Odd Bits and Pieces

This will kind of like making a stew. You take the odd bits and pieces of what's going on and combine them into a life at this time.

--Recently our community had a young man die of cancer. He has battled for over three years. What was amazing was during halftime the opposing school took time during their homecoming festivities to have a moment of silence for this student. Sometimes schools do get things right and remember what is important.

--The farmer's market seems to be slowing down for the year. The market we help at is year round, but there are seasons. With the recent baloney from the dealer backing out, our friends are plugging along. They have started a new CSA box program and it is growing slowly. Let's hope it takes off very soon.

--We purchased some more solar products yesterday that will help us have options. Goal Zero is the company we are using. They have a plug and use system of panels, inverter/battery and accessories that allow for expansion and versatility. We were looking for a system to camp with and also use in a grid down situation. Mostly we had many questions concerning how to utilize the panels we currently own into the system we can use. We ended up buying some larger panels and a generator/battery to convert the panel generated electricity into usable electricity. We hope to use it later this month.

--Fall baseball has started and we're off too a roaring start. Seniors acting arrogant, freshman acting scared and everyone else trying to learn. As with every year we lost some players and gained some, but it's the one that have been with us for a few years that will determine how we do.

--On another baseball related topic, I am a league rep. That means I go to one or two meetings a year and meet with reps from the other leagues in our section and discuss news and give input on policy. Our proposals and suggestions are voted on by the administrators and CIF people and this becomes the rules we operate under for the next year. We had a meeting this past week and like many of these I walked out feeling like my input will be ignored and I just spent 2 1/2 hours of my life that I will never get back.

--For a person that was known in town for riding his bike everywhere, I sure am driving a car much more than riding now in my new life. Feels weird.

--I have never been a Yankees fan, but have liked a core group of their players: Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter. All baseball fans have to like how Jeter played his last game in Yankee Stadium. Too cool.

--Recently traveling on Amtrak two things happened that I hadn't experience before. The train was delayed at a station when it ws announced n the overcom, "Conductor to cafe car immediately."  About 3 minutes late,the same message was announced. The second one made me think. Eventually we were underway but just before the next stop it was announced the we would have a longer stop at the next station and we were met by a sheriff's car when we arrived.  I guess someone didn't like their ginger ale. Later we stopped at a station and some passengers got off for a smoke. I was anxious to get moving so I started observing the smokers. I thought it nice of three young men to share their smoke so as not to waste cigarettes. They I figured out it wasn't tobacco they were smoking. Nothing new under the sun came to mind.

With that, I'm off to spend another day on this spinning globe.

Taxes on the Farmer, & Soup

One of the blessings that fell into our lap this summer is working for Barba Family Farms helping them sell at the local farmer's market. For me it's great to retell some old Teacher Jokes to kids, sell produce and help some farmer friends. We've got to peek into another side of agriculture and learn. We've also learned some things that aren't so pleasant also.

The Barba's lost one of their wells to the drought and pumping like many around here.  Water is huge in the Central Valley, and when politicians negotiate to send water downstream for fish instead of for drinking water and farms you know you're in trouble. And the good governor just signed a bill into law that will regulate groundwater in the state. I can here Ry Cooder's, "Taxes on the Farmer" playing in the background.

On top of that the Barba's planted and were selling produce to a local CSA organization that promotes itself as a local family farm producing CSA. The CSA told them they would buy their produce, but then reneged at the beginning of September. The produce the Barba's planted, based upon the CSA saying they would buy it, is now unpicked in the field.

The good news is the Barba's are starting their own version  of a CSA.

Good for them! We definitely want this to work.

On another note, Soup died this morning. Soup was our almost 4 year old turkey. Soup, and her partner Dinner, were part of our gateway into suburban farming. Years ago we had been growing vegetables and fruits and had some laying hens in the backyard. When the second flock of chickens needed to be purchased, two turkeys came home with them. Dinner and Soup were raised, and Dinner met his fate for Thanksgiving one year. That has been documented before.

Soup, which didn't have a name at the time, was spared because Dinner was 40 pounds dressed out. With that much turkey it took us a while to eat through the rest. Soup became the protector of the hen flock, and eventually a friend. Each morning she chortled her "Good Day" to whomever was feeding the flock. Eventually she was named because after a few years she would have been too tough to eat any other way than in a soup or stock. Then she was going to be made into sausage. Then the story was Dad could never do anything to Soup, so she would live out her days protecting the hens. Dad, me, still had plans for sausage. Alas, Soup had other plans. 

Soup was good for me. It is alright to be friends with you animals, and still harvest them.  It will be hard though. Turkeys are good farmyard birds, and city birds also. They aren't too loud like a rooster, and fit in nicely with chickens. Some at Cal Poly have documented that turkey manure is helpful for the prevention of chicken diseases. Don't know, but Soup was a good family member. She was protective of the hens and wasn't afraid to peck dog or human in protecting the Girls. She will be missed.

One Last Strike, A Book Review

 

Up front I'll say I am a Tony L Russa fan. As a baseball coach I fell in like with him after reading George Will's book, Men at Work. Many times I like to think too much over small details, and baseball gives so many small details to think about. La Russa seems to be the same type of coach. I am nowhere in the same league as La Russa, but I try to learn something every time I read abut him.

One More Strike by La Russa with Rick Hummel is about La Russa's last season managing the St. Louis Cardinals. He had decided to retire mid season, but kept it a secret. Part of the book is about the process he went through to make that decision. It is rare that coaches are given that opportunity and I was curious how that decision evolved.

The unique addition to this is that the Cardinals were down 10 games late in the season and eventually won the World Series. To have an inside version of the story was fascinating, and something I enjoyed reading as a coach. Each season is different for a team and the Cardinals and La Russa proved this in 2011.

The defining of the imperatives La Russa demands of his players and the methods to personalize them with each player was impressive. It was a show of why good coaches are good and being just a bit off is all it takes to finish below first.

Baseball fans will enjoy this book and coaehes will learn from it.

Ecclesiastes 3 & Home Projects

I was reading one of my daily blog reads, chismheritagefarm.com, and a thought hit me about teaching. The author of the blog was talking about getting up and working on his farm, then going to work fixing computers, then coming home to do more farm work.

As  teacher, I rarely had the luxury of leaving work physically and mentally also. Maybe it was me only, but even at home I had a stack of papers hanging over my head that needed grading. Or a pile of wood that needed to be cut for student projects. Maybe that was the curse of being an English teacher. I'm sure that I've had this thought before, but it hit me differently today.

We are in the midst of some household projects. Actually there is a list of projects to finish. They are the leftovers of jobs that I had put off because of lack of time while teaching. Certainly coaching baseball added to the list. January to June is the dead zone of getting projects completed around here because I am gone dawn to dusk chasing the white ball. We would carve out some time to plant the garden or maybe fix something that couldn't wait. Usually the task was added to the list.

One of the benefits of re-jobbing, down sizing your income while leaving one job to find another, is I now have time to complete some of these projects. As well as work on some of the dream projects that one never seems to get accomplished, like setting up a shop.

As wonderful as this might seem, I still ponder one thing. How come I'm not doing more?

Napa Area Earthquake

It's been said that a wise person looks at the news and media coverage of an event with a cautious eye. We don't often get to see an experience or crisis firsthand. It seems these days that news media want a quick and simple explanation, and complementary to that we as citizens want the "quick and dirty" version of these affairs. This last week I had the chance to see why caution is a good trait to have when making judgments about many things.

After hearing of the recent Napa area earthquake and talking with family there, I visited for a few days to see if I might help some. I saw part of the damage and what I saw on the TV and internet didn't prepare me for what I saw. As with many natural disasters, the logic of why one building is hit and the one next door stands unharmed is missing. I do know it will take time to rebuild and the area will have a "do-over" in how it rebuilds. What will become the priority and how will the area look afterwards? Will Napa become more of a boutique destination spot, or maintain its agricultural tourism region feel?

At few things did happen that made me scratch my head. A San Francisco TV newscaster while looking at a picture of grapes on the ground between vineyard rows said something to the effect that the earthquake was so strong it shook the grapes off the vine.

 No. The grapes were on the ground as they were thinned, picked off the vine to improve the remaining grape clusters. What is bothersome is that many people are out of touch about how our food is produced, and don't take the time to learn more. I admit to not knowing many things, but I hope I wouldn't tell others on TV about those things.

Another perception is that Napa Valley is full of millionaires and they can handle a few lost barrels of wine.  Or at the least they have insurance to cover to damage. That may be true for some, but the majority of people, including non wine makers, earthquake insurance is too expensive and deductibles make them even more expensive. Remember insurance companies are in business to make money, not protect us. The stories I heard were more on the line of people uncovering themselves from piles of wine barrels and boxes of bottles with the help of their friends. The houses that weren't shook to the ground, but had objects fall from the wall or shelves. Of doors and windows that won't open or close fully. Businesses downtown that could open but were shuttered because the business next door hadn't done their seismic retrofitting and might fall. So who is hurt the most?

The workers that make the wineries run. The cooks and servers that bring us our restaurant food. The common man and woman that are trying to house and feed their families. Fortunately it seemed that much of the area is still up and running. The lines of cars and trucks on Highway 29 were still long, but they included winery trucks delivering part of the harvest. Life goes on and that is good.