ENGAGING DEMOCRACY

Betty Yee, California State Controller, came to Murphys to speak to a crowd of interested people. One man traveled all the way from Fresno to hear her speak.  She was invited by the Calaveras County Democratic Central Committee. She mingled with those present discussing  issues and answering questions before giving her speech.

Tom Pratt is the President of the Central Committee and he has managed to organize and inspire political action that has been lacking here for some time-no easy feat. Member Sally Kaplan was one of the chief organizers of this event.

This lovely lady, Martha Gamez is a regional organizer for California Democrats, and she gives vital advice and assistance in getting out the vote and registering voters in various districts. She is dedicated to engaging Democracy and making it work.

Tom Garamendi, left, Calaveras County Supervisor Elect, attended and visited with the crowd while waiting for Betty Yee to speak. She is the Chief Financial Officer in the sixth largest economy in the world. Does she report to the Governor? No. Her roll is deliberately independent. Thus her decisions are not beholden to any whim of the Governor.

Elisa Garrin and Karen Kaua were tablemates and we talked a good bit about how un-engaged young people seem to be about voting and elections as though elections don't affect them. Many people no longer read a newspaper. Sound bites and Twitter, and other social media don't cover issues like a good editorial magazine and especially a newspaper. Even television news is often skewed by divisions over party unless you stick predominantly to PBS.
Holly Mines and Bertha Underhill, deep in conversation. I took a lot of random pictures of people I do not know. But, Bertha presented Betty Yee with a frog from our county and I missed the shot. The only picture I got of Betty Yee  is while she was mingling with the crowd.

While I post pictures of those attending the brunch we shared at the Historic Murphys Hotel, I'd like to talk about what the office of the State Controller does for us. She reports on the financial state of the State and administers various taxes. Her office writes 28 million warrants (checks) per year. She audits spending to make sure our tax dollars are spent as the law intended.

Another part of her duties is the State Personnel/Payroll for all state employees and the California State University system.

And, she manages two of the largest public pension funds in the nation. To keep her finger on the pulse of the state, she serves on 78 state commissions and boards. (Ross Alford, right, was the only member of the press at the meeting.)

This couple from Copperopolis are well informed. But, I was stunned to hear Betty say:  "Everyone likes to point out how much money tourism, the wine industry, agriculture and ranching bring into the county. But pension spending is the highest revenue generator in the county. Fifty-four million dollars comes from retiree pensions.

One question applicable to rural Calaveras and surrounding counties, is how can the state engage in helping people who have 20 dead beetle infested trees on their property and cannot afford 20 thousand dollars to have them removed? Her answer was a state tax credit to mitigate that unusual cost. She described a couple of ways it could be handled dependent upon situation or means.

Betty Yee was born and raised in San Franciso. Her parents were immigrants and raised 6 children. They struggled to provide for and educate their children. Betty, by the way, is the second highest ranking elected official to come to Murphys, since 1830 when Ulysses S. Grant came as President of the United States.  Interestingly, she ranks higher than the Governor of the State, or any senator or representative.

I thought that Betty Yee's  rank was an interesting observation, especially since I barely knew what the "controller" did.  I had to look it up.  (Kimberly Pratt-above.)

It is never too late to learn and I learned a lot from Betty Yee's visit. And, I'm inspired to become a bit more active in my community. As everyone knows, my major role in life seems to be "activist". So, I'd best act like it.

I love taking pictures of people, too.  (Rick Mines.)
Ciao!

THE JUNK DRAWER.

Everyone admits to having a junk drawer. A place to store something of a temporary nature, or something you don't want to toss, but what good is it to keep? It ends up in the junk drawer. I have too many junk drawers.


My daughter-in-law came for the weekend since "the guys" meaning my sons, and old high school friends have this big mega bash every year over super bowl weekend. They play poker, drink a lot of beer, golf on Sunday morning...well you get the picture. So Laurie and I poked around my junk drawers for stuff for a project she is working on. The picture was taken after we reduced the quantity of junk in the drawers by half.


It was really nice because I cleaned out a large bag of crochet yarn that I'll never use.  I took out most of my button collection;  It filled three large cigar boxes. Ribbons and badges from Community Club events will hopefully find a home in the local museum. Much of it represented past volunteer activities and some travel items like the museum patches above. Whoever heard of such obscure museums as the National Skating Museum?  The Cartoon Art Museum. I've been to an Eye Glass museum, a Bait Museum, a Knife Museum, a Funeral Museum, Bead Museums...   On the road with Jim, I (we)  visited every museum that came to our attention, no matter the subject or size. I wonder sometimes,  how many I've visited?


Among the buttons were whirley-gigs  I made when two young nieces and a nephew came to visit for a week one summer. I also taught them to play Hide The Button.


My mother visited Pope John Paul II when he visited San Francisco so many years ago. I have her holy cards, relics and a purported piece of the crucifixion cross; a metal from every California Mission she visited and more. My intention was to make a collage with her things. I'm  inspired anew.
I couldn't hold in two hands the number of metal pins I saved with messages such as:  Our Owner's Gay, from Chatom Vineyards. Elect Jeffrey's for Sheriff; Warning: I go from 0 to Bitch in 3.5 seonds; USA Olympics, 2002; Chocolate Makes the World Go Round. TV4UBYU and so on. Useless.  Junk. For the Junk drawer.


LaurIE and I enjoyed the process. I got my fix of "fur" for a couple of days. Koko sat on my lap for a bit while we watched three episodes of Home Fires on DVD. We cooked and ate well, too. Idiotically, I didn't take a picture of Laurie, just Koko and Bix.

A DOORBELL STIRS MEMORIES.

The UPS guy came to my door yesterday and said, "That is the neatest doorbell I've ever seen!" I was slightly dumbfounded that anyone would even notice my doorbell.


What I like about it is that if you actually ring it, which most people don't, it really clangs loudly and I can hear it from anywhere in the house. I explained to him that it is a replica of a San Francisco cable car bell that signaled "all aboard" and impending stops. We bought it years ago in honor of my husband's father who worked the cable cars as a gripman when he was a young man. Of course, we heard all about it from the source, how when the street car is free wheeling down one of those steep hills, the gripman had to use his great strength to keep the giant clamp on the cable to make sure it didn't careen out of control, and release the cable when it approached it's stop, along with the applying the brake to keep it from jolting people off the car.  The cable moves continuously under the street and the car is attached and unattached as it makes it's route.

The guy was amazed at the mechanics of the cable cars and how it worked. I immediately went outside and cleaned it up a bit. It has a big stain from a wayward bird "dropping" by, and the door, has a few dings and has seen better days.  His son,  George, rode the street cars free to school, a San Francisco tradition for school children, but Gus would let him ride free on non-school days, something MY parents would never have done. Gus would smile and rub his hair and say "Com'on Chachi". He loved his only child with unabashed displays of affection, even as an adult.
Strange what memories a simple comment about a doorbell can engender. It left me with warm feelings all day as I thought back on those days.

MORE FOOD, MORE ROAD

We traveled from Clarion, PA to Norwalk, Ohio on the interstate 80 West.
A bit of rain and cold.

Another scary, narrow construction corridor. This one warned no vehicles wider than 12 feet. We are 10 and one-half from mirror to mirror, but our body is 8 and one-half.  I saw a big steel truck hub cap reduced to a crushed piece of steel at the end of the corridor. Some driver didn’t have a good day.

We put up at a very friendly Elks Club in Norwalk. From a wide menu of choices I ordered  yellow lake perch and  forgot to take a picture of it. It was delicious, anyway. But, more about food from Smithsonian’s  Morena Koren.

Indianapolis lays claim to St. Elmo’s Steakhouse that serves this sassy shrimp cocktail. The large boiled shrimp are served with a fiery sauce made of Missouri-grown, horseradish guaranteed to clear your sinuses. St. Elmo’s is a hundred years old and has a tradition of serving their specialty navy bean soup or a glass of tomato juice with each entree. A bit different but with 100 years of popular business, who can argue with that? Sounds good to me. (photo by Lisa Sperlman)
New Orleans Café Du Monde’s famous coffee and beignets  (pronounced ben yays) date back to the Civil War, when the original coffee stand opened in 1862. Du Mondes serves a trademark java black or au lait with a New Orleans twist. It’s blended with chicory, the root of the endive plant, which softens the dark roasted coffee’s bitter edge. Anybody who has traveled to New Orleans stops to try these powdery confections right on the major square in town.  I wouldn’t travel particularly to eat a beignet. For me, once was enough. Then, I’m not a doughnut lover. Du Mondes certainly qualifies as an iconic choice of the locals and the tourists alike. They flock there in droves.
Du Mondes is not the only doughnut that made Koren’s list. The Voo Doo Doughnut shop in Portland appeals to people because it is quirky and creative.  Koren states that when it first opened in 2003, it sold doughnuts glazed with NyQuil and coated with Pepto-Bismol, until the health department stopped the process. But, customers love Voodoo. It serves a voodoo doll shaped doughnut oozing with jelly, another strange offering is a doughnut coated with frosting and Cap’n Crunch. Or you can try dirty snowballs topped with coconut, marshmallow and a glob of peanut butter.  Then there is the Tex-Ass Challenge.  Customers can gobble down a giant doughnut six times bigger than usual within 80 seconds and win their $3.95 back. You just can’t repress a doughnut lover and if that describes you, it’s worth a trip.
Since we are talking West Coast, you might want to wander into the Boudin Bakery in San Francisco. You can buy the traditional San Francisco sour dough the city is famous for in your burger, or grilled cheese or a carved out bread bowl filed with another famous San Francisco treat, clam chowder.  Legend has it that the “mother dough”, a yeasty culture used in each batch of bread, was rescued in a bucket during the 1906 earthquake and is part of the original mother dough developed during the gold rush by a French Immigrant. Its bakers also churn out hearth-baked kalamata olive, walnut and ciabatta breads, as well as loaves shaped into crabs, turtles and turkeys. I love the city and will put this one on my bucket list.

At Corky’s BBQ of Memphis, has been rated the city’s top barbecue joint 22 times since 1984.  Corky’s meats are slow cooked over hickory wood and charcoal. Every pork shoulder is hand pulled, and chefs meticulously trim each slab of ribs.  Waiters clad in bowties and white shirts serve the ribs two ways: The dry version is basted with a special sauce and sprinkled with a spice and salt rub, while wet ribs are doused with Corky’s Original Bar-B-Q sauce. Both come with a healthy mound of baked beans, coleslaw and fresh-baked rolls.(Photo by Tom Borton.)

Joe’s Stone Crab of Miami was a star location in Ian Flemming’s book, Goldfinger.  Joe’s  has been serving its signature dish of stone crab legs, a Floridian delicacy, since its real estate boasted only a few picnic tables in 1913 (today, the restaurant seats 475). The legs are served chilled with mustard sauce and come in four sizes, from medium to jumbo. But the restaurant’s best-kept secret isn’t surf or turf—it is surprisingly cheap which loyal customers know and tourists find out if they ask. The locals like Joe’s key lime pie after their dinner.  I’d jump on that meal in a minute. Yum. again, my mouth is watering and I just had breakfast. (Photo Getty Group.)

FARMERS MARKETS

One great way to aid our economy’s recovery is by shopping close to home. Farmer’s Markets registered in the United States are at an all time high of over 7,000.  I noticed our local Save Mart advertisers refer to their produce department  as an “in-store farmers market.”  You know they are feeling the impact of  customers buying  directly from  growers.

This was my first time at the Murphys Farmer’s Market held each Friday starting about 4:30 at the Val Du Vino Winery. How lucky we are to have such delicious choices. A Farmer’s Market in Murphys, on the way to Angels Camp, stop at Douglas Flat to the Outer Isle, an Organic Market right on the Highway, then another Farmers Market in Angels Camp, also on Friday’s about 4:30.  There are others in Mountain Ranch and San Andreas, I’m told. Such a deal.

It is not huge, but growing. In San Francisco, there is a waiting list to get a booth at the Ferry Building Farmers Market. For a small rural town, when many people have their own gardens, I thought the offerings quite varied and interesting. Cheeses and olive spreads.

Herb vinegars and salad dressings, all locally made and grown. The smells alone made my mouth water.

I arrived early, as people were still setting up. This woman provides a meal. And her kotufa was fantastic. A seasoned lamb patty over cous cous with a delcious sauce. I could go there just to eat on Fridays.

She cooks something different every Friday and everyone was singing her praises. Yum. Then, paired with a glass of wine?  Hey. Good stuff.

It began to get busy, and I was glad I arrived early as I like to pick over the tomatoes. What I bought was unique and flavorful heirloom tomatoes  and a cucumber.

I was tempted by the home-made zucchini bread.

And the flowers.

But nobody could explain to me why they need a guillotine in a winery? I guess I didn’t ask the right person. Next time!

PLASTIC BAG BAN

I celebrate every gift I get. This one is a biggie. I believe  Berkeley, CA was the first city to ban plastic bags in grocery stores. San Francisco followed.  Coastal North Carolina did the same. Now, Seattle follows Bellingham, WA  but their ban does more.
The Seattle City Council passed a broad ban on plastic bags Monday, outlawing them not just in grocery stores, but in department stores, clothing stores, convenience stores, home-improvement stores, food trucks and farmers markets.
The bill goes further than bans in other cities, which have largely banished plastic only groceries and sometimes drug stores. Customers in Seattle will still be able to get paper bags from retailers, but for a 5-cent fee.
Monday’s bill exempts customers on food assistance and other government benefits from the bag fee. The city will also make free or reduced-cost reusable bags available to poor people.
The ordinance applies only to single-use, checkout bags, and not to produce, bulk-ban and dry-cleaning bags. Plastic bags for take-out restaurant food are also still allowed, because they help protect health and safety while transporting hot food and liquid.

Read more:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Plastic-bags-banned-in-Seattle-2412950.php#ixzz1h5V777oN
I shop with my own bags and my little grocery store, Sierra Hills Market,  will reward you with a $25 gift certificate, for using your own shopping bag. People who use their own bags are allowed to mark their name and phone number on a small paper by the checkstand and put it in the draw box. I’ve won the certificate, once. I regularly see about four others using their own bags.
A chain grocer in nearby Angels Camp tried the “recycle” your plastic bags idea. The container was always stuffed full of plastic bags and was emptied regularly in the dumpster. The bags are cheaply made, tear easily, don’t hold much and the only person I ever saw taking recycled bags on their way into the grocery store was-ME.  It just doesn’t change habits.
“A study a few years ago “found that the inks and colorants used on some bags contain lead, a toxin. Every year, Americans throw away some 100 billion plastic bags after they’ve been used to transport a prescription home from the drugstore or a quart of milk from the grocery store. It’s equivalent to dumping nearly 12 million barrels of oil.”
So, I celebrate it as a gift to our common environment. I’ve seen pictures of animals entrapped and dying from plastic bags drifting into their environment. And, just a reminder, there is a huge glob of plastic bags the size of the state of Texas in the ocean vortex where water circulates and keeps  miles of  plastic  afloat.  Other countries have banned bags in some cities.  Mexico City, twelve towns in Australia, Rangoon, Burma, Five major cities in India, London, Rawanda, the whole country is bag free.

It seems to me this is an opportunity for college students across the country to collectively  push for plastic bag bans in their communities. Hey, they know how to solve the deficit.  Over and again, they have proved to be smarter, and more effective than our do nothing government.

SAN FRANCISCO JAUNT

Yearly, I enjoy visiting San Francisco to see for myself what has changed and what is new. After a long absence, I’ve begun a seasonal visit at Christmastime at the behest of my youngest daughter.

Late in the day on Saturday, we hauled the ornaments out of the garage. As it warmed on Sunday morning, the boys trimmed the street-side trees in the yard. Owen is unsure about how to proceed, tinsel first?

He decided to tackle the tinsel.

It’s a tricky job for little guys.

We arrived in San Francisco hungry, quickly taken care of by a bounteous meal at a Moroccan restaurant, Tajine on Polk St. The appetizers, a pickled beet, egg and cucumber salad, with Arab bread to dunk in olive oil and a chicken pastry, beautifully served and both delicious.
The boys both ordered chicken kabobs with french fries.

Virginia chose sausages with couscous, and my lamb and prune tajine (stew)-excellent. We educated the boys about Morocco, the rock of Gibraltar and the Arabic style of eating at a table with cushions, and without silverware.

Our waiter commented on the boys good manners and pleased all of us.

We had plenty of time to do some sight-seeing around town before and after  the Dickens Christmas Carol staged at the Opera House.  We watched the ice skaters under the  ferry building clock that stopped at the moment the 1906 earthquake struck, one of the few survivors.

The gold enhanced cupola of the San Francisco City Hall.

Winking mask sculpture with worn paint from the tiny feet and hands of curious children.

The boys enjoyed the many musicians and the break dancers performing impossible double jointed moves.

The cable cars were all decked out for Christmas…

…as was the rest of the city. We enjoyed the tree on Union Square. The boys ate roasted chestnuts and decided they are “just okay.” But, hey. It’s a tradition of Christmas because of a song.

One  building has a three story-plus Christmas tree in the window. I believe it is a Nordstroms, now, but to me it will always be the City Of Paris building. I hadn’t seen it in many years and it was a highlight for me to visit once more, despite the changes. At one time one could walk around and around the building and view the tree on every side. Now you take an elevator or escalator to each floor.

I caught our reflection in one of the gigantic balls.

Theo wanted to buy this hat.

I remember a time when you could walk from window to window on Macy’s block and see a continuous animated display in each window. This was it!  One animated window. Businesses, and the city as well, started being practical about Christmas decorations years ago,  but the memory of the splendors past will stay with me.  It was a delight to go and be reminded.
Somehow, we never tire of  great Dickens classic that feeds us our dole of repentance and faith that we too, if need be, can turn our lives around.