Occidental Oriented by Gino Gaffney - July 2018

Hello Gazette readers.By the time this issue hits the newsstands it is officially summer, yay! I want to send a shout-out to all the Dub’s fans out there—Let’s Go Warriors! Three titles in four years, pretty amazing stuff, especially when you consider how many years of futility we had to suffer through prior to the run we’re on.

Speaking of summer the annualOccidental Fire Department Barbecue is coming up on Sunday July 16th from 12-6 at theUnion Hotel grove just north of town on Bohemian Highway. I always enjoy attending this event, the BBQ is great, it’s fun to see friends and neighbors out and about, and the cold (reasonably priced) beer and live music never disappoint. A favorite of the day for me is the dessert table, there’s so many different wonderful options to choose from. Do you want pie or coffee cake? Cobbler or cupcake? They have got it all.

It’s currently the middle of June, I’m writing for July and reflecting on an event that happened in late May which already feels like a long time ago. The time-line of column writing still trips me out and the time keeps on flying by.

The event I’m speaking of is the Climate Ride California that I participated in. I know most of you probably don’t care much to hear about it, but I imagine a few are interested and perhaps I can even inspire someone to sign up for a future ride or hike themselves. Besides, as a volunteer columnist I get to write about what’s important to me, so here goes.

The ride was amazing!Super hard physically and mentally to ride 60 plus miles 5 days in a row but so worth it. The scenery was spectacular and the people involved were wonderful. My hardest day was riding from Duncans Mills to Olema, on a cold, windy and drizzly day. My body ached all over from the 3 plus days of riding, my mind had drifted away from the ride as we were so close to home and all its distractions, and I was wet and miserable. When we pulled into Tomales I thought I was going to quit and take the sag wagon for the final 20 miles into camp. Instead I was encouraged by other riders to continue and hooked up with a couple ladies that set a great pace, had some cool tunes playing from a speaker on one of their bikes and really helped me get through the difficulty I was having. By the time we pulled into Hog Island for oysters and beer my attitude had completely changed and my brain willed my body on to the end.

I think it is a wonderful and important thing for us humans to push ourselves physically and mentally. Get out of your comfort zone, meet new people, see new sights and so on. You will be rewarded in so many ways. On top of the beauty, endurance and new relationships forged, our collective of 120 riders managed to raise close to $400,000 for numerous worthy causes. The folks who put on the ride were very supportive in every way imaginable.

Check out www.climateride.org for more information on their organization and all the outings they offer. Some other rides that have piqued my interest are the San Juan islands of Washington or Glacier National Park, though there are many others and they all sound very cool.

In regards to being a volunteer columnistand having the freedom to choose the content I would be happy to have input and/or help in writing this column. Please feel free to let me know of any event, idea or local info that you deem newsworthy and I will consider including it in a future article. As well, if anyone would like to be a guest writer of the column for a month I would welcome another persons view of town.

In my local business profile of the monthI would like to shine the spotlight onHinterland Empire which they advertise as apparel for the feral. I love everything about this shop, the people and the goods they are offering! They are locally owned, American made and offer recycled and organic options. It is primarily a clothing store, but there’s also jewelry, cards, stickers and I’m sure some other cool stuff I didn’t notice. They are currently open Fri – Mon from 10-5. They have clothing options for women, men and babies. Even if you aren’t looking to purchase you should stop by just to see the wonderfully original designs they have created, I guarantee they will make you think, smile, even laugh.