Jan. 15, 2020
Liz Writes Life
Garden
Nope, I haven’t been out working in the garden and on the
warmer days I do feel a bit guilty. I still need to pull and pick-up the stakes
and supports that were used for the tomatoes (I did pull-out the tomato vines
last fall) and the ladder that the non-blooming, but supposed-to-be-blue
morning glory encompassed. And, there are a lot of annual and or perennial
plants that need to be pulled or cut-off in the wild flower garden. Maybe this
week! Ha, ha.
In staring at the garden lot, I have decided there will only
be two rows of plants this year. The outside one will be vegetables and the
inner will be flowers. I just love flowers. Some will be the perennials that
are already there like hollyhocks and bee balm, but I want to add a Black eye
Susan and transplant several Echinacea (purple-pink cone flowers). Oh, and
there is a shorter plant I put-in years ago that has giant lemon yellow trumpet
flowers. I think it gets too much shade from the tansy and coreopsis in the
wildflower garden and would do well with more sun on the south garden side. It
blooms early morning and makes me smile.
Also, I want to plant more gladiolus – I just love glads and
then annual cosmos, maroon amaranth and some four-o’clocks. It won’t take many
of these annuals to fill in the spaces, because they get so big. Oh, the hopes
and plans!
Assembly
Last Friday night, I attended a meet and greet with Dr. Paul
Dhanuka, who is running for our State Assembly Dist. 1 seat as an Independent.
I wanted to know his stand on a variety of issues and enjoyed meeting him. He
is a prominent physician in Redding and is the Chief of Staff at Mercy Medical
Center Hospital. He and his wife have three children with the youngest son a
high school senior. His wife, Promila Dhanuka, is also a well-known oncologist
in Shasta County.
Dr. Dhanuka told us he grew up poor in India with no chance
to improve his economic status and no personal rights, like owning a gun; and
realized he did not have the individual power to change things. He swore his
daughter would not live like that. After immigrating, he carefully studied the
U.S. Constitution and became a citizen of the United States. He has lived in Northern
California for 24 years and never dreamed life could be so good.
“This has been such a blessing,” Dr. Dhanuka said of the
opportunities that were available to him in the United States.
Since becoming a successful physician, Dr. Dhanuka has
started a non-profit to help those with lung cancer and supports museums among
his other causes. But most importantly, he believes it is time to give back to
his country.
Dr. Dhanuka is an American story and believes “all men are
created equal.” But, we have lost control over our own life. “We cannot allow
other men to take our rights,” he said. “The Bill of Rights is worth
protecting. It is my duty to preserve those rights.”
“We have lost effective representation. Our leaders no longer
care about us,” he continued, adding he has lost faith in the two party system.
“We need to unite and go beyond party lines and party control,” is his
reasoning for being an Independent. He believes the citizens have been divided
by design.
When asked how he would vote on bills in the legislature, Dr.
Dhanuka responded: First – is it moral? Second – is it constitutional? And then
he would ask his constituents. This received applause from the group gathered
at the Fort Jones Community Center.
Dr. Dhanuka does not believe his candidacy as an Independent
will split the Republican vote and hopes to attract all who believe in the U.S.
Constitution. He has specific ideas on how to improve Health Care and costs in
California, which includes attracting more physician training facilities here
in the North State that will also entice more physicians to the area -- and has
been talking to U.C. Davis about breaking ground on these ideas.
Fires! Dr. Dhanuka believes in local government control and
that forests must be managed for forest health -- locally. After the meeting,
he told me that 40 doctor friends lost their homes in the 2018 Redding Carr
Fire and his home was just a few blocks from the edge of the inferno. He is
frustrated with government-mandated power shut-offs by PG&E, which threaten
the health of those who are on oxygen and other health-related machines. And,
for certain, Dr. Dhanuka does not want PG&E to become a state-owned
company. Boy, do I agree with that!
I spoke with Fort Jones resident, Tom McCulley, who hosted
the meet and greet. Tom said he was impressed, because Dr. Dhanuka wants to
represent the people and to meet the people. The doctor’s passion is
contagious.
When serving as Fort Jones Mayor, Tom reached out to
Assemblyman Brian Dahle for help, several times, and never received a response.
Because Dr. Dhanuka has already visited rural areas, like Fort Jones, Tom
believes he will open communication even wider to “the people.”
I also liked Dr. Dhanuka’s passion for local representation and bringing
back our constitutional principles. To learn more about Dr. Paul Dhanuka, he can
be found on the internet: dhanuka2020.com and the same on facebook.
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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