| No Laughing Matter |
| Thinking about the New Year, I reflect on 2006, the worst and the best. I'll get the worst out of the way first. Maybe it's not the worst, but it is the most recent. Last night, on the news, I heard that someone had destroyed some of the grave markers at the Oak Hill Cemetery. I'm guessing that these were younger people who did this. I can't imagine that anyone with a few years under their belt would participate in the destruction of irreplaceable property...with some of the markers being over one hundred years old. Hmmm...you either have an appreciation for these things or you don't. I do believe that you can teach it to children if you start early enough. Our town needs to teach preservation to a new generation, maybe involve them in some way. I suggest we begin with the abandoned children's playground on Rio Street. No, I haven't given up on that cause yet! |
| A few of you hate it when I rant like that. I know because you've told me so. I'm changing the subject now, okay? I really had a great Christmas and so did my husband, Joe, apart from the fact that Santa left him a lump of coal in his stocking. True! (Now, he did get presents, they were just not left in his stocking.) The truth is, we bought things for the kids' stockings, but forgot to buy stocking stuffers for each other, and were left scrambling on Christmas Eve. He put some candy in mine but I couldn't find anything believable for his. I confess that, looking out the window at the black rocks around the rosebushes, I was overcome with temptation. The kids were fascinated by the coal and it was a good reminder for them to behave in 2007. Joe thought it was pretty funny, even when my son said, "Dad, Santa must not like you very much!" Joe answered, "I guess not, but that's okay, because you do, don't you?" "Oh yeah, I love Santa!" Another Christmas highlight was my five year old daughter's interest in one of her brother's gifts. It was a Darth Vader voice-changing mask. Click on the link below to watch the video of what happened when I didn't give her the respect that the fearsome Darth Vader fully deserves. What makes this video even funnier is that this is really a very nice little girl. Something happened to her attitude when she put on the mask. Darth Vader vs. her Mom Christmas is a time to think about family, and this year, I was pondering the fact that my cousin's husband is my husband's cousin. Conversely, my husband's cousin is my cousin's husband. Does this hurt your brain? Hey, Red Bluff is a small place...it can happen! When I mentioned this observation to my cousin, she recoiled at the phrase. It just sounds wrong. Anyway, I am happy to have her as a relative twice over. |
| One reader contacted me last week and said he believed this playground is empty because the City of Red Bluff can't afford the insurance on it. Thanks for the info, it sounds like a plausible reason. However, our lack of care for historical areas such as this one may be an even costlier decision if it teaches disregard for the past. Gripe, gripe, gripe, but I know we can do better. We can start with painting historical Main Street any color except "orangutan orange." No offense to the business that likes the color, it just doesn't fit with any historical theme that I know of. |
| Looking ahead this year, I'll be keeping an eye on BC Tire Sales in Red Bluff. They have a fun tradition of decorating a huge tire for every holiday. I stopped in to see the owner a couple weeks ago and he explained how this unusual tradition began. His son, also a business owner, gave him some paint and said that if he painted a tire and put it by the road, that people would come in and ask about it. The bet was this: if no one came in, he would open the store for his dad and have the coffee ready. He won the bet when several curious people stopped in. I pass by the tire often and have seen it disguised as an Easter egg and a turkey. It's been a wide variety of colors, most of them donated by a local paint store. The owner says that people still come in to ask what design it'll be next. The decisions are made by the mood they're in and the colors that they're given. The employees work together to attire this large tire and it has become another of the many characteristics that make Red Bluff a unique place to live. I'll be taking pictures of their tire throughout the year and will run this story again. I really like to see splashes of creativity in our small town. Happy New Year! |
| Here's something you'll see on Antelope Blvd. |