memorizing, and a song about every cultural December holiday in existence (Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Luminaries for Hispanic Christmas?? (I’ve never even heard of that one), AND Santa Claus - we are so politically correct, no?   I was secretly hoping for some mild, anomalous condition that might render me unconscious so that the torture would stop!  After each bit of scripted dialog they would go into another song and I could hear the murmuring in the audience, “… not another one!!”

I know the kids worked really hard, did a great job and should be really proud of their performance, BUT it was just too long.

The best part of the evening for me was the kid sitting down the row from me on the bleachers.  He leaned over and was completely shocked by a black checker that just fell out of his shirt.  I overheard him telling his buddy that he didn’t even know it was there!  How do you not know there’s a checker in your shirt?!  It rolled across the floor slowly, perfectly, with such grace and purpose right through the band chairs and landed in the middle of the clarinet section.  You should have seen the look on his face!  I was cracking up!!   So funny!!!  (it’s the little things,  ehhh?)

PS - I’ve learned to embrace that parental adage, “choose your battles”.  The choice of summer dress and sandals in the middle of a snow storm simply wasn’t a battle I was willing to fight - trust me, she learned her lesson!  She says to me, after we’ve crossed the school yard, road and parking lot in about 3 inches of fresh snow, “Mom, I’m such a ‘Bob’ for wearing sandals!”  Ya think!?  I don’t know what a ‘Bob’ is, but I like it and it is now commonly used term in our house for someone who does something that’s “not really sensible:)”

Don’t be a ‘Bob’!  Have a Merry Christmas!

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Just received this note from Mt Shasta Ski Park!!!  Yea!!!  They’re opening!!!  Yea!!!

Hello all,

The 08/09 season is upon us.  We will be open tomorrow, Saturday December 20th at 8 am with the lift turning at 9!! We will have one lift open (Marmot) with five runs. We are still waiting for more snow to open the other lifts.  Again Marmot will be open with five runs tomorrow. The learning center, retail, rental and food service will be open as well.  Come join us on the mountain for a few turns and enjoy the opening day of the 08/09 season!!  See you on the slopes.

Links for you!

• Mt. Shasta Ski Park

• Mt. Ashland Ski Park

• Siskiyou County Road Cams

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I got an email from my friend Bonnie Wood the other day.

After this year’s fire season I know we are all happy to see the beginning of the rainy season and the clearer skies of Fall. Unfortunately, on my daily walk through my neighborhood on these crisp Fall days, I have again been choked with the smoldering, thick, stench of burning leaves. My son, who’s sadly afflicted with asthma, covered his mouth and held on to his cramping stomach barely able to breathe. What can we do he gasped feeling ill. And that’s when it came to me. Why not encourage people to compost their leaves rather than burn them.

Yes indeed Bonnie, let’s encourage people to compost!!! I’m a compost fanatic! I have a compost can in my kitchen that is as big as my regular trash can!

The other day I caught my kid putting a banana peel in the trash can -

me: “What are doing!!! Are you kidding me!? That’s compostable!!!! It goes in the compost can!!! Don’t ever let me catch you doing that again! Don’t you know the difference between compost and trash? Haven’t we taught you better than that?! Don’t you want to make something of yourself some day? You continue to behave like this, young lady, and you’ll just end up living in a van down by the RIVER!!! Is that what you want? Huh?!”

kid: “jeez mom, chill out. It’s just a banana peel.”

Just a banana peel, just a pile of leaves……. These are the things that compost magic are made of! Black gold…. Texas tea!

There really is no good reason to burn leaves - there are so many great uses for them. In my yard they either create a warm ‘blanket’ for my perennial bed OR they go straight to the compost pile OR I mix ‘mulched’ leaves into empty planting beds to break down through winter.

Composting can be made complicated, but I use a super simple formula - layer of green/layer of brown. Green is kitchen waste and grass clippings. Brown is leaves. Stir occasionally and water occasionally. So simple! Now if you compost on a larger scale, like our organic farmer friend, the main component is poop!! Yep, critter poop is the magic ingredient - chicken, goat, sheep, worms! Check out this compost?!!! Isn’t is beautiful?!

So how about community composting? The Yreka Community Garden has these fantastic compost bins and they’ve already been working with the City of Yreka to come up with a plan that could be ready by spring ‘09 where local landscapers and homeowners can drop off organic materials for composting. So Cool!!!

Yes, Bonnie, there is a Community Compost Plan. It exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Compost! It would be as dreary as if there were no Bonnies……

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