Liz Writes Life 1-15-2020

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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Liz Writes Life 1-8-2020

Jan. 8, 2020

Liz Writes Life

Salmon

I wanted to mention the end-of-the-year preliminary salmon count here in Siskiyou County. The Shasta River adult salmon counting facility was installed and operational on the afternoon of Sept. 4, 2019 and this count goes through Dec. 31, 2019 with 5,867 Chinook salmon and 61 Coho salmon observed. This seems like a pretty nice number for Shasta River.

On Bogus Creek, the facility was installed on Sept. 5, 2019 and through Dec. 31, 2019 there were 974 Chinook counted and 53 Coho.

Scott River facility has had the largest number of the Endangered Species listed Coho with 334 observed from Sept. 19, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2019. Coho return every three years like clockwork, compared to Chinook that return every three to five years. This might be the best of the three years. And 1,505 Chinook have been reported through the video station on Scott River.

Thank you to Morgan Knechtle, who reports this salmon info on the Klamath River Project from the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

Roadkill

While on the subject of the CA. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, I wanted to mention the new roadkill law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. Last week, the Siskiyou Daily News ran an article about the new law and that was a good thing, because there is misinformation about it. In December, a friend mentioned that we would be able to pickup road kill in 2020 and my first thought was “not without a permit of some kind – in California.” Yep, I knew picking up roadkill would not be simple.

My second thought was, “how would you be able to prove it really was roadkill?” Yes, there would be a smashed-in side or rear-end and no bullet hole, but I could just see how altercations and disagreements could over-shadow any legality of the situation.

So, the article by Damon Arthur was good timing.

I want to reiterate a few points from the article and the press release from the CDFW. Apparently, the law provides for a “wild game meat utilization program” to be adopted by state agencies. But until the program is underway and a permitting process is available, I sure wouldn’t pick up any roadkill.

A permit will be required to pickup roadkill. How you get that permit has not been figured out. And the CDFW has two years (until Jan. 1, 2022) to create the pilot program for issuing wildlife salvage permits.

If you have any questions about this law, call CDFW in Yreka or Redding or ask a local game warden and don’t pickup any roadkill.

AB5

Talk about creating a sticky-wicket! Last September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 5 into law and it immediately came under fire. The bill was meant to provide protection to individual employees by making it more difficult for companies to claim workers are independent contractors and not provide benefits. But, of course, nothing in government ends up being simple.

Legitimate contractors, in a variety of businesses, through-up a red flag of concern. I remember the forestry industry voicing frustration and I would think the sub-type of contractors in the construction industry would have also balked.

Well, last week, the California Trucking Association won a temporary exclusion for independent drivers through a federal judge, who cited the truckers would suffer harm and declared the ruling was in the public’s interest. The hearing for a permanent injunction will take place on Jan. 13, 2020.

Other individuals, who originally thought the law would be beneficial, like Uber drivers, freelance writers, photographers and other individual-type Hollywood contractors are also looking for an exemption from the law.

Uber, Lyft and DoorDash and other groups representing independent contractors have started a ballot initiative to change the law and have pledged millions of dollars to gather the 630,000 signatures (from voting citizens) to place it on the November ballot. On the other side of the issue is the California Labor Federation that considers AB5 a significant worker victory.

Primary election

Campaigns are gearing-up fast, because California’s Presidential Primary Election will be held three months earlier this year – on March 3, 2020. Several people have decided to run for California Assembly District 1 seat that was recently won by Megan Dahle.

To let people know about other candidates, the Siskiyou Patriots have invited Dr. Paul Dhanuka to its meeting on Tues., Jan. 14, 2020. Dr. Dhanuka is running as an Independent and has a successful physician’s practice in Redding. His press release states he believes in the constitutional principles that built the United States and appreciates the opportunities that were available to him as an immigrant from India over two decades ago. He is a U.S. citizen.

Those interested in meeting and talking with Dr. Dhanuka are invited to attend the meeting that will be held at the Covenant Chapel Church at 200 Greenhorn Rd. in Yreka. Time is 6:30 p.m.

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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Jan. 2, 2020

Jan. 2, 2020

Liz Writes Life

Happy New Year and I hope we all get used to writing 2020 as soon as possible! Habit is a hard thing to break, especially after 10 years of the 2010s.

1982-1983

Well, I won’t go back as far as I did last week reporting on the 1922 “Orchard and Farm” section of the “San Francisco Examiner,” but when going through a bunch of photos, I found a “Pioneer Press” newspaper dated Jan. 5, 1983. It was owned and published, at the time, by Gary Mortenson, who also founded the paper on Nov. 16, 1972, in Fort Jones, CA.

Unfortunately, only the first, second, ninth and tenth pages were found. The innards were gone. But, this is still a pretty good “blast from the past” with reporter Sue Davenport providing an overview of the previous 12 months.

Etna’s George Thackeray had been elected for his first term as Dist. 5 Supervisor for Siskiyou Co. – our district – and sworn-in on Monday, Jan. 3, 1983 by Superior Court Judge James Kleaver. Roger Zwanzinger was also sworn-in, from Dist. 3, for his first term on the board. Other board members were: The 1983 Chairman Norma Frey, from Tulelake, Dist. 1; Phil Mattos, from Dist. 2; and Vice Chairman, Jim Steinhaus, Dist. 4.

Susan Reather was the newly-elected tax collector-treasurer and Charles Slote was the newly-elected district attorney. Sheriff L.E. “Bud” Taylor had been re-elected as county sheriff.

Nominations were being sought for the 1983 Scott Valley Citizen of the Year, sponsored by Scott Valley Chamber of Commerce. Previous winners included: Rusty Coleman, 1982; Dr. David Wilson, 1981; Gene Selby, 1980; Ernest Hayden, 1979 (a past dist. 5 county supervisor); Dotty Olson, 1978; Burton Booth, 1977; Frederick Bennett, 1976; and Steve Levulett, 1975. A banquet was being planned for the event.

One news article said that business in Scott Valley “may have enjoyed its best business year in history during 1982,” which was in the face of national economic downturn. The Scott Valley communities surpassed $1 million in sales during the second quarter and the summer months showed sales of $997,000, according to stats from state government in Sacramento.

A series of informational meetings were being organized to acquaint the public with the new Forest Land and Resource Management Plan and accompanying environmental impact statement being distributed by the Klamath National Forest. KNF Supervisor, Bob Rice, said, “The public definitely has an important role in this and we’re hoping people will both tell us what they like and do not like about our forest plan.” Parts of the plan were expected to direct the agency for the next 50 years.

Hum, I wonder just how extensively that 1983 plan has been changed over the years? Or, do I want to stay out of that yellow jacket nest!

Buzz Helm was writing his “once over lightly” humorous column written mostly from the view of his Etna Barber Shop. Gotta love Buzz – at least I did! Gail Jenner was writing a weekly column called “The Parents Corner” and Joe “Jose” Pimentel sketched a brand new 1983 cartoon showing the old cowboy and freezing horse about to go through the corral gate. The subtitle explained: -- le’s git the ol’ job done one more time! He did a good job describing Scott Valley through his depictions each week.

Fort Jones still had a high school. I couldn’t recall when Fort Jones and Etna schools combined, but one of the Letters to the Editor was by Cathy Bogue, President of the Fort Jones High School FFA.

In Davenport’s article, she mentioned Scott Valley 4-H and FFA youth won 11 of the top 14 market animals during the 1982 Siskiyou Golden Fair. Yep, that was pretty cool. And we might even have still said the explanation “pretty cool” back then. I don’t remember ‘cuz I’ve never stopped saying it.

The ads are always fun. I remember shopping at the short-lived Food For Less on Fairlane Road in Yreka. Advertisements included: 16 oz. Shedd’s Churn Gold Soft Margarine for 49 cents; a gallon of Clorox Bleach was 99 cents; Del Monte 29 oz. yellow cling Peach Halves were 69 cents. Four rolls of Aurora toilet tissue slated 99 cents; and Miller High Life Beer – 12 pack -- was $3.99. (Don’t think we were charged for the aluminum cans!) It cost 49 cents for ten pounds of potatoes. Five pounds of oranges claimed $1. And Chiquita Bananas were 29 cents per pound. I didn’t see any organic produce!

Real Estate businesses were Norm Malmberg, Century 21, Tankersley-Ballow, Scott Valley Realtys, Stroud Realty and Mt. Shasta Title & Escrow Co. also advertised. There were a variety of listings. One Quartz Valley three bedroom home with pasture, corral, stable and almost four acres was listed for $99,900. Another place that was listed up Shell Gulch had 10-plus acres on level to gentle slope with 10 by 55 foot mobil (that’s the way it was spelled) home, barn, trees, well and septic for $45,000 and less for all cash.

Other tidbits include: Nine days of consecutive snowfall in late March into April and earlier in the winter flooding on Kidder Creek; Etna’s Vernon VanSickle won the All-Around Champion Cowboy at the 35th Annual Pleasure Park Rodeo in May and Scott Valley schools showed continued growth with 1,002 student enrollments in September.

Well, I guess you get the idea about life and prices back in 1982-1983. Yep, things have changed and, then, some haven’t as much. Just gotta take your pick!

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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Dec. 24, 2019

Dec. 24, 2019

Liz Writes Life

This is the last column I will be writing -- this year. Ha, ha, thought you were rid of me, but I plan to continue writing into 2020. A big “thanks” to those who read my column!

I don’t recall ever wondering what I would be doing in the year 2020. Always thought it was a long way off. I do remember wondering about 2000 – if life would be like the 1960s cartoon “The Jetsons.” We do have video phone calling, but we are not yet flying our cars although some people do drive pretty darned fast and most everyone seems to be in a hurry!

So, in wondering what I should write about on this ending-year of a remarkable technological and world-wide-politically-overwhelming decade (unless you consider 2020 the real end of the decade), I found a tabloid-sized “Orchard and Farm” section of “The Sunday San Francisco Examiner” on my shelf. It was dated Dec. 17, 1922. Don’t have the faintest idea where it came from. Nope, no sticky-note with an answer hanging on it. Darn.

Yep, it is quite interesting thinking of life nearly 100 years ago in California. I checked Wikipedia on the internet and found a tidbit about 1922. It was also deep in politics and pointing of fingers. The “Teapot Dome” scandal was a bribery involving the administration of U.S. President Warren G. Harding (R-Ohio) from 1921 to 1923. Secretary of Interior, Albert Bacon Fall, had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and two locations in California to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding. U.S. Senator Thomas J. Walsh (D-Montana) investigated the sensational situation and screamed foul.

After all the dust settled, Interior Secretary Albert Fall was convicted of accepting bribes from the oil companies and was the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison. Interestingly, no one was convicted of paying the bribes. The Teapot Dome scandal was considered the greatest scandal in American politics until Watergate by the Richard Nixon administration in 1972.

I won’t go into our current political raging and House impeachment in WA. D.C. We get enough of that through our multiple sources of news and social media, which was not available in 1922.

I was a bit surprised to find on the front of the “Orchard and Farm,” Miss California standing on a ladder, in a not-sexy dress, in a corn field. The script on the bottom-half of the full-page photo said: Hello Missouri! Come west if you would be shown. Guess, California was already boasting its agriculture industry.

The font size of the print in “Orchard and Farm” was pretty small. Even with reading glasses, I had to read slowly. Overall, I was impressed with how the articles and ads expressed scientific and nutritional advances. Yes, making money with a quality product was the theme.

An ad on the full-back page by Sperry Baby Chick Scratch claimed the importance of saving as many baby chicks as possible with its feed. Losing chicks meant you were losing money.

Actually, poultry was a main feature throughout the newspaper. Mammoth Poultry Ranch “de Luxe” was featured on three pages, including one page with five photos. The farm also grew fruit trees for shade and photos showed cages, a new type of poultry house and flocks in large pens. The business admitted it focused on both show chickens to improve the breeds and the “utility” for egg production. The California White Leghorn breed was featured in several articles and ads.

Persimmons were growing in popularity and an article discussed pollination, varieties and other problems that were still being worked out.

One article discussed, “What Peaches Shall I Plant?” It compared both old and new cling varieties. It states that clings, when canned, possessed quality superior to the freestone variety. But, as one housewife (me), who has canned both – give me freestone any day – just add a bit more sugar or honey!

Grapes and creating new varieties were of major importance. R.B. Holcomb, a Tulare vineyardist, discovered a principle that was expected to revolutionize grape growing. (I couldn’t find the secret principle in the article). One photo showed (difficult to see the water in black and white) “an irrigation scene in the great San Joaquin Valley, where the grape has created millions of dollars in new wealth.” And an elongated purplish-black “lady finger” variety was said to have unusual sweetness. I ate my first one two weeks ago at a Christmas brunch. Huh, took me a long time to try it!

Ghirardelli’s ground chocolate advertised on a quarter-page. Yep, 97 years later, I have a can of Ghirardelli’s on my shelf. A Thomas Orchard and Vineyard Fertilizer Drill was advertised by Dixon, Griswold & Co. Another ad was for “Oronite Shingle Oil” by the Standard Oil Company of California. Kow-Kare was sold in general stores and claimed to increase milk production by the Dairy Association Co. There was a U.S. Army & Navy Goods Store at 213 S. Main St. in Los Angeles selling a number of items, including wool shirts, wool blankets and raincoats. The type font was so tiny, I could hardly read it.

One half-page ad was by Southwest State Bank. It was “now established” at the Los Angeles Union Stock Yards and in position to do a general live stock financing and banking business. “Affiliated with this bank is the SOUTHWEST CATTLE LOAN COMPANY of Los Angeles.” John L. Knorpp was president.

The center double-page feature article was titled: New Stock Yards Create Great Central Market for the Entire Southwest. Photos featured men looking at a group of hogs, a woman showing a Southdown lamb and cattle in feedyards. The first paragraph said it all about this growing industry: The new Union Stockyards, representing an initial investment of $350,000 by the executives of the Chicago Union Stockyards and Transit Company, and associates, opened auspiciously November 1, at Los Angeles with receipts of 77 cars of livestock and with top prices on the opening day of 9 cents for cattle, $13.25 for sheep and $11.50 for hogs. (I believe the 9 cents for cattle was 9 cents per pound as I found an article on the internet that said in July the price averaged 7 cents per pound).

I didn’t discuss the lifestyle of 1922. Most rural folks used outhouses and may not have had running water in the home or electricity for the lone bare light bulb hanging in the kitchen or living room. Yep, 2020 isn’t too bad as far as conveniences and lots of available food goes!

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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Dec. 18, 2019

Dec. 18, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Christmas is coming – fast! All the parties, festivities and get-togethers are great traditions. I just wish I had more energy for them! Ha, ha. Hope you all are having a good time enjoying the season of love and giving. May you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Good News

At the last Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting on Dec. 5, 2019, Ray Haupt, our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, shared positive results from several lawsuits that will affect Siskiyou lands, timber and our economy. Years of frivolous lawsuits by environmental groups have damaged our local and regional economy as well as the environment in Siskiyou County. Most of the time, the county was on the losing-end of these lawsuits, so these two wins are huge. Hopefully, the tide has turned with sensibility and true facts affecting court decisions.

After being elected to our county supervisor position, five years ago, Ray encouraged the county to join the American Foresters Resource Council, so we could partner on a variety of issues. The AFRC gives voice to practical management of healthy forests, public lands and neighboring private lands.

Recently, the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, based in Ashland, Oregon, lost a major lawsuit. The enviro group brought an injunction to stop salvage, clean-up and fuels treatment leftover from the 2016 Gap Fire. This salvage project was by the Klamath National Forest in the Horse Creek community area that was hit hard by the Gap Fire.

AFRC was the lead in fighting the injunction with its attorney Lawson Fite working with outside attorney, Julie Weis, and Siskiyou County’s own attorney, Natalie Reed. Ray praised these attorneys, “who worked really hard” on the case, and was truly “grateful” for this win that was in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Surprisingly, the Ninth Circuit Court totally dismissed the lawsuit. Yep, it did! This is a really good start for USFS to have the ability to clean-up the forests, especially after fires.

Then, another win was enjoyed regarding President Obama’s executive order to expand the Soda Mt. Monument. The AFRC challenged the expansion claiming Obama illegally used the Antiquities Act and abused his executive powers by nullifying the O&C Act. The D.C. Circuit Court ruled the O&C lands must be managed for sustained timber yield, which was the O&C Act’s original purpose.

The ability to harvest green timbers sales and salvage timber sales was greatly diminished by Obama’s nullifying of the O&C Act. Because of the continued reduction of allowable timber harvests, which hurts these counties taxable income, the AFRC reached out to Oregon’s Jackson Co. and Siskiyou Co. to partner on this lawsuit, which they did.

Ray said this decision is a “big deal”, because government agencies must now go back and look at policy created on the spotted owl, which stopped a multitude of timber harvests. Actually, agencies must now evaluate all policies related to Endangered Species Act and listed species.

The case was brought against the executive branch of government and stated Obama’s decision was an over-reach of his power. The court agreed.

This is such good news! Reducing the strangling policies and regulations that have stopped thinning and harvesting our timber lands will be a boon to our economy and the environment.

I have always heard of the O&C Lands, but didn’t understand how they worked, especially because there seemed to be more lands in Oregon than California. So, I looked to the internet and found a good, fairly short explanation.

From Wikipedia –

“The Oregon and California Railroad Revested Lands (commonly known as O&C Lands), are approximately 2,600,000 acres of land located in eighteen counties of western Oregon. Originally granted to the Oregon & California Railroad to build a railroad between Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California, the land was reconveyed to the United States government by act of Congress in 1916 and is currently managed by the United States Bureau of Land Management.

“Since 1916, the 18 counties where the O&C lands are located have received payments from the United States government at 50% share of timber revenue on those lands. Later as compensation for the loss of timber and tax revenue decreased the government added federal revenues. The governments of several of the counties have come to depend upon the O&C land revenue as an important source of income for schools and county services.

“The most recent source of income from the lands, an extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, was last renewed in 2013 but at vastly reduced spending levels, leaving some counties scrambling to find new sources of funding. In late 2013, the United States House of Representatives was considering a bill that would resume the funding and increase timber harvests to provide additional income to the counties.”

So, this win against Obama’s executive order will make more land available for timber harvests, which are greatly needed to fund schools and to reduce the unhealthy, dense forests that must be thinned to protect from devastating wildfire events.

Congressman LaMalfa

Last week, our Dist. 1 Congressman, Doug LaMalfa, praised the completion of bipartisan negotiations on the United States Mexico Canada Agreement. This agreement will replace NAFTA and was delayed for over a year, because of Democrat political concerns and labor union opposition.

LaMalfa said: “Despite a year of partisan delays, news of a final agreement on USMCA is great for America and our citizens. This trade deal will open new markets for our farmers and protect America manufacturing. It sets a new standard for digital and intellectual property that should be the model of all agreements moving forward. I’m happy to see this deal finally come up for vote after a year. It is a credit to President Trump and his negotiating team to have won support for such a far reaching reform of an outdated trade deal. I hope we can pass this rather than focusing on the sideshow of impeachment.”

Because of the bipartisan aspects of this final agreement, hopefully both Houses of Congress will pass USMCA immediately. We shall see!

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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