Rachel versus Kitty

I returned to Concow late last night. Took a vigorous walk with our new dog this morning. Yes, a new dog. And our last new dog (if I ever get my way around here).

The fuzzy one above (the other one is a neighbor dog that tags along for our walks) showed up at our house last week. She then proceeded to adopt us, and the dog's owner didn't really want to have the dog---this led to the normal pleading, whining and promises to "do absolutely everything for the dog" by the girls.

And so we have a new member of the household. I am an invertebrate. No backbone. I caved like a prom date.

Kylie wants to call the dog "Kitty". I've been calling the little rascal "Little One" and "Rachel" (after Rachel Carson). This dog has had a life thus far full of transitions, a fair amount of neglect and has had two names: "Rose" and "Stinky". in its short six month life. In the Redneck Culture of Concow, dogs are rarely looked after. And they are rarely spayed, leading to an explosion of dogs on this ridge.

We will spay the new dog and give her a home. The pup is learning the rules around here after having lived a rather uncultured doggy life. She is learning the Thou Shalt Nots from Abbey and Angel like sitting and waiting patiently for "second supper", the art of "staying by" on a walk and the fact that the inside of the house is not a toilet. She is catching on quickly.

And this new dog knows that she has it good: that's why she adopted us.

In the Napa Valley

It is late at night and I've finished a shift at work. Been awhile since I've updated this thing. How are things? you might ask.

Just fine.

I've been sick with a nasty bug I caught (oh the perils of being an RN). This gave me time to finish a couple of books. One, a book of essays by Barbara Kingsolver; another book by a local Chico author on Climate Change; and the newest one by the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. So I guess that makes my book total of five for the year. Just ninety five more to go. Click on the links and look for my review of these books.

And what has changed over the last couple of weeks? Well, good ole' Wally Herger isn't seeking re-election. That has sent all of northern California into a tizzy as the Republican Junta that runs things around here conspires to figure out who will replace him. This changes one of my New Year's Resolutions, as Dan Logue has decided to run in another District.

And a wild Wolf is close to our home. For the first time in 88 years, a single Gray Wolf has returned to California. May many more join him.

A Pause in the Action...

Sorry about that. I've been ill. Hope to be back at it soon...

Wells Fargo Envy

Yesterday a coyote took another chicken. I watched the big black coyote that we call "Bruno" run off with the poor deceased chicken dangling in its mouth.

The coyotes seem to show up around 10 am. We seem to lose the chickens between 10 am and 1 pm. Today I looked out the window at 10 am and saw a different coyote stalking "Flopsy". I ran outside, yelling and screaming like a crazed psychiatric nurse, and scared him away. This coyote was more traditional in coloring and appearance. But he is still huge. Joni thinks that "Bruno" is a coyote/dog cross. A Dogote.

Another sunny warm day here in the Foothills. I continue in my sloth like behavior, using the excuse that I'm trying to kick this cold. Which means I've finished Book Number 2 for the year: Stagecoach: Wells Fargo and the American West by Philip Fradkin.

Fradkin wrote a book on California (The Seven States of California) that I really liked, and, as is my custom, when I run across a writer I enjoy, I tend to read my way through most of their catalogue.

Stagecoach: Wells Fargo and the American West is a look at the 150 year history of Wells Fargo (the bank and the once upon a time shipper and transportation provider). This book came out eight years before the bank bailouts of 2008. Wells Fargo was one of the banks that took money in 2008/2009. They received, at least, 25 billion dollars.

Fradkin is quite friendly towards the company in this book. In fact, it reads much like Wells Fargo commissioned the thing. Yes, there is some interesting history here; especially the parts about what it was like to travel the US by stagecoach in the 1860's. And yes, Wells Fargo did transform nutrition in the United States by figuring out how to ship fruits and vegetables in a refrigerated rail car (they used ice) thus improving the lives of millions of Americans.

But I was surprised at just how fawning Fradkin could be towards this company. I expected to read something that was a bit more critical, a bit more daring, a bit more biting. But Fradkin seems to be in love with Wells Fargo. It is almost as shocking as when Chris Hitchens fell in love with George W. Bush. You don't expect this sort of ass kissing of power from decent writers.

As such, this book could very easily grace the bookshelf in the CEO's office of Wells Fargo. I expected something more from Fradkin. Oh well, I'll give him another chance to redeem himself. Maybe Fradkin needed some quick cash and writing a laudatory history of a bank filled the coffers in time for Christmas. We all have our price.

And so I will forgive Fradkin and give him another chance.

American Nomads...

Took a walk through the woods with the dogs today. Nursing the very beginning stages of a cold and hoping it doesn't develop into the real thing. Since one of my New Year's Resolutions is to "Take my vitamins", how curious that now that I'm religiously taking the things---I get sick.

And I finished my First Book of the New Year (another New Year's Resolutions to read 100 books). This book I picked up by accident, as it was on sale for one dollar at the library. American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboys, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers and Bullriders. The author is a Brit (Richard Grant) who has discovered the beauty and wonders of  the American Southwest. The book came out in 2004, but the book is in no way dated because of that.

This was the author's first book and it was enough of a success that he has gone on to write two other travel books. His books take effort because they are all semi-autobiographical/journalistic pieces that require a certain amount of endeavor. In this one, he travels with a myriad of American Nomads.

This is a fun book to read but didn't resonate with me. The people that he profiles I didn't find particularly attractive. I can interview the same sorts of folks by just going to my job. The historical squetches are good, especially the segment on Joseph Walker, who took a trip across the US in 1833.

One of the more comical elements of the book is when the author describes to a European audience why one of his protagonists couldn't get a $30,000  surgery. Europeans have no clue as to just how inegalitarian our health care system is.

Richard Grant lived in Tucson and you can see, towards the end, just how much he borrows from Ed Abbey (non-cited). He even takes a hike to one of the same desert Tinajas (watering holes) that Abbey visited in one of his essays. In this passage he states of Ed Abbey: "There have been some valiant attempts, Ed Abbey on the American Southwest...---but the literature of deserts is essentially a failure". Rubbish! To countermand this ridiculous comment, all I need do is refer the reader to "Desert Solitaire".

Edward Abbbey doesn't make it into Grant's "Selected Bibliography". Neither does Joseph Wood Krutch. This is nearly unforgivable in a book about the American Southwest.

Lazy Boy

After a wild and woolly run at work, I arrived home in the wee hours of the morning. Awoke this morning to a scratchy throat. Joni declared that I should have a "Lazy Boy" day: a day spent in my recliner. I had to oblige.

I did take a few minutes to enjoy the sixty plus degree weather we are having. And I'm about to finish my first book of the year.

And Rick Santorum came within eight votes of winning Iowa. Will this be his high water mark? Something he will look back on in his old age wondering "What if?". Will this lead to him getting a television show on Fox? Will he now be able to go on the lecture circuit garnering thousands of dollars for every speech (ala Sarah Palin)?

Back to my chair!

Iowa and Rick Santorum

Still in the Napa Valley. The best way to get some sleep is to leave the television on in my room. The white noise blocks out the steady stream of health professionals who lumber past my room early in the morning on their way to saving lives or sorting out charts and bills and graphs. Of course, this means my sleepy self gets a full night's barrage of television news on CNN.

And so a walk before work with CNN's topic of Iowa on my brain.

Iowa is a good corn fed state. A good solid Midwestern state without the beer that Wisconsin has to offer, nor the fishing and lakes that Minnesota has to offer. Take a good Midwestern state and remove absolutely everything that is fun about it and you end up with Iowa. That means that some insufferably boring people will be choosing the Republicans nominee tomorrow.

Hence the rise in the polls of someone who really should not be allowed to be a dog catcher let alone a President: Rick Santorum. He is the perfect squeaky clean boring person's candidate. This guy has that pasty white look about him that oozes absolutely no familiarity with the more shadow side of a person's psyche. Santorum lives in a world where being gay is a choice and being against government programs for the poor is a Christian thing to do. Christian Evangelicals dig that sort of rot.

It is only in Iowa that a person like Santorum would get anyone excited. When Iowa gave Mike Huckabee the win in 2008, Huckabee, at least, had a couple of redeeming qualities: he could play the bass and he once pardoned Keith Richards. Santorum has none of that. What Santorum does have is a "gee whiz" work ethic and an honest appeal to those who live in little pink houses and go to the local non-denominational, Denominational church. He will be the candidate of those who think the world was made 6,000 years ago. He will be the candidate of those who think Obama is a secret Muslim. He is the white evangelical candidate---and it looks like he will do very well tomorrow.

If Santorum wins tomorrow, the ultra-right, non-Ron Paul fringe will have their candidate. And that will be very interesting.

Creosote and Wolves

I love California. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize that I actually ended up here. How that happened is an accident of history; I'm thankful for such accidents.

I got up this morning and spent some time wandering around outside in the sun (dragging just a tad from the Domaine Chandon champagne), thinking about how I ended up in this State. And the things I love about it. On this first day of 2012, I guess it is normal and natural to have a certain amount of enthusiasm for where we are, who we are and what we plan to do. Resolutions.

California is infinitely interesting. Did you know that California boasts one of the oldest living organisms on earth? And no it isn't the Bristlecone pine. The oldest living thing in California is the lowly King Clone Creosote bush. It resides in the Mojave desert and has been radiocarbon dated to 11,700 years of age. That's a long time to be hanging around. It isn't an attractive plant by any means. Just a very, very common bush that can tolerate drought quite well.

And speaking of drought, December was one of the driest California has ever had. Most places in California list December as either the driest, or the second driest, on record. The snow resorts in Tahoe haven't seen this small of a snow pack (none) since 1883. With no rain in the forecast for the next week, folks are starting to get a bit concerned. It doesn't take long for all those reservoirs to be emptied.

And a bit of good news. The first wolf in 88 years has migrated into California. He is a wandering male from the Oregon pack. This sort of immigration should be encouraged.

Be It Resolved

I write this in my room in the Monastic Dorm here in the Napa Valley. I've finished a shift; afterwards I went down to the Safeway and bought a bottle of Chandon Champagne Blanc De Noirs (not bad) and am celebrating the beginning of 2012---the last year on the Mayan Calendar.

Not that I believe that this is the last year for this big beautiful creation.

I am alone in this here room. Just me and the bottle of champagne. And my lap top. Two glasses down. A half hour until 2012 starts.

Time to work on resolutions. In 2012, I resolve to:

1. Get outside everyday and spend at least 1/2 hour doing something active.
2. Figure out a way to lower my carbon footprint (not drive so darned much).
3. Slow down while driving.
4. Write a book review on Amazon for every book I read.
5. Attempt to see a California Condor.
6. Go camping more.
7. Spend 21 days on the Pacific Crest Trail.
8. Learn more of the history of this splendid part of the world I live in.
9. Read 100 books.
10. Write more.
11. Work hard to un-elect Dan Logue and Wally Herger.
12. Finish this house.
13. Get a physical.
14. Get blood work done for a lipid panel and an A1C.
15. Take my vitamins.
16. Plant Fruit Trees.
17. Plant a real garden.
18. Build a coyote proof chicken coop.
19. Eat better.
20. Not eat at a Fast Food Restaurant (except to get a hot chocolate at McDonald's in order to use their free WiFi).
21. Work to live rather than live to work (I think I've got this one down).
22. Go to the ocean at least three times.
23. Visit more State Parks.
24. Build a fish pond.
25. Enjoy the year--even the things I don't like.
26. Depending upon the blood work listed in item number 14--work to reduce those numbers (cause I know they are gonna suck).
27. Add new goals as the year progresses.
28. Eat only organic and happy meat (nothing from a factory farm).
29. Be curious.
30. Learn to identify more trees, birds and flowers.
31. Build a small, private fenced area for the dogs, chickens and humans to hang out in.
32. Not be greedy.
33. Work for a Green Revolution that will promote wild space, egalitarian values, lower CO2, increase renewable energy, promote real conservative values and make sure that all non-human species also have an opportunity to pursue happiness (that includes the coyotes that share this ridge).

I think that's about enough for now. Happy New Year!

A Response to Dr. Weil...

A review of Dr. Andrew Weil's: Spontaneous Happiness


I always enjoy Dr. Weil. I've heard him speak and have had some contact with the Integrative Program that seems to be his legacy. All of this is real, compassionate and makes sense. I also am a Registered Nurse and have been working in the Mental Health field for twenty years.

I found his chapter on the prevalence (and causes of) depression within our society interesting. I especially resonate with his descriptions of the lack of connection to good old fashioned "hard work" and being outside. Bravo! His discussion of alternatives is good. Especially his advocacy of the use of Fish Oil, Vitamin D and the B vitamins. Common sense!

There are a few things that bother me about Dr. Weil. I write these things as a fan of the man. A person who respects him and the work he does.

1. I'm not too enamored with the cult of personality surrounding the guy. Yes, I know that branding helps sell books. But does he really have to display his cherubic, monster bearded face on every book he writes? And must he really have a corporation attached to his name and his ideology?

2. Footnotes please! Yes, he states you can go on-line to get more information. And there is a short end note section. The bibliography is quite deficient for further reading. The book is written for a lay audience, but that doesn't mean that we can't have a bit more intellectual rigor attached to his claims.

3. Culturally, this book comes from the White, Enviro, Suburban, BMW driving class. The book is written from, and for, the upper ends of the socio-economic ladder. Poverty is the number one predictor and cause of mental illness. There is no discussion of that in this book, with the exception to maybe glorify the hard life we used to have when we all farmed.

4. He relies too much on anecdotal evidence. I found all the letters to him tireseome. And it seemed like these letters were written from the same sorts of people that I talked about in my critique above.

5. Where are the nurses? Dr. Weil doesn't mention one nurse as an expert through out his entire book. The fact is that nursing has been way ahead of even Dr. Weil in their advocacy of the reforms he mentions. In fact, nurses have been quicker to adopt such reforms than the AMA. The Wholistic Nurses Association has been around for 35 years. Nurses have re-invented the therapeutic touch movement---with no mention of that from Dr. Weil. Dr. Weil quotes pharmacists, MD's, LCSW's, psychologists, psychiatrists---but never does he mention a nurse who is an expert. He does cite one nurse who had retired to Sweden. This letter was written not as an expert, but as a client. In short, there is a hierarchical chauvinism present in Dr. Weil's writing that discounts the talents and skills of nurses. This is a systemic problem within the health care establishment. My rule of thumb is, if you really want to know what is going on with your patient, ask an experienced nurse who is taking care of the client. You'll get better and more useful information.

6. Dr. Weil's view of anti-depressants is contradictory. He cites a study that states that SSRI's are junk; later in the book he cites evidence that people should not go off of anti-depressants. He seems to think that anti-depressants should only be used for severe depression. My view is that anti-depressants are helpful, but should be used in tandem with all the things he talks about---and even more.

But my number one critique would be that he never mentions that poverty is the number one predictor and cause of mental illness.

In short, this book is a good first attempt at reforming our mental health system. Ending poverty would do more to reduce severe mental illness in our society. Also ending the stigma of mental illness to the point where it has less unappealing stereotypes to it. If Schizophrenia was seen the same way that Grave's Disease is, then we would have made progress.Ending poverty; ending stigma: accomplish those items and then we could go along with these more natural reforms that are intended for a more narrow, less severe dysthymic disorders.