services - Idyllwild Town Crier

Page 6 - Idyllwild Town Crier, July 17, 2008
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Becky Clark
Publisher-Editor
J.P. Crumrine
Assistant Editor
Grace Reed
Advertising Sales Manager
Jim Crandall
Operations Manager
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Sandy Burns
Classified &
Legal Sales Advisor
Kathy Bryson
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Beth Nottley
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Jenny Kirchner
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Wayne Parker
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Contributors:
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Dick Hadik • Steve Hudson
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Bruce Watts
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The IDYLLWILD TOWN
CRIER (USPS 635260) is
published weekly for $29
per year in county and $33
per year out of county by
the IDYLLWILD TOWN
CRIER, P.O. Box 157, 54295
Village Center Dr., Idyllwild,
CA 92549. Periodical postage
paid at Idyllwild, CA.
Send subscription and
change of address requests
to the above address. Please
allow up to two weeks for
requests to take effect.
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to
IDYLLWILD TOWN CRIER,
P.O. Box 157, Idyllwild, CA
92549.
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by the Idyllwild Town Crier.
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Out loud
Comparing forests …
I experienced
Yo s e m i t e ’ s
b e a u t y l a s t
week. Some
friends and I
stayed in a cabin
Wawona, a
little community just inside
the park entrance.
On Friday before everyone
else arrived, I rested
on the deck, knitting, reading
and erasing worries of
work. The breeze blowing
through the trees amongst
the vacation cabins in the
little neighborhood where we
stayed relaxed and calmed
me.
Midday, I walked to the
Pine Tree Market nearby
and bought supplies for
an anticipated dinner with
friends. Once the spaghetti
sauce began simmering on
the stove, I headed back to
the deck.
These mundane actions
are some of what everyone
does at a vacation cabin in
the mountains. The next
day, we biked and hiked all
day in Yosemite Valley, but
Friday was my day alone.
No illegally-exhausted
motorcycles, iPods or loud
outdoor band music interrupted
this day. So, I really
had a chance to observe my
surroundings.
While nothing prevented
me from thoroughly soaking
up this day, I was struck by
the irony of having to go to
another mountain town to
do so.
Idyllwild and Wawona
possess similarities, except
the latter is much smaller
with very few businesses.
Wawona: a little school, a
library, stables, a market,
vacation homes, a community
hall that holds square
dances, a history center and
a giant hotel.
I heard or saw stellar jays,
hawks, ground squirrels and
tree squirrels, though not as
abundant as here. Redwoods,
incense cedars, sugar and
other pines live there.
But while my vacationing
neighbors might feel
grateful for the many trees
there, this mountain girl
saw an unhealthy forest in
Wawona. The trees needed
thinning. Dead trees took up
space where potential sunlight
could promote healthier life.
I realized Idyllwild’s blessing
to have a fire safe council
of volunteers continuously
working to educate us and
keep our forest healthy.
Becky Clark, Ed i tor
Readers write
A country life
Editor:
Several weeks ago, a writer
from the Anza area stated, I
think it was in a letter to the
editor, that the water study
results for the Anza/Terwilliger
area were needed. The
results were needed in order
to either clear the way for
more and more people to
live in Anza/Terwilliger; block
the way with negative results
indicating that there is barely
enough water to serve those
now there; or give middle-ofthe-road
squishy up or down
results allowing some more,
but not a lot more, people
to move in.
How do we choose between
those who get to
come to Anza and those
who don’t
My experience with water
from my 260-foot deep well
in Terwilliger in 1979 was that
if water from the well were
drawn into a bowl and allowed
to evaporate, a thick crust of
white powder would coat the
whole inside of the bowl.
I didn’t have the $1,000 it
would have taken at the time
to have the water tested to
identify the white powder. I
just didn’t drink it and used
it only for agriculture.
Tons of agricultural chemical
fertilizers have been used
on the fields in Anza growing
potatoes commercially, and
other crops over the last 40-
plus years. Tons of chemical
pesticides have been used as
well.
You might ask, “Where
does all that stuff go” The
answer is deeper and deeper
into the soil until it migrates
into the groundwater to be
sucked up by everybody’s
well.
Regardless of which way
the water report throws the
argument, Anza and Terwilliger
are so populated now
that people who want a little
high-desert getaway end up
living right next door to
another person who lives
right next door to someone
else, etc.
There is a security light
on most of the spec houses,
so city dwellers moving to
the country can feel safe.
In the old days, people
moved to Anza to get away
from it all. Now there is so
much background light it
is difficult to see the stars
and almost impossible with
a telescope because of the
lights.
T. S. Bennett
Mountain Center
Where’s the beef
Editor:
Agriculture is the largest
user of water in the United
States and in the world. Electricity
production is second;
from fossil fuels to nuclear
energy it requires 39-percent
of all fresh water withdraws
in the United States.
Cotton is a large user
of water. Even though 60-
percent of water demand is
provided by rainfall, the total
global fresh water demand
for cotton is between 1 and
6 percent of total global fresh
water.
Rice is right behind cotton,
using almost as much
water. Cotton production
and processing are also a
major source of pollution
of fresh water.
Irrigation is the largest
category of water use in the
United States and the world.
Irrigation is used to cultivate
crops and some of that may
go to beef, but I am sure
more is used for humans.
I wonder how many people
and things are connected
to beef I am sure more than
beef is connected to water.
Maybe I am wrong or
somewhat wrong, so let’s
get together and stop eating
beef, but let’s also not use
any cotton or rice and turn
off our electricity. We can sit
in the dark and cold, eat tofu
and drink a glass of water.
Michael Freitas
Idyllwild
Who’s more
dangerous
Editor:
I have driven highways
74 and 243 for more than
50 years and my question
is: Which driver is more
dangerous The driver who
tailgates or the driver who
dislikes tailgaters and is “going
to show them” by not
using any common sense
and use the first available
safe turnout to allow the
tailgater to pass
I am going to be so bold
as to suggest both types of
drivers are potential killers.
David W. Ledbetter
Idyllwild
Re: Birthday peace
Editor:
As a former long-time
resident (22 years) of
Idyllwild who still plans to
build on our property there
when circumstances permit,
I feel the need to comment
Mr. Funny Guy
from time to time on the
disaster that occupies the
center of town.
The empty businesses
ringing this establishment
bear mute testimony to the
devastating effect on the
local economy. While it is
true that times are rough
all over and gas prices are
in the stratosphere, the business
downturn started a lot
earlier for Idyllwild.
As those of us who “were
there” know, the business
and tourist exodus commenced
with the advent of
endless weekends of racket,
stench (also known as outside
barbecue) and large
groups of motorcyclists congregating
at that single location.
Occasionally, unsuspecting
tourists will wander into
town and express dismay at
what they thought would be
a wonderful weekend in the
forest turned into a visit to
Sturgis West.
There doesn’t seem to be
a shortage of local response
by Chris Fisher
with sarcastic rejoinders to
these visitors. The indication
is they should take their
tourist dollars somewhere
else if they don’t like the
situation in Idyllwild. I guess
they are doing just that.
When all of the businesses
are gone, with the
exception of the one under
discussion, where will local
residents who are still
in their working years be
employed Can that establishment
absorb them all
Hmm.
Charlene Madden
Hemet
(formerly of Idyllwild)
Re: ‘Dangerous
drivers’
Editor:
I also abhor tailgaters.
I think they are rude and
dangerous. So I can totally
empathize with T. Patino.
That said, I would like to
add a few thoughts of my
own.
See Letters, next page
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