Bodega Bay Beat by Joan Poulos - March 2019
It was a dark and stormy day and even the newspaper can’t get thru. Many of the roads are closed, and meetings have been cancelled. Watching the flood waters under the bridge in Bodega makes one realize how tentative our security is. We are grateful to all those who work to assure our safety; floods and all.
Nevertheless, the Show must go on. Hopefully you have bought your tickets forCabaret. It will be its usual delightful show and enhanced by the sad news that this will be the last one. This is a delightful way to spend an evening with your friends and neighbors. Kudos to Mike and Diana Bundy for their work and efforts to put together such a pleasant evening. Each year they put together a delightful comedy, based at least partially on a spoof of local activities. Everyone who participates is a good sport and we appreciate their willingness to be an object of humor for the community.
There are serious issues before the community now. Some of the various groups, along with Efren Carillo, are planning a community-wide race—along Highway One. Many of the locals are opposed, especially those who have a business location along Highway One and who fear that their customers won’t be able to get into the shop, store or restaurant. Some of the success will depend upon the weather.
Many citizens showed up for the meeting at the firehouse about what to do WHEN THE BIG ONE COMES. The attending people listened with great attentiveness. After all, we DO live right on a fault. We are grateful to those in the community who continue to urge us to take safety measures and who take seriously the possibility of a major calamity.
We hope any agency that posts a warning is not like PG&E who posts a sign saying The Road Is Closed, and a telephone number that doesn’t answer. Their handout says that if the work is re-scheduled contact the number for planned outages (1-800-660-6789). The only problem is that NO ONE ANSWERS THAT NUMBER. When you live on a small road like Whaleship Road, it is not easy to plan for a total lack of access. They say the work will be 9 to 4 — but we have no confidence we can go to the store or the post office even after 4 p.m. Once before they warned us, and then cancelled the pole-replacement, and didn’t tell the residents all restraints were removed. Big utilities are like other big businesses. They need to communicate with those who are inconvenienced no matter how worthy the repair/renewal project.
It is great living out here by the ocean, but sometimes it gets frustrating. We try hard to follow all directions, but sometimes even credit cards make it hard. When the television ads for Capitol One suffuse the basketball games, it is frustrating to try to contact them. When I did, they gave no instructions for the use of the checking account, but unilaterally cancelled the account after I wrote eight checks. When I called, they said their checking accounts only allow a few checks per month (and that they don’t inform the account holder.) I just couldn’t help it — but I terminated the conversation with “Well, I know what’s NOT in my wallet.”
We are lucky to have some wildlife out here. We often hear the seals; neighbors have heard coyotes. We have resident deer (a doe who hasn’t convinced her fawn that cars are to be avoided, not examined.) More than once a half-grown yearling has tried to outrun my car even though I honk my warning and they seem oblivious.
There is very little boat traffic. Very few horns; just a channel warning. There are few ground birds, like quail, but the hummingbirds make up for it. A few minutes ago I witnessed a multi-minute airborne battle between two hummingbirds (one with the most beautiful red head; the other green). The apparently female (not as beautiful) sat there with a straw in her mouth, safely perched up watching the conflict between the two males for the recently-filled feeder. They nearly emptied one feeder; and then flew away, leaving the last one untouched.
The clouds are lined with sunlight. Apparently the deluge is over. We do need the rain; but it is lovely to see the sunset.
Enjoy this beautiful place. Enjoy the gifted residents that work so hard for Fish Fest (which Is coming up May 4 and 5th) the Grange Crab Cioppino and the enjoyable Cabaret. Hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day.
Now it is time to start work on Fish Fest (May 4-5) another community-wide project. It will undoubtedly be a success and people truly enjoy seeing their fellow citizens in a new light. The fried fish are delicious.
These are the kinds of events that provide the funds for the entire community for the rest of the year. The Fish Fest, which is coming up, is an example of a community-wide effort to provide the funds required to keep all the various activities funded. Each group is asked to designate their unmet needs. Then the committee decides how to allocate the funds obtained from the festivities.
