We bought our Christmas tree last Friday. We drove to San Martin
Christmas Tree Farm, helped ourselves to cider, and perused the
price list. We studied the sample trees so that we would be able to
tell an incense cedar from a sierra redwood.
We bought our Christmas tree last Friday. We drove to San Martin Christmas Tree Farm, helped ourselves to cider, and perused the price list. We studied the sample trees so that we would be able to tell an incense cedar from a sierra redwood.
Then we wandered through the acres of conifers calling to each other:”What about this one?” “Too bushy.” “Too tall.” “Too short.” At last we found the one that was just right … except that my husband thought its trunk was a little crooked.
We cut it down anyway, Anne doing most of the sawing. At home, we discovered that the trunk was indeed crooked, so we propped up the Christmas tree stand on one side with saucers. It is a beautiful tree.
The next day, we decorated. To be precise, Anne decorated while I cleaned. I am not the world’s worst housekeeper, but I am in the top 10. Still, the living room gets dusted twice a year, whether it needs it or not, at Christmas and at Easter, and more often if my mother comes to visit.
While cleaning, I found several items belonging to my friends and relations, which I resolved to return before the New Year. In the same spirit of cleaning before Christmas, I am resolved to deal with six issues that have appeared in The Dispatch in recent weeks, none of which rate a full 700 words.
First: a retraction. I misquoted my daughter Anne in my column of Dec. 3. She did not say that there were no weeds on the track at Gavilan. She said the weeds were on the side of the track, meaning on the outer foot or so of the track. They do not get in the way of her running.
Second: my curiosity was piqued by Sue Gamm’s letter to the editor of Dec. 7. She quotes two of my statements verbatim, though without attribution, and calls them misinformed. She does not, however, offer a single word as to why she thinks they are misinformed. Pretty lame style of debate, Ms. Gamm.
She also tells us how long her workday is: 7 am to 8 pm, plus at least several hours on the weekend, and extra hours during conference weeks. Hmmm. My husband is an engineer, and he works about 17 hours a week more than you do, Ms. Gamm. No hardship. He loves his job. Unpaid overtime is part of being a professional.
Third: Councilman Charlie Morales is speaking up during his lame-duck weeks. He wants to enact a pit bull ordinance and to ban so-called safe-and-sane fireworks. I hate pit bulls, love fireworks and oppose banning either. Yes, pit bulls and fireworks are potentially hazardous. Shall we ban baseball bats while we are at it?
Fourth: Three cheers and good luck to the Great Oaks Water Company! I have had enough of the grossly bloated, irresponsible, blood-sucking, reserve-hoarding, salary increasing, audit-defying Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Fifth: After the rain last week, Dunlap Road south of Furtado Dairy stank to high heaven. I hope Manny Furtado is not allowing cow-flop and rain-water soup to flow into the headwaters of Llagas Creek again.
Sixth: I hate the idea of a new city being built south of Gilroy by DMB, or north of Morgan Hill in Coyote Valley, or even a new hamlet being built west of Gilroy on what is currently Bonfante Gardens property.
But I grit my teeth and remind myself that the property owner can do what he likes with his property. Any other attitude leads to the madness of Kelo versus New London, CT.
The latest battleground in the ongoing saga of what World Net Daily calls “eminent domania” is occurring in Riviera Beach, Florida, where the city has decided to displace 6,000 residents, mostly poor and black. “This is a redevelopment plan which includes restaurants and condos,” said Mayor Michael Brown. “The overall plan is designed to train people, get them better jobs … so we can increase our tax base so that we can pay for fire, police, so we can provide basic services.” That is a great excuse for seizing their homes.
