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Greenwood/Elk columns July 7 ~ August 25, 1994 July 7, 1994 July 2, Elger Bay, Camano Island. Sitting by the beach in front of Lolli's mom's cabin. Waiting for my brother and his wife, Alice to arrive in their cabin cruiser. My kids and Lolli's brother and sister will arrive tomorrow. The gathering of the clan for the Fourth of July weekend. Lolli and I and the dog are winding down from our trip to Alaska. We arrived in Vancouver, BC. two days ago and drifted into the Seattle area. South of the U.S. border we wanted to stop and visit Connie Nelson, a former student of Lolli's, who is now living in this area but Lolli didn't have her phone number and it wasn't listed in the phone book. We decided to stay at a state campground but first pulled into a restaraunt in hopes of a seafood dinner. We were standing there looking at the menu on the door and up comes Connie. She works at that restaurant! What a coincidence. We had dinner with her and stayed the night in her driveway, and now, here we are at Camano Island. 7,715 miles on the odometer since leaving Greenwood/Elk the seventh of June. Our great trip to Alaska and Prudhoe Bay pretty much over. Time to reflect. The biggest problem with the whole trip was too much driving. We put in ten to twelve hours a day on the road. We didn't slow down enough to smell the roses, but, with only three weeks to do it in, we looked at it as an overview, kind of a table of contents to British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska. The area I thought to be the most interesting was Coldfoot, probably because we were broke down there for a day and had the time to get to know the people and the area a little bit. Coldfoot is the most northern truck stop and bar in the world. 87 degrees below zero in the winter and up to 87 degrees in the summer. If I could do what I want, I would love to drive back up there and stay for one season. Find out what it is really like to experience the extremes of Alaska. The next most interesting area to Lolli and me was the Haines/Skagway area. Really beautiful mountains and coastline and a lot of history. Skagway looks like it never had major fire problems. There are a lot of old buildings and the Railway out of there that goes to Whitehourse looked very interesting. It is one of the last narrow gauge railways still operating. The pass through the mountains into Haines and the pass out of Skagway were awesome. Some of you may have seen the picture of the miners lined up, one behind the other, heading up Chilkoot pass in the snow in the winter of 1898-1899. Lolli picked up a lot of information about indigenous art at the museums in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Vancouver, BC. We noticed on our trip that most of the travelers were retired folks in motor-homes and a lot of German visitors. Other than that, there were a few folks on bicycles; students that had the summer off. Most folks, with only two weeks vacation just haven't the time to drive to Alaska. Gas was quite expensive through the Yukon area. 64.9 per liter about average. Surprisingly, one of the cheapest fill-ups we had was at Hilltop at the start of the haul road to Prudhoe bay, $1.13.9 a gallon. Prudhoe bay was over two dollars a gallon! but I had enough to get there and back to Coldfoot where gas was $1.34.9. DEET, the chemical in Cutters, worked well enough to keep the mosquitoes at bay but they still hovered in your face and ears all the time. Having daylight at all hours of the day was quite unusual. To be able to read a book quite comfortably at midnight was quite novel. One time I woke up, thought it was seven and time to get up, only to discover it was two thirty in the morning! Faxing the column was quite pricy in two locations, $4.00 per page in Whitehorse, Yukon, $4.50 per page in Talkeetna, Alaska and free at a lumber camp office in Kitawanga, BC. The VW bus-Toyota engine combo worked very well but I did discover a problem. I need to build a rock shield of some sort to keep stones from flying up into the engine compartment (rear engine). Twice we lost fan belts because of stones lodging in the v-belt pulley. Over the course of a thousand miles of gravel road, it was bound to happen, and it did. Tourists are not encouraged to drive out the haul road, though they can if they want to. Actually, it is an environmental question and a lot of folks wish the road and the pipeline had never intruded into that pristine area. In time, when the oil runs out, the oil companies are required to remove the pipeline and some folks say, the road should go too. If it were returned to its original state there would still be those folks that can afford an airplane to be dropped off up there and explore. The existence of the current haul road allows in us riff-raff. Like one guy pointed out, that one road to the Brooks Range and North Slope is like the State of California having only one road to it. Not really a lot of impact over-all. I don't know how it will all end up but I am glad I had the opportunity to visit. I will probably never go back. Upon reflection, Lolli and I both like the deserts of California and Southern Utah better, over-all. Now, it's back to Greenwood/Elk, back to sort out the answering machine and clean out the mail box. Find out how the Fifth District race turned out. All our local issues. I did notice, while rattling around in the miles and miles of miles and miles that it is hard to keep focused on the "human condition", there sure is still a lot of environment out there. July 14, We're back! 9025 miles as I rolled back into Greenwood/Elk. Thirty two days on the road. I started out on the trip keeping track of mileage, gas purchases, gallons consumed, where we camped each night, what time the sun set, when it rose, etc., but finally ran out of steam. My notebook gradually dwindled off into a series of illegible scribbles. Life on the road finally became all a blur of passing trees and mountains with occasional knocks on the head to wake me from my "Zen of the road" state. The sight of a black bear, a glacier, a mother moose with her baby, bald eagles. After the Fourth of July weekend with family in the Seattle area we headed south. Lolli had a class scheduled for the upcoming Saturday and wanted to get home in time to set up for that. We stopped in Centralia, Washington and Lolli called the Mendocino Art Center and found the class had been cancelled. Great! No need to hurry home. Now what? We looked at the map and noticed that the turnoff to Spirit Lake, up on the East side of Mount Saint Helens was coming up. Off I-5 we go on another adventure. In a few hours we entered the blast area. The trees are still laying on the ground radiating out from the missing side of the mountain, clearly showing the direction and size of the blast. Spirit Lake is still lined with rafts of floating trees. Some of the area has been salvage logged and replanted but there is no shortage of evidence of what happened when the mountain blew up. We spent the night out on a ridge amongst the fallen trees, Saint Helens in the background. Beautiful but eerie. Next day we had lunch at the Carson Hot Springs on the Columbia River, another beautiful area and an excellent restaurant. On into Oregon and California on backroads, eventually passing through Happy Camp in Trinity County. Camping by the river being one of the nicest places on the whole trip. Hot weather, cool water, no mosquitoes! Out onto 101 at Arcata and down to Leggett, over the hill to Mendocino, the fog, and home. Happy to be back. One more thing. Lolli and I, with the dog, spent thirty-two days in a 1971 VW bus, not especially spacious accommodations and yet, in all that time we did not have one disagreement about anything. If we set any records I think that one is the most significant. Up in Fairbanks some guy came up to the bus and asked us where all we had been. I told him we had just got back from Prudhoe Bay. He said, "You're 'wife' let you take her up there? Where can I find a woman like that!" So now, Greenwood/Elk. The first thing I notice is how brown the coastal hills are. Once again I notice the Elk sign, at the north end of town, is still missing. Out in front of the Elk Garage I see Bob Matson's new tow truck. I'm told that Bob and Jeff Schlafer went back to Iowa where it was made, to get it. I took a peek in the Elk Store to see if anything was different. It looked the same except the bunting from the Fourth of July was still hanging up. The Keehn garage addition is coming along and fits into the shape of the house nicely. Makes the house look better. Before, the house always looked like it was sitting sideways. The garage at Charlie Acker's is framed up and looks ready for rafters. I hear the Patrick Ball concert at the Greenwood Community Center was a rousing success, sorry I missed it. I did catch him a year or so ago and he is excellent. I understand the benefit for Cloud had good attendance and helped her with her medical bills. A note was left on my door. Jorn, the young man from Germany had passed through town. You may remember he and his partner were visiting the coast several years ago and his partner fell to his death from the bluff just south of town. Now Jorn was back. I am sorry I missed him and hope this visit to the United States will be all that they originally hoped it to be. And finally, my answering machine, where amongst the callers, Bill Edison was lurking. "Call me! I have hot news!" Ya. Right. July 21, I missed the State Parks meeting in Greenwood/Elk while gone on vacation, but I had a nightmare one night which I will now share with you. Welcome to California State Park Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center". Please make sure your car is locked and all valuables are out of sight. Remember, you are traveling through a depressed area. To your right you will find an information dispenser. For information, please insert your credit card. Master Charge, Visa, and Discovery are accepted. Insert card now. Thank you.\ par Press "1" for the "Mini tour". $5.00. Press "2" for the "General information tour". $10.00 (Restrooms included.) Press "3" for the "PREFERRED visitor tour". $15.00 (Restrooms available plus a lapel pin replica of the California State Bear in simulated gold. Thank you for your donation. You may enter the display room now. Welcome to Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center". Please stay to the right and move forward in a timely manner, remember, there may be other visitors arriving. Welcome to display #1. Please insert one quarter and push the button labeled "PUSH" for an interactive video image and recorded message that will teach you how Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center", got its name. Thank you. Before you is an actual reprint photo of the Majestic Elk. The sound you hear is the actual recreated sound of the Majestic Elk. What animal do you think this unit 13 "Elk Historic Visitor Center", was actually named after? Push "#1" for Majestic Elk. Push "#2" for Majestic Antelope. Push "#3" for Majestic Buffalo. Push "#4" for none of the above. WRONG. "#1", Majestic Elk is the correct choice. Thank you. Please move forward. Welcome. Please insert one quarter and push the button labeled "Push" for an actual aerial photograph of Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center", just as it was around 1887 or so... Notice how little the shoreline, west of Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center", has changed from what you can actually see through the "Wide Angle Viewer". To operate the "Wide Angle Viewer", please insert one dollar into the slot now. Thank you. Beep! We are sorry. The "Wide Angle Viewer is out of order. To receive a refund, please fill out the forms in the container to your left and have them signed by the Supreme Chief Ranger in Sacramento, California. Thank you. Please move forward. Welcome to Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center Refreshment Center". Vending machines containing an assortment of Florida fruit in sterilized, tamper-proof packaging, for your safety, are located to your right. Soft drink dispensers, featuring Ninja Turtles and Fun Balloons, are to your left. Master Charge, Visa, and Discovery cards accepted. Remember, there is a five hundred dollar fine for littering within the confines of Unit 13 "Elk Historic Visitor Center". Please hang on to your trash until after you leave the building. Thank you. The tour resumes in five minutes. Enjoy. Attention. Attention. The remainder of the tour is now underway. Welcome to display #3. Indigenous people once lived in this area. To see an actual replica of the indigenous people who once lived in this area, please insert one dollar in the slot now and push the button marked "Push". Remember "flash photos" are forbidden. Thank you. Please move on. Welcome to display #4. This wild land was civilized by the coming of the industrious white man. To receive an actual, up-to-date list of Historic Real Estate Offices, within a fifty mile radius of Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center", please insert five dollars in the slot now. Thank you. You may now lift lid and remove the list. Thank you. This concludes the mini tour of Unit 13 "Elk Historic Visitor Center". Please follow the EXIT signs to Unit 13 "Elk Historic Visitor Center Gift Shoppe", where you will find a fully-equipped gift shop containing Fun and Games for all ages. Master Charge, Visa, and Discovery cards are accepted. The next "Great Historic Visitor Center" on your "Great Historic Tour of the California Coast" is located 16 miles north at Unit 14, "Mendocino Historic Visitor Center". Please remember to keep your car doors locked and windows closed while traveling between Historic Visitor Centers. You are traveling through a depressed area and the locals are not to be trusted. Do not ask them historic questions. They will give you conflicting answers, possibly causing confusion. Thank you for visiting Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center". For an approved videotape documentary, "The Making of Unit 13 Elk Historic Visitor Center", send $20.00 and receipt showing $50.00 worth of purchases from Unit 13, "Elk Historic Visitor Center", to Suite 303, Park Ave., New York, New York. Thank you. Have a nice day. July 28th. The reason for my little outburst last week, Unit 13 "Elk Historic Visitor Center" is this. I have noticed in my travels there is tendency, when pulling into a strange town to head for McDonalds for Fast Food. It is convenient, clean, consistent and cheap. It makes no difference if the town is San Diego or Anchorage, Alaska. Once inside you are in McDonald land. However, if you are tired of the sameness of food, service, and outlook, dare to travel on past the off-ramp and enter the town. Drive around and look for a restaurant that has cars parked outside, preferably police cars and huge cross country trucks. Inside you might get fast friendly service or be totally ignored. You may hear folks talking about fishing or logging or the cost of fuel. The word "expresso" will probably not be on the menu. Sometimes the prices are high, the place fancy and the food a disappointment. Other times you will find the $3.99 breakfast too big to eat; the "Tired Chicken" in Crescent City comes to mind. For home-baked bread and pies and a real family-style spread, Mom's on Highway 50 in eastern Nevada is not to be missed. How about the Occidental Hotel in Occidental, California. Wow! Here in Greenwood/Elk, the State Park Visitor Center could have been a "real" affair; plenty of old-timers and gobs of historic artifacts around to stock the building to the rafters. But no, it got the "slick" treatment. Now you can "do" the visitor center in about half an hour. Maybe that is all visitors want and have time for, I don't know. But for as much money State Parks poured into the project, it sure seems cheap and generic. I am surprised to discover a big brew ha ha over the Tuscano Hotel that Bruce Wolfe purchased. He was intent on restoring it to its original hotel exterior and having an art gallery inside. The Rafferty's to the south of the hotel and Beldin/Reed to the north have mounted a campaign to defeat the project. I even hear our coast's much beloved attorney, Jared Carter, has been retained to fight the project. Steve Antler and another environmental lawyer have been hired to fight for the development. It is really quite interesting to see Jared Carter fighting against development for a change, and environmental lawyers pushing for development. Talk about role reversal. Strange times. Meanwhile, the old Greenwood Pier was completely razed and new construction has started from the ground up. Originally it was to be a remodel but I hear the termites destroyed that idea. I'm anxious to see what kind of structure arises. Most of the Greenwood Pier "new construction" projects have been very "original"; hexagons, towers, castles, and hardly a soul in town objects. The Tuscano Hotel project would restore a historic town building to its original exterior look and it is being fought every step of the way. Go figure. The Elk Cove Inn was recently sold and I hear that Hildrun is going to take a break from inn keeping and travel the world for awhile. Quite a change for her and us. Hildrun has been an "active member" of Greenwood/Elk for a lot of years. Erna's Enchanted Cottage is open for business on weekends. They have used books, local arts, crafts and antiques, a copy machine and Erna's sister Midge is a Notary Public. The coffee and tea is on and sometimes cookies and baked goods. Check out the World Class Handicapped Ramp, built by Roger Collins, at the back of the building! July 30th, "Colored Horse Studio" will be having an event at the Roadhouse Cafe. Open at 4 in the afternoon featuring sculpture, painting and pottery. Starting at 7 in the evening, readings of Literature, Poetry and Prose, wine, expresso and baked goodies. Paulo Ferreira and Theresa Whitehill are putting this on. Also on July 30th, "Giggle Fest" at the Community Center. Starting at 5:30 with two and a half hours of dress up and "female bonding"; ladies only. Then at 8:00 PM, the doors are thrown open to the general public for dancing to a live band. That means us guys, I guess. What does it all mean? I haven't the foggiest. You will have to ask Jema at the Elk Store. Recent legislation now requires all new automobiles in the show rooms to have a lable listing percent of American parts. The Honda Civic, which is made back east by americans will be 100 percent American with Japanese parts. The Chevy Camero, "The Heart Beat of America" which is made in Canada by foreign workers will contain mostly American parts. I'm going to take a nap now. August 4th. My answering machine wound up melting down only two times because of last week's column. Seems that nobody is really against the Tuscano Hotel idea, it is just a matter of proximity to boundary lines, questions of view shed and what will it actually become, art gallery, B&B or residence. I'm told it was wrong of me to imply that anyone was actually opposed to the idea. Well, it will come before the "board of soups" August 5th, I'm told, and I'm sure the pro and con will become perfectly clear, hopefully. Giggle Fest was a rousing success, I'm told. I stopped by the Community Center several hours before the blessed event to kind of scope things out, try to get an idea of what was up. Jema and some friends of hers were there setting up but she wouldn't let me peek inside. I slunk off in disgust and attended a dinner party up in Fort Gagg instead. Sunday I returned to Greenwood/Elk, put my ear to the ground and discovered that Giggle Fest was a successful event. The staff from Bridget Dolan's danced into the wee hours and said it was "Great". What do I know. One of our ladies in town has a birthday fast approaching, one of those mile markers, and she wanted to do something special to celebrate the event. I lined her up with my friend Ed McKinley and now she is perusing sky-diving literature and videos. Yep. She wants to fall out of an airplane on her birthday. Ed is now a full-fledged instructor and ready to teach her the art. When it is all over I will announce Greenwood/Elk's latest sky pilot; in fact, maybe our only sky pilot in town. Vince and Carolyn Carleton finally found themselves a piece of property out Greenwood/Philo road. They have been renting a house in one location and a weaving studio in another. Now, after years of searching they found one place that will combine it all and it will be theirs! The new place has a building large enough for their rug-making operation. They are excited. Only a year ago they were about ready to give up and move to the east coast. It's pretty amazing, but if you bang your head against the problem long enough, soon or later your dream will come true. Someone asked me what kind of books Lolli and I read during our travels. What are our favorites? Well, during our trip to Alaska, we caught up with Sue Grafton and are up to "K is for Killer", her latest. We started with "A is for Alibi" down in Baja last Christmas. We also had a bunch of Dick Francis on board. His book, "Smoke Screen", is one of the best, I think. I bought a couple of books while in Alaska. One called, "Environmentalism, Technology and the Pipe Line Controversy". The other about the life of Dick Shelton, a bush pilot out of Talkeetna, Alaska. We also hauled along some Books on Tape. We had "Coming into the Country" by John McPhee, "Polar Star", "Rumpole of the Bailey" and "The Band Played On". One of my favorite authors is Elmore Leonard but I think I have already read everything he has so far produced. Currently I am deep into John Le Carre', "The Night Manager", another favorite author. I lightened my load a while ago by dropping off sixty two paperbacks at Erna's Enchanted Cottage. She has a two for one special going. Drop off two used books, pick out one. I now have credit for thirty one books at her establishment. That should hold me for a while. I've been thinking about birds lately. It's not that I'm "into them" exactly but while rattling around in remote places, up in Alaska, or even in the local deserts of California, I have been struck by their mobility. In Alaska it is really rough going if you were to strike out cross country. Brush and bogs. Impassable. But there the birds are, zipping over hill and dale, covering miles of miles, yet they always know where their home is and how to get back to it. No maps, no Sat-Nav, no navigational equipment that is apparent to us humans. No four-wheel drive, mud tires, high lift jacks. What freedom. They have adapted to this earth in a way that makes human efforts comical and sad. I called Bill Edison at his enclave on Martha's Vineyard and informed him that his Horse Badorties posters have faded to near illegibility. He has promised to send a fresh batch and bribed me to post them. Brace yourself. Ah yes, The Horse Badorties are returning to play for the Great Day in Elk. Steve Davidson and Bill Edison have tracked the four corners of this earth, searching for the former members of this locally famous band, convincing them to return this September. This was the group that was known as Cat Mother and eventually as the Greenwood Sidemen. Anyone who was on the coast during the seventies will recall this band. Believe it or not. They are coming back. August 11th. No Horse Badorties for Great Day in Elk. I received this bad news from Bill Edison's cellular phone command post on Martha's Vineyard. It seems the head band guy has prior commitments and can't make it. Without him, the rest of the band members begged off. A mad scramble is being made to acquire another feature band and the Mighty T-Bones are at the top of the list. Stay tuned. Ah ha, Kay Curtis confirms it. The Mighty T-Bones it is. Roger and Sallie Barton were visiting Greenwood/Elk last week. You may remember them from the time they lived here and ran the Greenwood Lodge, before it became Bridget Dolan's. They now live in Tucson, Arizona. Our town water is about as clear as it can possibly get. Turbidity readings in town are down around .2. .5 or less is required by the state. Switching back to well number one, low slow water in Greenwood Creek and our new bigger filter system makes it possible. We also use Ozone treatment with as little chlorine as possible for that just plain good drinking-water taste. Some new hook-ups are peeking over the water district horizon. The new owners of the Elk Cove Inn are thinking about additional units and the Roff Barnett project keeps lurching along (the development proposed for the meadow between the Community Center and the Substation). It was originally going to be eight houses; now there is talk of ten. That project, if approved, will have its own ten-thousand-gallon holding tank hooked to the Elk Water system. From that new tank the water will be distributed to the houses. Raye Wisdom called me to remind everyone that regular church services are now happening at our Greenwood Community Church every Sunday at 10:00. I have been involved in an interesting project lately. Steve Heckeroth is building an electric tractor. It is almost done and now he wants a fiberglass hood made for it. That is where I come in. I have made the pattern, the basic shape of it out of foam, and have one layer of fiberglass wrapped over it. Next I will smooth the pattern up and make a mold of that. Then I can finally lay up the actual fiberglass hood, in the mold, for the tractor and any additional ones if more orders for electric tractors come along. I guess the tractor will eventually end up working in an organic vineyard, no gas or diesel fumes wafting over the grapes. Seems like a pretty good idea. Well, my deadline for getting this column out is almost upon me. It is now four in the afternoon on a Monday and I'm pushing my luck. I have been holding off sending in my column because I wanted to include what happened with the Bruce Wolfe - Tuscano Hotel project that went before the Board of Supervisors today. I called various concerned folks around town this afternoon, but nobody seems to be home. I finally called the Clerk of the Board, over in Ukiah, and asked her if she knew anything about the Bruce Wolfe project. She told me the project is being hammered out, as we speak. Gosh. I asked, when did the discussion start? She told me, 1:30! That means our citizens have been arguing for a solid two and a half hours in that sweat-soaked Supervisor's chamber! Too bad it isn't on C-span. So here I sit, waiting for some sign of smoke, up the chimney. 4:30 pm. Ah ha, there it is. Approved with an eleven-foot setback. August 18th. It is hard to believe but summer is coming to an end. In the early morning recently there has been a brief chill in the air as the sky turns pink. The surrounding oceanside meadows are light brown instead of green. Pelicans cruise up and down the coast and the whales are starting to think about passing our way during their annual trip to Baja. Local youth are starting to pack their bags and cardboard boxes to head off for college, some in the coming week even. Bob Matson has started roughing out his plans for my work schedule at the gas station. It is hard to believe this seemingly never ending summer is already almost over. Another sure sign of the end of summer is the announcing of the plans for Great Day in Elk. Kay Curtis handed me the schedule of events. "This year the festivities kick off at high noon, September 10th, with the return of the "Cal Aggie Alumni Marching Band". Plan to arrive early and follow the parade through town and up Lousia Street to the Greenwood/Elk Community Center where carnival, games, crafts fair, the raffle and Swami David Minkus will hold forth. Food will include fresh baked goodies from the Crouching Beaver and Bill Edison's Bar (without Bill, hooray!) will be serving up their famous Margaritas. The cider press will be cranking away and the Awesome Cake Auction will be happening again. Dinner will have two seatings; 5:00 and 6:30. Chicken and pork hot off the barbee, potatoes, corn on the cob, salad and dessert. The Dance at 9:00 features the Mighty T-Bones, a great rhythm and Blues band. Full bar and soft drinks for kids." The Elk Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance have been busy recently. August 4th. Mutual aid to Garcia Fire. Six victims moved to Coast Hospital from Mountain View Road where their car ran off the road. August 5th. Mutual aid to South Coast Fire. Heart problem at Gualala Inn. Elk Ambulance was canceled when the victim was flown out by helicopter. August 6th. Mutual aid to Garcia Fire with tanker support. Structure fire up Eureka Hill road. Almost set woods on fire. August 10th. Downed power transmission lines at Doug Johnson's. 100 yard strip of field on fire. Elk Volunteers and CDF responded. Power lines had possibly been shot at. August 13th. Rio Green fell off the telephone building roof in town. Possible broken foot. Ambulance to Fort Bragg Hospital. Here and there around town. The sheeting and rafters are up on the Greenwood Pier Cafe building. The Richard Keehn family has moved into their house here in Elk. Quick! Sign them up for the Community Center Board, the Volunteer Fire Department, the Greenwood Civic Club, Museum Docent, manning the barbecue pit during Great Day in Elk. Something. The Kennedy house just east of Margaret Feltz house is getting an addition and new roof line. Kevin Joe is thinking about a two-car garage. Charlie and Rosie Acker's garage now has shingles but you can still see through the walls. The sheeting is next. The Steve Acker/Kay Curtis complex now has another "view shed". Just like the other "view shed". The Hospital House is getting a retainer wall or new foundation or something along the north side. We have the Tuscano Hotel project to look forward to, or maybe not. The six people opposed to the project are still on the attack. The new owners of the Elk Cove Inn are planning additional rooms. Joel Waldman is back from the sea. One of the local kids got rid of his car by removing the license and ID numbers and running it off the Greenwood/Philo road. Not the approved manner of getting rid of the ol' jalopy even if it does seem like a solution at the time. Ella Russell's house got a new roof. Dr. Popper's house, north of town, is getting new shingles. And finally, Cal Trans has spent some time tearing up and filling in the pot-holes through town. Quite a busy, noisy summer with more than usual activity around here. Water usage has been quite high lately. If you can cut back a bit on watering, and what-not, it would help. Firewood. Is it time to start thinking about firewood? Nah. We still have September and October; the two best months of the year. August 25th. Folks are calling me and saying "Hey! I thought Great Day in Elk was on the 10th of September. How come your column last week says it's the 20th? Isn't that a Tuesday?" I tell them that my editor at the Beacon must have screwed up. I know that it's the 10th of September. I finally fired up my computer today and took a look at my file from last week, residing on the C drive. Sure enough, there it is, September 20th. Umm. Let's see. Maybe my computer screwed up. Surely it couldn't have been me! Okay. One more time. Great Day in Elk is on September 10th. Speaking of Great Day. This just handed in from Loraine Toth: "A public and printed thank-you to Bob, Safeway Meat Manager, for donating hot dogs and M. Garnier for ice cream. Thanks to Kay Baumeister, Albion Grocery Store, for yummy Italian sausages. Thanks to Steve Kelly for hot dog buns and Tim Peterson for Polish and Garlic sausages, both from the Elk Store. And thanks to Ben and Tawny MacMillan, Elk Store, for condiments and last minute stuff." Kendrick took me on a tour of the construction of the new Greenwood Pier Cafe. Open beam ceilings and lots of windows wrapped around the South, West and some of the North side. The main dining area will be at the west end of the building. The interior is far from completion but they are still aiming at a September deadline. Probably late September. I also got to peek at the recently remodeled Garden Cottage and the Honeymoon Cottage. They have been enlarged somewhat and had small upper stories added for a bedroom in the Garden Cottage and an upstairs bath in the Honeymoon Cottage, much in the same style as Kendrick's Sea Castles, to the north. Richard Stumpf of Pacific Construction has been doing the work, and complex work it has been. He must love doing angles. Check 'em out. I've been thinking about evolution lately. I think it is pretty much accepted that things evolve over time, gradually change, but every now and then something comes to mind that makes me wonder. For instance... The other day I was wondering how come mosquitoes have never developed a quiet way to fly. They come buzzing around and because of the noise they make we know when to slap them. You would think that after all these years they would know to be quiet, develop more sneaky wings and that the more stealthy mosquitoes would survive and rise to the top of the evolutionary ladder. Thought number two. Why haven't mice learned to stand still when owls hoot? Mice hear that scary hoot, hoot, hoot in the black of the night and they panic and run for their hole only to be snatched away because the owl can see them move. You would think they would have figured it out, over the passing of time, and learned to stand absolutely still when they hear the hoot. But no. I was musing about these things and told Lolli I was thinking about my next column. I told her about my ideas concerning evolution, mosquitoes, and mice. "Simple", she said. "Mosquitoes don't usually get slapped. In the scheme of things, mosquitoes usually feed off animals and animals haven't got hands. The lifestyle for the majority of mosquitoes works out very well, only a few unlucky mosquitoes happen to land upon people." Well, okay, how 'bout my mice theory? "That's easy. Do YOU stand still if you get scared?" Well, shucks. I'm going to have to rethink this whole thing. For a few moments I thought I was onto something and would have a great breakthrough to share with you all in this column. Now I don't know. |