July 17, 2019
Liz Writes Life
Garden
Yep, summer is here and the garden vegetable plants are
growing really well. Nothing like the heat in July! I have heard from several
friends that their green beans didn’t come up very well. Not one of mine came
up. Guess it isn’t a green bean year. It sounds like zucchini started producing
well last week and I will need to start giving mine away. Time to lock your car
doors, when you are town!
I looked for the tomato worm that ate a hole in one
medium-sized tomato and couldn’t find him. There was no more damage to the
other green tomatoes or plant, so hopefully a bird got him.
The one blue morning glory plant has lots of tendrils seeking
things to climb. Annual flowers, like the impatiens, are finally taking off and
a pink cosmos started blooming. The bright yellow yarrow is blooming along with
the yellow coreopsis, orange daylilies, pale pink anemones and giant white
Shasta daisies. Hollyhocks are colorful with pink, red and white blooms in the
four-foot tall red bee balm and some tiny daisy-like fever few. A yellow glad
is blooming in the magenta elephant-head amaranth plants that are three-feet
and starting their trunks. The snapdragons have been mostly orange this year,
but there are other colors too. The dark-pink taller lamb’s ears are blooming
all over the place and the purple alyssum is finally looking good. Oh, and the variegated yellow and magenta
dahlia is blooming. I just love flowers!
Debate
There is a chance to get to know most of the candidates that
are running for CA. Assembly Dist. 1 special election seat. You can attend a debate
that will be held this Friday, July 19, 2019 at the Montague Community Center
at 7 p.m. I learned there are now four Republicans running and one Democrat for
the seat that was vacated by Brian Dahle, when he won the Dist. 1 Senate seat
in June. The debate is hosted by the
Siskiyou Co. Republican Women Federated and the Siskiyou Patriots. Time is 7
p.m.
For your understanding, the debate is hosted by the
Republican Women, whose bylaws explain that only Republicans can be invited. I
have been told that all four Republican candidates have been invited and three
have confirmed. Those are: Patrick Jones, from Shasta Co., Lane Rickard from
Shasta Co. and Joseph Turner from Lassen Co.
Kathy Bergeron will moderate the debate. Each candidate will
be given three minutes to introduce themselves and then they will take
questions from the audience. At the end, the candidates will be given another
three minutes for closing and or rebuttal. This is sure to be informative.
POW
Scott Valley Protect Our Water will hold its monthly meeting
on Thurs., July 25 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m. Kirk Andrus,
Siskiyou Co. District Attorney, will be speaking and Assembly Dist. 1 candidate,
Patrick Jones, has also confirmed he will attend and explain why he is running
for the empty assembly seat. Public is invited.
Recycling
I gathered up and separated my recyclables last week and then
I learned the local recycling company is no longer doing satellite service to
Scott Valley. This was news to me. Apparently, there are recycling items that
have lost value and it is no longer affordable to provide the satellite service
in out-lying areas of the county. CRV will still be paid.
Luckily, “we the public” (mostly me) have finally been
trained to recycle and will, hopefully, continue to do so. Bins for glass and
plastic are available both inside the Yreka Transfer Recycling and outside
their fence on Ranch Lane. We still have free bins in Etna and Fort Jones as
well.
I wondered when the recycling problem would hit us as I recall
China was taking much of our recycled plastics and other items. But, last
summer, it was reported that China was no longer taking the world’s items for
recycling. Hum, we do make a lot of garbage now days.
Blackout
You probably heard about the power outage last Saturday night
in the heart of New York City’s Broadway area. For most of five hours, 73,000
people were in the dark. Yep, that would be a very scary predicament.
Men-on-the-street self-volunteered to direct traffic, police responded to 60
calls from people stuck in dark elevators and Jennifer Lopez had to cancel her
concert as did Broadway Shows and other entertainment.
Surprisingly, this was literally the 42nd
anniversary of when the power went out in 1977 to nearly the entire Manhattan
area. For a variety of reasons, there was panic and looting that made that
situation worse in 1977.
So, why do I bring this up? Yep, you guessed it, this is a
great reminder to have some things on hand. Try to be prepared. An opinion
piece in the New York Post related that most people don’t have a basic 72-hour
kit. And, yes, if I was riding up to my apartment in an elevator, I would not
have that kit with me.
But, we don’t live in New York. We live in a rural area,
where we should have enough room to store several gallons of drinking water. It
is also a good idea to have 10 gallons of water stored in the back of the
garage that could be used to flush the toilet. Your pets also will need water
and food.
Freeze dried food has become popular. I have some. But, it needs
water added, so we should have canned food, peanut butter and crackers on the
shelf as well. So, once again, I hope you will look at your cupboards and see
what you could eat for several days without going to the store. Then go to the
grocery store and purchase more items that you would like to add to that
storage. Rotate your food and keep the cupboard full!
Also, we really should have a first aid kit and be aware of
our medicines and prescription meds.
Lighting is important. Besides several
flashlights, we should have battery-operated camp lantern. I want to get a
solar-powered camp lantern. Hygiene will be important for yourself, family
members and cooking. So, keep extra moist wipes around, also hand sanitizer,
paper towels and toilet paper.
I try to keep extra garbage bags, cuz they can be used for
lots of things as well as the trash. So, there you go – another reminder about
having some items in the cupboard and garage that will make a power outage less
stressful. At least for a day or two!
Liz Bowen began writing ranch and
farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County
and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at:
lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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