Jenner Jottings by Tim McKusick - June 2017

A cluster of giant purple and white Iris’ stand noble and tall a few feet from Seaview Road. These elegant beauties once graced the garden gate of the (now demolished) historic family home of

A beautiful but sad reminder of what once was.

The home at one time had served as the stage coach stop for the coastal ridge town of Seaview. This last remaining link to the rich history of the area was scraped clean; erased forever by boutique vineyard owners Peter Michael Vineyards.

As the big wineries are once again on a buying spree in our region, we must remain ever vigilant to protect what few threads to our past remain.

I was fortunate to grow up in small town Santa Rosa during the innocent 50’s. The Carrillo Adobe, Santa Rosa Creek and the surrounding orchards were our playground. Arrowheads and Native American artifacts were commonly found after the farmers tilled the soils.

My brother and I delivered the Press Democrat in the Montgomery Village area. Our dad had acquired an old Montgomery Wards delivery bike for our routes. It had a small front tire and a big basket on the front over the small tire. We could easily pack 100+ of the PD’s in at one time.

One day my brother came home a little late from his route. He had a human skull and some bones in the basket! He had been fooling around down at the creek by the Adobe where the bank was eroding away and found these bones. They looked very old and had some connection to the historic building.

Dad called a member of our church; a professor who belonged to the Sierra Club, to help. I remember sitting in our living room as he examined the skull.

After closely studying it, he concluded that it was a female Pomo, around 30 years old. And that she was a basket weaver! I was amazed that he could tell so much from this ancient skull. When I asked him how he knew she was a basket weaver, he pointed out the small square grooves in the rear molars. Evidently, basket weavers would pull the Sedge through their teeth to soften and flatten it out, making the native grasses easier to work with. This was fascinating. It forever changed how I looked at my hometown and County.

To think that the Adobe property, the location of the very first structure in what would become the town of Santa Rosa, is threatened to be lost to developers is deeply saddening.

I feel the same way when I see our historic rural ranches denuded of their native Oaks and Redwoods, and the land reconfigured by giant earth movers to make way for the seemingly endless wave of vineyards that are overtaking our bucolic hills and valleys.

That is exactly what is happening right now. This recent buying spree where the mega-wineries are buying up more of the established wineries is spurring a rush to expand existing vineyards and develop and convert yet more of our scenic landscape.

Our historic identity, our deep-rooted sense of place is being lost in this ‘vine-stampede’. I have to commend our County for having the (recent) foresight to preserve many of our coastal ranches and homesteads.

Imposing a small sales tax on locally purchased goods is a smart way to subsidize the venture.

This act of preserving enriches all of us; both visitors and residents. To say nothing of the environmental benefits of protecting previously over- logged and mined properties, and allowing them to heal. With our inland and ocean fisheries at a breakpoint, and a bleak future in store for our native species, we must not let up in our efforts to protect whatever critical habitat we can.

One such property just came on the market on our northerly County line in the Gualala River Estuary. Adjacent to our County Park, I would encourage our Parks to seriously consider a purchase, even though technically the property is in Mendocino County.

The spawning fish that return to the river don’t care about county lines. Neither should we.