Gratitude rains down in Occidental
Greetings everybody, I hope y’all made it through the big storm relatively unscathed. I had to clear one tree from blocking my road, and am currently typing this to the steady thrum of my generator in the background. It was actually quite fun to get all geared up for a neighborhood benefit purpose, and yes I did stomp in a couple of puddles (small ponds almost) while I was out there. I am grateful to think that this year’s fire season is behind us, and hopeful that we have plenty more rain in our near future. While we can all breathe a momentary sigh of relief, please continue to conserve water and prepare for fire because quite literally our lives may depend on it as we trod on into the unknowns of climate changed.
I am currently feeling gratitude for the way that old friends can so quickly ease back into a comfortable place of being together. I am grateful for people’s good ideas and follow through leading to the creation of new events that will benefit our community. I am filled with gratitude for so many things, so many people, so much beauty surrounding us every day.
I had the great pleasure of being a guest on local resident Laura Goldman’s radio program Laura’s Living Room on KOWS 92.5fm last Friday. Her program is a wonderful mix of music, local news and interviews with community members. It is on every Friday from 5-7 p.m. You can catch her show and so many more offerings on your radio or stream it through their website at www.kows92-5.org. They also archive their shows so you can catch up on anything you may have missed at a later date.
In regard to the Occidental Library branch, I neglected to mention that they are also open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. I went in the other day to pick up a book and was prompted by the friendly and helpful librarian to grab a nice packet of coloring and crafts for kids with a fall/Halloween theme that was put together by the Sonoma County Library.
Sticking with the library theme, I recently met John and Pauline Loades who are responsible for constructing and curating the Little Free Library outside of the Post Office. Thank you so much to the Loades’ for doing this, I have definitely snagged a few items from there. I was equally surprised to find out that the library is approaching its two-year anniversary and that I believe I have neglected to mention it at any time previously. Check it out, get your mail and get a book – or leave one. Just please don’t leave anything inappropriate as this library is accessible to all ages.
Do you know about the interpretive sign at the picnic area in front of Howards? Well, check it out as there’s a really interesting new addition with one side of the board being dedicated to the history of fire in and around Occidental. Many thanks to the townsfolk who put this together.
Did you notice that the emergency trailer disappeared from the Community Center parking lot? Unfortunately this is because it was stolen. The trailer was recovered but sustained some damage and the majority of the contents had been taken. I believe it will be refurbished, replenished and returned. I imagine this time around with a beefier set of security features to make sure it stays put. It is a reminder to all to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior, it takes all the neighbors watching the neighborhood to keep it safe.
We at the Occidental Community Council are gearing up to host our annual Holiday Craft Faire on Dec. 11 and 12. There are still a few booth spaces available if anyone you know might want to participate as a vendor. We primarily have outdoor spaces available currently which are only $75 for the weekend. Obviously the weather in December can be just about anything, but you’ve still got plenty of time to plan what your tent set up will look like. There are a couple of booths available indoors as well. If interested go to our website at www.occidental-ca.org and click on the craft faire link to get more information and an application.
Download the application here:
I am grateful that you made it to the end of this column and that I was able to write it for your reading pleasure (I hope). See you next time. In gratitude, Eugene (Gino) Gaffney IV
