SOLD - Winters Express

-4 — Winters (CA) Express, Thursday,August 18, 2011OpinionLETTERSThanks forsupportingplaygroundrestorationThe saws were sawingand the hammerswere hammering at theCity Park on Saturday,Aug. 6. About 50 peopleshowed up for theFriends of WintersParks Clean-up andRepair Day to makethe park a cleaner andsafer place for ourchildren to play.The clean up and repairday would not ofbeen possible withoutthe talent and determinationof Wade Cowanof Wade’s Construction.He’s been part ofthis project from dayone and his knowledge,materials andconnections have beenfundamental in makingthis day possible.This day would of neverof been feasiblewithout him and hiscrew. A big thank youto Wade and Kathy andtheir crew (Matt, Rod,Nathan, Jon, and Josh)who volunteered theirtime on Saturday tomake our City Park abetter place.The Friends of WintersParks wants togive a big thank you toall who participated ordonated to make thisday happen. Thanks toall of those who cameout early on a Saturdaymorning to work theclean-up/repair day.We appreciate yourtime and talents. Aspecial thank you tothe many members ofthe Winters RotaryClub that came to help.Thank you to MarianiNut Company,Megan Curry from Adidasand MattArchibeque from WarriorVideo for donatingitems for our raffle.Thanks to Kelly MoorePaints for donating allthe paint and supplies,Viona Hague for use ofher rototiller, Cody’sfor the lemonade andT-shirts for the committeemembers and toJohn and Karen Neilfor the ice and coolers.I’ll just keep on writing until the white space disappearsIt’s press day, Tuesday,and I’m going todo the unthinkable.I’m going to write thiscolumn right onto thecomposing page, norafts, no editing, juststart right here andkeep typing until I runut of space. Just slapt out in a blur of freessociation.Hey, how hard couldt be. Charley does ithis way every week.There are contributingfactors for this editorialfoolhardiness.One, I just returnedfrom the East Coast,and although my bodys on Pacific time, mybrain still thinks it’son Eastern time. Notonly am I time zoneraveling, I am timeraveling as well. Theutest Man In Theorld and I just reurnedfrom our annultrek to the 15th Cenury,also known asennsic Wars.Except for a littleatchup time on Faceookbefore flyingome yesterday, Iaven’t seen a computrscreen, telephoner television in over aeek. Completely offhe grid.Pure bliss.Disoriented?We also wishe tothank the originalplayground committeefor its dedication tothe project and thefunds left over thatwere used for the repairproject.We hope we didn’tleave anyone out, but ifwe did please knowthat we appreciate allthat everyone did tomake this happen. Wealso hope that the communitywill help uskeep the park a cleanand safe place for ourchildren to play.We celebrated thecleaned and repairedpark with a communityIce Cream Social lastSaturday night. A bigthank you who all whocame out to enjoy thepark on a Saturdayevening. We hope toplan more communityevents for families inthe future.FRIENDS ofWINTERS PARKSLaws onpassing busesWith school starting,The Winters Police Departmentwould like toremind drivers to stopwhen school busseshave their flashing redlights while receivingor discharging passengers.Section 22454(a)of the California VehicleCode provides:“The driver of anyvehicle, upon meetingor overtaking from eitherdirection, anyschool bus equippedwith signs as requiredin this code, that isstopped for the purposeof loading or unloadingany schoolAbsolutly.Jet-lagged? Totally.Column ready?Not even. Which is themain reason to throwcaution to the wind.Desperation andwhite space are fabulousmotivators.So. When we last leftoff, we were exploringthe effects of MercuryRetrograde, and it didnot disappoint. On thevery first day, Aug. 2,we discovered at thelast minute that ourflight was cancelled.“Mechanical issues”were cited as the reason,but I suspect thatis United Airlines’cover story for cancellingflights that areunderbooked.This threw theschedule out of whacka bit, but we regainedour footing with a laterflight and thankfullyno more hiccupsthereafter. Besidesimmersing ourselvesin 15th Century MedievalEurope, or TheKnown World as membersof the Society forCreative Anachronism(SCA) call it, we hadbookend visits withTCMITW’s family andhe even managed tosqueeze in two days ofbusiness meetings aswell.children and displaysa flashing red light signalvisible from frontand rear, shall bringthe vehicle to a stopimmediately beforepassing the school busand shall not proceedpast the school bus untilthe red flashing signalceases operation.”The law requires adriver to come to a stopbefore passing on bothsides of the road andprohibits a driver fromproceeding until theflashing red light ceasesoperation. The lawapplies for both brokenyellow and doubleyellow lined streets.BRUCE MURAMOTOWinters Police ChiefLet’s getstartedI enjoyed the EdmundLis article, “Labels,”in the Aug. 4,edition of the WintersExpress. Edmundseems a rugged individualwho mocks the“New World Order”and wonders if theworld could be savedby like-minded interpersonalglobal cooperation.He suggestsexpanding global connectivityof tolerant,cooperative and differentindividuals,worldwide.I’m sorry Edmund,not in your lifetime,but maybe we couldwork on a start benefittingour children.“What’s the point?”Headlines your column.You’ve told us.It’s about spreadingawareness. The secularhumanists areright. The only way wecan save mankind isI did a little businessschmoozing myself,and had a lunch datewith author andscreenwiter Amy Ferris,one of our iPinionSyndicate writers whoI’ve never actually hada chance to meet faceto face. Amy happensto live in Pennsylvania,where all ourKnown World actiontakes place, so we enjoyedsome seared ahisalad at the SpinnerstownHotel, an authenticearly 1800sstone inn, and I decidedwithin minutes thatI really like this gal.Her book is called“Marrying GeorgeClooney,” a collectionof columns aboutmidlifeandmenopause, and it’s ahoot and soon to be amovie too. When I readAmy’s work, I give herthe ultimate compliment:“Damn, I wish Iwrote that! Just Googlethat title, and you’llfind her blog,I’ll get into the finerwith a greater awarenessof our geneticallyprimed hunter-gatherertribal instincts.These demand attackson different tribes —foreigners who do notthink and act the same.Either destroy or bedestroyed.If our world leadersunderstood the importanceof this deadly instincttoward conflictit would bring intoplay better internationaland cultural relationshipsand a nonor delayed outcome ofa global Armageddon.I believe Edmundwas thinking conceptuallyof a rapidly expandingglobal Interneteffort. One thattouts personal respect,honesty, tolerance andcooperation.. Let’sstop thinking in the abstract.We can start it.It’s been shown timeafter time that oneman or woman canchange the world andchange the way peoplethink. Imagine a laserfocused,large, Internet-driven,communicatinggroup of committedindividuals, allover the world, followinga wise leader onthe path to a livable,common sense way ofenlightened globalsurvival.Edmund you’re awriter. You may be theman! Why not get thisproject going rightaway. I have a good label“IUFCTI” (IndividualsUnited for Freedom,Common Sense,Tolerance and Integrity).No politicians. No“isms.” Let’s go. Countme in!ED DAWKINSdetails of our Pennsicadventures next week,but for now, fast forwardto our return,which is still in thethick of Mercury Retrograde.And what didI return home to? Abig, orange “ServiceTraction System”warning light on mycar’s dashboard.A visit to Pisani’sService, and the prognosisis not good. Thecomputer that controlsthe braking systemis on the fritz. Estimatedcost for just thepart: $1,000 give ortake a few BenFranklins. And thatdoesn’t include the labor,which involvesprogramming the computer,and the takeawaypart of this storyis that the repairs aremore than the car isworth.Thank you, MercuryRetrograde for onelast parting gift.Jerk.Anyone want a welllovedImpala? Call me.WHAT RECESSION. My bride and Icelebrated our 36th wedding anniversarythis week by taking aquick trip to Fort Bragg and Mendocino. I’mnot sure what is happening at the coast, butrooms were hard to find. Several peoplehad made suggestions about where to stay,but when I checked online, those hotelsdidn’t have rooms available. I found a niceplace with a view that seemed perfect, andonly a little pricy.As we were riding into town it was gettinga little cool, but still comfortable after thewarm weather of the valley. We hit cooler,overcast weather as soon as we left Willits. Imissed the North Cliff Hotel the first time Idrove by and got a tour of the town, one endto the other. Who would think that a placecalled the North Cliff Hotel would be on thesouth side of town? I missed it going the otherway, too, but only had to go over thebridge and turn around.The place is nice. Fireplace and Jacuzzitub in the front room next to windows lookingout over the bay. A small balcony with acouple of chairs and an umbrella, just incase the sun comes out. They leave you abreakfast tray in the refrigerator, but weate most of it as snack food. Nice thoughtthough.There were plenty of people walkingaround downtown Fort Bragg on a Fridayafternoon. By evening the restaurants werefilling up and people seemed to be in a goodmood. After waking up to sunshine we tooka walk on the beach and went shopping inthe downtown galleries. The shops werebusy and so was Sherri. As she was eyeingsome new piece of artwork for the house, Ireminded her that it may not fit in the saddlebags. She inquired about shipping thepiece by UPS and I decided that rather thanpay for shipping it would fit on the bike.They bubble wrapped it, and it took an extrapush to get the cover to close, but it fit.We stopped at the town of Mendocino forlunch, and a little more shopping, andagain, the place was crowded. Not onlywere people in the shops, they were purchasingitems and toting them around townlooking for more treasures. I did see a fewempty store fronts, but the shops that wereopened seemed to be doing just fine.When I look at downtown Winters, I seethe same potential. There are a few emptyspaces, and the weekends seem to be filledwith tourists who just want to get away for afew hours. We don’t have an ocean view, butwith Putah Creek improvements startingnext week, I see a creek view or creek walkin our future. Getting someone to build ahotel overlooking the creek might takesome doing, but give it time.I was hoping they would finish the newstreetscape before the Earthquake Festival,but that wan’t in the plans. I missed acouple of meetings about the “GatewayMaster Plan” improvement to the entranceto the city, but they are moving along andshould help make Winters a little more attractivecoming over the overpass.Whether we were driving on Highway 1 orHighway 101, there seemed to be constructioneverywhere. When we turned ontoHighway 128 from the coast highway, I realizedthat I could drive Highway 128 fromend to end. A few years ago they were goingto continue Highway 128 to Davis, but Idon’t think that happened and it still endsat our overpass. I was tired when I hit Highway101/128 and decided to take Highway 37to 80. Not a shortcut, but it seems quicker.Take one last trip this summer. It will beraining before you know it.Have a good week.Policy for Letters to the EditorThe deadline for Lettersto the Editor is noonon Mondays for publicationthat week.Letters may be mailedor hand-delivered toThe Winters Express,312 Railroad Avenue,Winters, CA 95694, oremailed to news @wintersexpresscom.Letters should not exceed500 words. Do notuse all capital letters.We reserve the right toedit or reject any letter.Letters must be legiblysigned by the writer,or if emailed, must indicatethe writer’s name.We may withhold writers’names from publicationthere is a legitimate reason,reprisal or retribution.We reserve the right toanonymously will not beWe will accept lettersof thanks naming individualsand local Wintersbusinesses. Non-localindividuals and businesseslisted in letters ofupon request ifsuch as fear ofdetermine legitimacy.Letters submittedprinted.thanks will be editedout.“Government exists to protect usfrom each other. Where governmenthas gone beyond its limits is indeciding to protect us from ourselves.”~ Ronald Reagan