tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43793155816024478822024-03-13T11:46:14.099-07:00Shifting PlatesAleta George writes about the nature, history, and culture of California.Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-18582203705778497562024-02-24T09:29:00.000-08:002024-02-24T09:29:26.025-08:00California Forever's planned city is practically in my backyard<p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRbY0z0M62LyacU3g1oniTVgg-mPf8nPgvVIHFHZsLPd1BvJD3FF6XMi2kUucS0K5NNbr5LgrHx97Rz9YlyG6Nx5N3wFyOAZ7aRev8cVE58K03AwzDsTzIBu1VMQfIeRm5I3pc3WlkU0vijFBqyzSMa1gSgFdYcytxsfafkejrLS3hjb6ZhLe5vydkZA/s4032/Project%20site%20looking%20west%20on%20McCormack%20Road.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRbY0z0M62LyacU3g1oniTVgg-mPf8nPgvVIHFHZsLPd1BvJD3FF6XMi2kUucS0K5NNbr5LgrHx97Rz9YlyG6Nx5N3wFyOAZ7aRev8cVE58K03AwzDsTzIBu1VMQfIeRm5I3pc3WlkU0vijFBqyzSMa1gSgFdYcytxsfafkejrLS3hjb6ZhLe5vydkZA/w400-h300/Project%20site%20looking%20west%20on%20McCormack%20Road.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Site of proposed 17,500-acre city in southeastern Solano County.<br />Photo by Aleta George.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As an environmental journalist who has covered open space and development issues for two decades, and a resident of Solano County who is active in my city’s effort to meet the challenges of the climate crisis and sea level rise, I have followed California Forever's plans to build a new city. The 17,500-acre planned city is twenty minutes from my house on land that I know and love.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;"><span>After several months of attending town halls and events, talking to supporters and detractors, and studying the proposal, I wrote about it with the goal to </span></span>cover both sides of the issue fairly. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I also covered what it might mean for the Suisun Marsh,<span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;"> the only tidal brackish wetland of its kind and size that’s left on the West Coast, and a wetland that could play a vital role in mitigating sea level rise. </span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;">Although the planned California Forever city is not sited within the Suisun Marsh, it has holdings that border it. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;">Read <a href="https://www.kneedeeptimes.org/wheat-fields-or-walkable-city-for-solano-open-space/">"Wheat Fields or Walkable City for Solano Open Space"</a> in <i>KneeDeep Times</i>, the Bay Area's climate resilience magazine.</span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">. </span></span></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-35786659707401895852024-02-23T10:39:00.000-08:002024-02-23T10:43:57.947-08:00Yoshimatsu Nakata's Hawaiian Home<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafD02FWRKe9FFDCtY6wWfvhHW93dz6-yn3Y0j3sm2b8zFNqQBBjXorhSrUrDrhgj69fybRjIhz4bAdnsaqLNp_nwNzpDNjWU_YFkiOE143lWCjkJ10EcydXzq0Eu-VRHs5Os1xieefMLCp0Be2seaVFKlUMFkgzJNMzWs7bO8dHot9LSs19KGUZqGVms/s4032/IMG_9551-Tree.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafD02FWRKe9FFDCtY6wWfvhHW93dz6-yn3Y0j3sm2b8zFNqQBBjXorhSrUrDrhgj69fybRjIhz4bAdnsaqLNp_nwNzpDNjWU_YFkiOE143lWCjkJ10EcydXzq0Eu-VRHs5Os1xieefMLCp0Be2seaVFKlUMFkgzJNMzWs7bO8dHot9LSs19KGUZqGVms/w240-h320/IMG_9551-Tree.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the deep shade of an 80-foot-tall monkeypod tree in the O'ahu Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii, I paid my respects to Yoshimatsu Nakata, Jack London's longtime valet and surrogate son.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nakata was central to London's life, and is featured in my book in progress about London's formative and lifelong relationship with the San Francisco Bay.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-YNwJSRsrBBBrd7hM7xwHPNZQluEuLbaLPtCcS4sx2BFI6tsC1TFfmmruodQIxAm2O53SDovdJkl9czFxcWX6OzJWhYtmWJh9h-cHJJSjNWjBSRHq_53ydSMmcATB0T5iE6q0KzUaQjcrySRncQxypihFV8xs-s99aBb9MtkUyh_ZXLaqzDKCiMXGic/s877/p16003coll7_8966_extralarge-Roamer%20and%20Truckee%201914-15%20p36-cropped.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="584" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-YNwJSRsrBBBrd7hM7xwHPNZQluEuLbaLPtCcS4sx2BFI6tsC1TFfmmruodQIxAm2O53SDovdJkl9czFxcWX6OzJWhYtmWJh9h-cHJJSjNWjBSRHq_53ydSMmcATB0T5iE6q0KzUaQjcrySRncQxypihFV8xs-s99aBb9MtkUyh_ZXLaqzDKCiMXGic/s320/p16003coll7_8966_extralarge-Roamer%20and%20Truckee%201914-15%20p36-cropped.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nakata started as a cabin boy on the Snark, the boat that London built to sail around the world. When the trip was cut short, Nakata returned to California as the author's valet. Nakata was also London's first mate and surrogate son.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">After eight years, Nakata married his sweetheart, Momoyo, and left London to study dentistry. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">In Honolulu he opened a successful practice, raised his children, Gertrude and Edward, and was elected president of the Hawaii Dental Association. He died in 1967 at age seventy-eight.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmlR2JSQKRs8WP7hwB8HVZwc-DOfxH-1e1z_lSBXKKh4fGPpfg4qnwFHPlgLgiAB_1lZ2UksvotTCxgoWNHeWxO3Q00bKEn4iiMWlWAAgx_fSjJTfQYgfmM49K1zM5T3efPuWD1jCiJh6bblGGIg_XmXVqnDbnc5r_19kEf4qd9xW1-Rgu5jVnWHPW08/s4032/IMG_9543.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmlR2JSQKRs8WP7hwB8HVZwc-DOfxH-1e1z_lSBXKKh4fGPpfg4qnwFHPlgLgiAB_1lZ2UksvotTCxgoWNHeWxO3Q00bKEn4iiMWlWAAgx_fSjJTfQYgfmM49K1zM5T3efPuWD1jCiJh6bblGGIg_XmXVqnDbnc5r_19kEf4qd9xW1-Rgu5jVnWHPW08/w240-h320/IMG_9543.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I visited the Nakata family gravesite with Yoshimatsu's grandson James Nakata, Edward's son, and his lovely wife, Lisa.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the Japanese tradition, Jim washed the marble stone with water and a sponge in homage to his ancestors.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nakata purchased the stone and site for his family, and I couldn't help but feel proud of him, an Issei who had migrated to Hawaii as a teenager.</span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKhkIJeunsPRLdYIMksr8VvaF0KOsq6Eb0nU6sjwsr0NRyYi2EdBVfhkoe8H-FaQf5rmwn4ZR4H9kq0WN4VLoZmT5hY9cpx-cw_6KuxpH3K7BK4ojIDP0ICOi1bGrsNyK11igwsYZcVmdT5-wy95I5fNH-aaMDGVKOYjQ8JXh3zUzeNT2MrQjmvfbqjk/s4032/IMG_9447.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKhkIJeunsPRLdYIMksr8VvaF0KOsq6Eb0nU6sjwsr0NRyYi2EdBVfhkoe8H-FaQf5rmwn4ZR4H9kq0WN4VLoZmT5hY9cpx-cw_6KuxpH3K7BK4ojIDP0ICOi1bGrsNyK11igwsYZcVmdT5-wy95I5fNH-aaMDGVKOYjQ8JXh3zUzeNT2MrQjmvfbqjk/w240-h320/IMG_9447.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jim's office includes photos of his "grandpa." The cabinet at right was in the dental office that Yoshimatsu shared with his son, Edward, who became a dentist and a partner in the practice. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9chXeCNgP-SCKesX094koFd7GhylLZKXS6q33rcNkfL-0f3DsrwG48wjuD4jIFMxMAwdW4BOhMe-K2Z0h-f0bWLqirevzoKCi4yamlKDxNpzG8qYI-9IszR8ldVgfhEdvGKjmw55ZleIFZDGZPYT0OA8ktLaEG2cbUmmlK7gC7OKI69P6ZQqUSTCqk-Y/s1499/p16003coll7_244_extralarge-cropped.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="1499" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9chXeCNgP-SCKesX094koFd7GhylLZKXS6q33rcNkfL-0f3DsrwG48wjuD4jIFMxMAwdW4BOhMe-K2Z0h-f0bWLqirevzoKCi4yamlKDxNpzG8qYI-9IszR8ldVgfhEdvGKjmw55ZleIFZDGZPYT0OA8ktLaEG2cbUmmlK7gC7OKI69P6ZQqUSTCqk-Y/w640-h446/p16003coll7_244_extralarge-cropped.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The historic photos are courtesy of The Huntington Libary. All others by Aleta George.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-49406111880156932482023-08-21T18:29:00.002-07:002023-08-21T18:29:46.745-07:00Nakata's Smile<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7GutNLhmmvC3cNNoSlsIg6tJhW4yLAWsGQb1BDtydnBm_KIgRz_HfxiR9pe42VzCJr-DpkK37_0cQ-tgSuhoD9CH3bIM-aaFJTXIjvCqs-Ycnww1PPhxRgWDhO5TzxK4PcvLbs8cTuGIbLPqXdyViY4u3QzGVrPjQ-5-VrZdaLgveKB36hLKk4htRmE/s633/p16003coll7_7284_extralarge-Roamer%20October%201910%20p73-cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="633" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7GutNLhmmvC3cNNoSlsIg6tJhW4yLAWsGQb1BDtydnBm_KIgRz_HfxiR9pe42VzCJr-DpkK37_0cQ-tgSuhoD9CH3bIM-aaFJTXIjvCqs-Ycnww1PPhxRgWDhO5TzxK4PcvLbs8cTuGIbLPqXdyViY4u3QzGVrPjQ-5-VrZdaLgveKB36hLKk4htRmE/w200-h159/p16003coll7_7284_extralarge-Roamer%20October%201910%20p73-cropped.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Huntington Library,<br />San Marino, CA</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Yoshimatsu Nakata won me over with his smile.</div></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">He was Jack London's valet for eight years, but he was more than that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">He sailed the South Seas with London on the <i>Snark</i>, the yacht that London built to his own specifications.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">He embarked with his boss on a trip around the Horn on the tall ship <i>Dirigo</i>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And he was first mate on the last boat that London owned and sailed on the San Francisco Bay, the <i>Roamer.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pVU3cXn5xFb-Vz4DkJoBJ3f3vr5vb5TcCYxjKDAhgYH1cI2rPNLST60TPDhxl3SEWDvE33v4Pri3Keo3rJfZpCAxmtnLFLmorrJgY4PAZjAJwyVQsL7Osdtp7W5cWxg1CGEugXaXX7D5dvPYScrbXQQhrR9VrFk95ntO2db7lZODi4SF7y1xhKi1jyI/s820/p16003coll7_8966_extralarge-Roamer%20and%20Truckee%201914-15%20p36-cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="575" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pVU3cXn5xFb-Vz4DkJoBJ3f3vr5vb5TcCYxjKDAhgYH1cI2rPNLST60TPDhxl3SEWDvE33v4Pri3Keo3rJfZpCAxmtnLFLmorrJgY4PAZjAJwyVQsL7Osdtp7W5cWxg1CGEugXaXX7D5dvPYScrbXQQhrR9VrFk95ntO2db7lZODi4SF7y1xhKi1jyI/s320/p16003coll7_8966_extralarge-Roamer%20and%20Truckee%201914-15%20p36-cropped.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Huntington Library,</span><br style="font-size: small;" /><span style="font-size: small;">San Marino, CA</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">In early 2022, I found two of Nakata's personal diaries, a real find since </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nakata is a central character in my book in progress, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">a place-based biography about London and the San Francisco Bay. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here is my story in <i>California </i>magazine about finding the diaries, the long journey of translation, and my continuing fascination with this young man who London considered more of a son or younger brother.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/online/nakatas-smile-unlocking-the-diaries-of-jack-londons-valet/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nakata's Smile: Unlocking the Diaries of Jack London's Valet</span></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-74811868465114432642023-05-25T12:35:00.002-07:002023-05-25T12:35:43.997-07:00Food Forests: A vision for the future<p><span style="background-color: white;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); float: left; font-family: Fenix, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 19px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK--lsylC2dcxLPw75fo_wmtGC201BE-zMOxcdGHQcfRwBdi_ixeLcS0eT3cfgGagqUvctNUgKvJ989x4h_iQZstOYCO903ED7RsaPsilsr3Z2FaWdNgx2i45ZCD0khFYNbrPqaHYjheg6U11OalM1nk2nm86rgihfyAcCEslDBPw24Zw72vGyYMXK/s4032/Natalie%20DeNicholas%20and%20Nam%20Nguyen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK--lsylC2dcxLPw75fo_wmtGC201BE-zMOxcdGHQcfRwBdi_ixeLcS0eT3cfgGagqUvctNUgKvJ989x4h_iQZstOYCO903ED7RsaPsilsr3Z2FaWdNgx2i45ZCD0khFYNbrPqaHYjheg6U11OalM1nk2nm86rgihfyAcCEslDBPw24Zw72vGyYMXK/w240-h320/Natalie%20DeNicholas%20and%20Nam%20Nguyen.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Aleta George</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;">Best friends Nam Nguyen and Natalie DeNicholas graciously welcomed visitors to their "food forest" garden Greyhawk Grove by picking pea pods and handing them out, sharing eggs from their Easter-egger chickens, and answering questions about plants.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nguyen planted the garden nine years ago with the help of Sustainable Solano, a Solano County nonprofit that helps people create sustainable yards. Along </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">with its fruit, greens, and herbs, Greyhawk Grove has benches for sitting, framed poetry for reflection, and spring bulbs for cheer.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We are aware of mental health in this house, and it’s nice to have a calm place in the garden,” </span></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-family: verdana; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">says</span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-family: verdana; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DeNicholas, as a hummingbird fluttered to an apple blossom. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86);">This spring, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86);">Sustainable Solano</span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86);"> hosted open gardens that they helped plan and plant, offering visitors a chance to find out just what a food forest is: a garden layered like a natural forest that includes fruit-bearing trees and edible plants.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86);"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Read more in <i><a href="https://www.kneedeeptimes.org/food-forests-green-solano/" target="_blank">Kneedeep Times</a></i> about this garden and another on the tour that was planted with flood mitigation in mind.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmGLyhlNPfSprnIjVuPOJ9oWFt1pgLgVLeb1rk1_w0daCoj5fy5iYbtsis1LFGRzdwVJZk_xp0Zzqy2pB4Dk3HlGuzUG_WZY79NUzlUZgBMKeKTF49F0n9N8_zbg3ixEdsJw7o5eEpDUijjqOiB7F1IN8PyVDWoOXP4LzlrKlMAcvXyuDqzmHyciW/s4032/El%20Bosquecito%20or%20Little%20Forest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmGLyhlNPfSprnIjVuPOJ9oWFt1pgLgVLeb1rk1_w0daCoj5fy5iYbtsis1LFGRzdwVJZk_xp0Zzqy2pB4Dk3HlGuzUG_WZY79NUzlUZgBMKeKTF49F0n9N8_zbg3ixEdsJw7o5eEpDUijjqOiB7F1IN8PyVDWoOXP4LzlrKlMAcvXyuDqzmHyciW/w400-h300/El%20Bosquecito%20or%20Little%20Forest.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>El Bosquecito,</i> or Little Forest, garden. Photo by Aleta George</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-10276426589476679902023-05-15T18:09:00.004-07:002023-05-15T18:13:26.059-07:00<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: times; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ina-Coolbrith-Bittersweet-Californias-Laureate/dp/098612401X#:~:text=Book%20Awards%20(biography)-,Ina%20Coolbrith%3A%20The%20Bittersweet%20Song%20of%20California's%20First%20Poet%20Laureate,ambassador%20in%20the%20earlyAmerican%20West." style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlbv_fY2W6e6p6-VqSkNZTrt_Um8Q7QRw-iYkV00Tr0SM7vj59UKuWa1xhLG0_PNQlfTlBu4pgkS_m2RKTSJONDuiHM1PYNiaEhJLSbvggOS8p6iPNd7omeye_lnXDhA0CLU3vVP1waTZIued4toJDaBlfa1HcG-_zHjlGmvxse11vVHTisRSUfb8/s320/Cover-front-Med.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Eight years after the publication of </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Ina Coolbrith: The Bittersweet Song of California's First Poet Laureate</i><span>, it has a sweet new review!</span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" style="background-color: white;">Ayako Hoshino, an assistant professor at </span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;">Wayo Women's University in Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan (near Tokyo), wrote a review for</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" style="background-color: white;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); line-height: inherit;"><a href="https://doi.org/10.16995/la.1887">Lifewriting Annual: Biographical and Autobiographical Studies</a>.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">Hoshino begins by saying, "Although</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" style="background-color: white;"> much has been written about California’s rich literary history, the life of poet Ina Donna Coolbrith (1841–1928) seems to deserve a brighter spotlight."</span></span></p><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The closing paragraph says, "George gives a sympathetic and comprehensive treatment of Coolbrith’s ambitions and intelligence, recognizing the struggles she faced in a male-centered world."</span></span></p><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thank you for the review and recognition of Ina, Professor Hoshino!</span></span></p><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Hoshino, A., (2022) “Aleta George, </span><i style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: inherit;">Ina Coolbrith: The Bittersweet Song of California’s First Poet Laureate</i><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">. Suisun City, CA: Shifting Plates Press, 2015. 337 pp.”, </span><i style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: inherit;">Lifewriting Annual: Biographical and Autobiographical Studies</i><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> 5(1). doi: </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.16995/la.1887" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #039be5; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://doi.org/10.16995/la.1887</a></span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-45417067714236423952023-05-15T17:45:00.003-07:002023-05-15T18:15:21.198-07:00Dorothy Lazard, My Favorite Librarian<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.heydaybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/WYOUcover_web800px-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://www.heydaybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/WYOUcover_web800px-1.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br />Librarian, historian, and writer Dorothy Lazard has just published her first book, <i><a href="https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/what-you-dont-know-will-make-a-whole-new-world/">What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World</a> </i>(Heyday Books, May 2023).<p></p><p>I first met Dorothy more than a decade ago at the Oakland History Center at the main branch of the Oakland Public Library when I was researching my biography on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ina-Coolbrith-Bittersweet-Californias-Laureate/dp/098612401X#:~:text=Book%20Awards%20(biography)-,Ina%20Coolbrith%3A%20The%20Bittersweet%20Song%20of%20California's%20First%20Poet%20Laureate,ambassador%20in%20the%20earlyAmerican%20West.">Ina Coolbrith</a>, Oakland's first public librarian and the nation's first poet laureate. Dorothy quickly became my favorite (living) librarian, and I'm not alone in my <a href="#DorothyLazardFanClub">enthusiasm</a>. She retired two years ago to pursue her decades-long interest in writing.</p><p>In March 2023 I met with Dorothy to talk about her book, her path to the Oakland Public Library, and her passion for writing.</p><p><a href="https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/what-you-dont-know-will-make-a-whole-new-world/" target="_blank">Read my profile of Dorothy Lazard in <i>California</i> magazine here. </a></p><blockquote><p> </p></blockquote>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-68398900040968242982022-06-23T16:14:00.002-07:002022-06-23T16:16:34.365-07:00The Grande Dames of the Delta: Exploring Moveable Bridges<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">One early Saturday morning I took a self-guided tour of several moveable bridges in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxweLN60PuQrc3GMLdYJCmNe5Wv8SwyAze3cnNEiIlHbVc45fkg64ILCIieFf_D3H7W3T3Qd4yBvu5mRWAIjdVEoBKr0d9cYRJWGGnN7caalf0eMVS1GgYgC2EJAVoV09WHkaSmZM6Wht6GyqaI9AausW9sIjxBCMvtOR5UmsSbMh0tSDYnKeNiMmU/s4032/Walnut%20Grove%20Bridge%20with%20bridge%20house-Aleta%20George.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxweLN60PuQrc3GMLdYJCmNe5Wv8SwyAze3cnNEiIlHbVc45fkg64ILCIieFf_D3H7W3T3Qd4yBvu5mRWAIjdVEoBKr0d9cYRJWGGnN7caalf0eMVS1GgYgC2EJAVoV09WHkaSmZM6Wht6GyqaI9AausW9sIjxBCMvtOR5UmsSbMh0tSDYnKeNiMmU/s320/Walnut%20Grove%20Bridge%20with%20bridge%20house-Aleta%20George.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">Walnut Grove Bridge. Photo by Aleta George</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I drove across four of the narrow, steel beauties on State Route 160, and sat in the shade on the river to watch the Mokelumne Bridge swing open at its scheduled time.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's a link to my article in <i>Estuary News, </i><a href="https://archive.estuarynews.org/the-grande-dames-of-the-delta/">"The Grande Dames of the Delta."</a> Check out the video I took of an opening of the Walnut Grove Bridge below.</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N_1RXgadBg0" width="320" youtube-src-id="N_1RXgadBg0"></iframe></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">Walnut Grove Bridge opening by Aleta George</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-4090798351580182192022-06-08T16:10:00.014-07:002023-07-15T15:59:52.716-07:00Jack London on the Carquinez Strait<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>The unseasonable rain on June 5, 2022, didn't dampen the spirits of the 30 passengers </span>aboard the <i>Pacific Pearl</i> for a Jack London-themed boat tour of the Carquinez Strait.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwo9LagIxv8Cdvc9fxccj6Dsyt9ygoyEV5f1NKx5ZN_8gRcC3V1MHz6kzXRNC_4Ia_PBQKUIdskEkz2pUjTHiyZ95qJluNBFunHNx7Oh2r6-fLY9lVTf96jMgntXPsG1D0y2Be90xhcKQ5C4z98rz3fb1M45tLNDJmY9hcWj_bzskjF2hp0y6AsX0Q/s4032/IMG_6993.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwo9LagIxv8Cdvc9fxccj6Dsyt9ygoyEV5f1NKx5ZN_8gRcC3V1MHz6kzXRNC_4Ia_PBQKUIdskEkz2pUjTHiyZ95qJluNBFunHNx7Oh2r6-fLY9lVTf96jMgntXPsG1D0y2Be90xhcKQ5C4z98rz3fb1M45tLNDJmY9hcWj_bzskjF2hp0y6AsX0Q/w400-h300/IMG_6993.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gail Yamamoto Seymour, Tarnel Abbott (London's great granddaughter), and Jack London Society president Jay Williams take in the stories and views from the bow.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL27HAldNxsKfdI9qkF3g00i9N18AVAB5RGaXV4zCbiu7NSQr6DJHQ2LzkqigsqmravVMPN6fXfkhQ9wRKpG_93_3GPteT7VFlGOeERWG90LgswCxG5l6ZlKsYwgRJu1_BbV-qrSEMaysfOVwTxGpiX1711JcQvCJySPiILPpz53aDzGebakTJoDBd/s3373/IMG_1252.heic" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3373" data-original-width="2976" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL27HAldNxsKfdI9qkF3g00i9N18AVAB5RGaXV4zCbiu7NSQr6DJHQ2LzkqigsqmravVMPN6fXfkhQ9wRKpG_93_3GPteT7VFlGOeERWG90LgswCxG5l6ZlKsYwgRJu1_BbV-qrSEMaysfOVwTxGpiX1711JcQvCJySPiILPpz53aDzGebakTJoDBd/w176-h200/IMG_1252.heic" width="176" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="text-align: center;">As tour guide, I told stories about </span><span style="text-align: center;">London and his </span></span><span style="text-align: center;">lifelong relationship with the San Francisco Bay, with a focus on the </span><span style="text-align: center;">Carquinez Strait</span><span style="text-align: center;">.</span></span></div></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHU9gPF1E2Tk0pgj_D5zHOwkUqBbBJ6JaO9RQR5x2BYvCrPlQayIEum0rA0DhoH7WMBger5ZB8qr5aLUkMRRIpMHly3QR6Pn0OYmmzqmreDpFrEaVWOg75-kWXDLxuV1v45MTBqnSH2rL1pi-yS7LCDPZckhFtwp6B7mCxuZSdXyPoOegQ32DErcv/s4032/IMG_4714.HEIC" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHU9gPF1E2Tk0pgj_D5zHOwkUqBbBJ6JaO9RQR5x2BYvCrPlQayIEum0rA0DhoH7WMBger5ZB8qr5aLUkMRRIpMHly3QR6Pn0OYmmzqmreDpFrEaVWOg75-kWXDLxuV1v45MTBqnSH2rL1pi-yS7LCDPZckhFtwp6B7mCxuZSdXyPoOegQ32DErcv/w320-h240/IMG_4714.HEIC" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">The chartered tour </span><span style="color: #222222;">started at the Vallejo Yacht Club, where London was a member. We then motored up the Strait to Benicia and back. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1SPJn6sI7ubCU_-p2oTGGH_Psg-sIjT5OdNNZvzxH9lgPa4HjQiq77dHE741rPalvtvfWeFmWbAi6hD-4lvc1FWYJ2f-Bt1InmakhxZJr7l70AcZTad-NmlD7QsMOP6a9NjcqnKkuP9W_teKRB9by1VBVmVty8bvib2hQknYAkSnSZHeVOOboJlF/s4032/IMG_4731.heic" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1SPJn6sI7ubCU_-p2oTGGH_Psg-sIjT5OdNNZvzxH9lgPa4HjQiq77dHE741rPalvtvfWeFmWbAi6hD-4lvc1FWYJ2f-Bt1InmakhxZJr7l70AcZTad-NmlD7QsMOP6a9NjcqnKkuP9W_teKRB9by1VBVmVty8bvib2hQknYAkSnSZHeVOOboJlF/s320/IMG_4731.heic" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">"I learned many facts," said Jack London State Park docent Wendy Byrd. "Best of all, I can visualize my readings of Jack London with a context of where events took place. I, too, will never cross the Carquinez Bridge without thinking of Jack in the water."</span></span></div><div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;"><i>This event was planned in coordination with the Jack London Society.</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-53460384083062828282022-02-17T17:35:00.009-08:002022-02-18T11:25:10.025-08:00Sturdy Sturgeon<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFKpE7GIYupOaiPElIbx7iB0aE3on1XccslylRonvHbNiXuMS_jOJHR8jd2mSjBghPOUBOsbodZBqnzjerHshYziuUdLQdR_WgjbGdVNJK9LP-zNREbDK5yynpoPWmjndTvEn-qmNO6txqlUEllCb56XdJ_8LtVsi-srkG7BaAFxRCMkXn8KaZ4dxJ=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFKpE7GIYupOaiPElIbx7iB0aE3on1XccslylRonvHbNiXuMS_jOJHR8jd2mSjBghPOUBOsbodZBqnzjerHshYziuUdLQdR_WgjbGdVNJK9LP-zNREbDK5yynpoPWmjndTvEn-qmNO6txqlUEllCb56XdJ_8LtVsi-srkG7BaAFxRCMkXn8KaZ4dxJ=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sturgeon's toothless, telescoping mouth sucks up clams, crabs and shrimp like a vacuum. <i>Wikimedia Commons.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">White sturgeon have
been cruising San Francisco Bay’s murky bottom for thousands of years, and the species has been around since before T-Rex. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Scientists believe that the fish may live to be over 100 years old. For this article I asked the question: What is the life expectancy of white sturgeon <span style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in the San Francisco Bay?</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://archive.estuarynews.org/sturdy-sturgeon/"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Read "Sturdy Sturgeon" in <i>Estuary News </i>to learn more about this</span></a> <a href="https://archive.estuarynews.org/sturdy-sturgeon/"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">fascinating fish.</span></a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-59153700081902876602022-02-06T08:12:00.005-08:002022-02-06T08:23:01.444-08:00Suisun City is No Island<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrJZ7rO4pgF4DUmaYfAA51jW0iwSnBXYp5aqxTETHp_zlwUrqGdXtzi4OBgEOw_dWEMafFW8H0L1pV1DE8t3aTfbzf4CUiKa4ZwDa1_iehx5iZirOL6_FXMzrW1leQq0zeh7rfob84MBXHqYqhILim7pbELJqooy5NbEhRTKxbsho1QgguCQ_p4b7s=s3009" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2290" data-original-width="3009" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrJZ7rO4pgF4DUmaYfAA51jW0iwSnBXYp5aqxTETHp_zlwUrqGdXtzi4OBgEOw_dWEMafFW8H0L1pV1DE8t3aTfbzf4CUiKa4ZwDa1_iehx5iZirOL6_FXMzrW1leQq0zeh7rfob84MBXHqYqhILim7pbELJqooy5NbEhRTKxbsho1QgguCQ_p4b7s=w400-h305" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The daily waterfront walk</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Suisun City, a small town about an hour northeast of San Francisco, has always had the waterfront and nearby wetlands at its heart. But that which is a big plus for trade and tourism now places the city in the path of sea-level rise.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In this article I delve into the challenges and opportunities of sea-level rise in my hometown.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.86); font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.kneedeeptimes.org/suisun-city-is-no-island/">"Suisun City is No Island," <i>KneeDeep Times</i></a></span></p></div>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-81870941144063866982022-02-06T07:53:00.013-08:002022-02-06T08:22:40.792-08:00The Magic of Winter Light<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjREztFN4xjGM6rDn0dLN0QWyltTlYhvxkhA6S4T_xG7lIg2UHFj-kkeIxOPv3Id6z9A0MpsejQKpNURsolR9txod-Wg20wGGwDtxOHtTdYNVGNWp8umT-WiCyqV46hK6zEtX-nScL5xV3gZoTfRtieFeJvahd0mu9eHG5sDwUbnt82PgOs4W2drDMN=s960" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Turning In, Sergio Lopez" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjREztFN4xjGM6rDn0dLN0QWyltTlYhvxkhA6S4T_xG7lIg2UHFj-kkeIxOPv3Id6z9A0MpsejQKpNURsolR9txod-Wg20wGGwDtxOHtTdYNVGNWp8umT-WiCyqV46hK6zEtX-nScL5xV3gZoTfRtieFeJvahd0mu9eHG5sDwUbnt82PgOs4W2drDMN=w400-h300" title="Turning In, Sergio Lopez" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Turning In</i>, <a href="https://www.sergiolopezfineart.com/" target="_blank">Sergio Lopez</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: verdana;">Winter light is less assertive than its summer counterpart. Hues are softer, and leafy shadows tat ephemeral quilts on the wall. More than a visual phenomenon, this subdued light affects all living things including poets, plants, and landscape painters.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #282828;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/the-magic-of-winter-light/" target="_blank">"The Magic of Winter Light," <i>Bay Area Monitor </i></a></span></span></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-52220416899578101022021-11-30T13:00:00.014-08:002022-02-06T08:23:36.692-08:00On the Bay: DFW 150 Years on Patrol, and Work Still Dangerous<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QE7lATacor0/YaaO0LycYjI/AAAAAAAAO_E/KkxLUoNwWg8-VCE62wtBsBKo-CG9Z8NKACLcBGAsYHQ/s1296/image001.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1296" height="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QE7lATacor0/YaaO0LycYjI/AAAAAAAAO_E/KkxLUoNwWg8-VCE62wtBsBKo-CG9Z8NKACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h299/image001.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">Photo courtesy of the CDFW</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: verdana;">This year marks the sesquicentennial of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Patrolling the San Francisco Bay has always been dangerous work, and continues to be risky for those protecting the natural resources of the bay today.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://archive.estuarynews.org/dfw-150-years-on-patrol-and-work-still-dangerous/">"DFW 150 Years on Patrol and Work Still Dangerous,"</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://archive.estuarynews.org/dfw-150-years-on-patrol-and-work-still-dangerous/"><i>Estuary News</i></a></span></span></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-46136253840223308652021-10-28T10:55:00.003-07:002021-11-10T18:12:39.652-08:00Jack London's Wheel?<p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GhBPpf7okAM/YXrf0V0BliI/AAAAAAAAO8U/smP3nptYqnswDNMlmOVGErRrXuZVsmoigCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_0492-Snark-Fred%2BFischback.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GhBPpf7okAM/YXrf0V0BliI/AAAAAAAAO8U/smP3nptYqnswDNMlmOVGErRrXuZVsmoigCLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h320/IMG_0492-Snark-Fred%2BFischback.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>Roamer</i> wheel</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hugh and Jeremy Wire grew up in a house on
a hill overlooking the ocean in Laguna Beach, California. In their yard was a
wheel said to have come from one of Jack London’s boats</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">.</span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I learned about the wheel from Hugh’s daughter, Annette </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Williams, who has inherited the house and the wheel.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; text-indent: 0.5in;">Curious about whether or not the wheel actually did come from one of London’s boats, I asked her to send me a photo of the family wheel for comparison.</span><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_X1_6J9als4/YXrgTZBr1vI/AAAAAAAAO8k/6MbLdTEakUYxXEwFa_3Dt4uejUuBCN0nwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Family%2Bwheel-Annette%2BWilliams.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1810" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_X1_6J9als4/YXrgTZBr1vI/AAAAAAAAO8k/6MbLdTEakUYxXEwFa_3Dt4uejUuBCN0nwCLcBGAsYHQ/w177-h200/Family%2Bwheel-Annette%2BWilliams.jpg" width="177" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The family wheel</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;">It seemed a straightforward investigation. </span><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">Aside from the rowboat and centerboard skiff London
skittered about on as a youth, he owned only four boats during his lifetime: the <i>Razzle
Dazzle</i>, the <i>Spray</i>, the <i>Snark</i>, and the <i>Roamer</i>. We have photos of all but one wheel.</span><div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">You can<b> <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cVNRGdtcGXNRrK0jDCNs5LtHslWDszfI/view?usp=sharing">read</a> </b>about the wheel and the boat she came from in an essay I wrote for <i>The Call</i>, The Magazine of the Jack London Society (Spring/Summer 2021). </span></span></div></div>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-4494470644501821812021-08-30T15:26:00.007-07:002021-08-30T15:29:59.713-07:00Walking the entire San Francisco Bay Trail <p><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 17px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nnEXp638sL4/YS1YDNOgRlI/AAAAAAAAO3M/11LU8Mqsi5A13Q5PB_vv5osKHdjl_a5YwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_E2078.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1586" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nnEXp638sL4/YS1YDNOgRlI/AAAAAAAAO3M/11LU8Mqsi5A13Q5PB_vv5osKHdjl_a5YwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_E2078.JPG" width="248" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I love hoofing any section of the <a href="https://baytrail.org/">San Francisco Bay Trail</a>. Whether in Pinole, Novato, or Burlingame, it is a treat to experience the diversity of the trail and the bay.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: verdana;">A small group of women, average age sixty, recently walked the entire thing, including the finished and unfinished portions of the planned 500-mile trail. It took them four years, and they did it by walking the segments contiguously one Sunday a month.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I first walked with them at their halfway point when I covered their adventure for <a href="https://www.sfestuary.org/estuary-news-true-to-bay-trail/"><i>Estuary News</i></a>. I met them as a journalist and continued walking with them as a friend. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And now they have finished! You can read about their accomplishment in my article for the <i><a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/one-step-one-sunday-at-a-time/">Bay Area Monitor</a></i>. </span></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-49549462398839646182021-04-05T15:46:00.008-07:002021-04-05T15:52:40.245-07:00Take These Broken Wings<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #282828; line-height: 1.66em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PVxqqEOJy5M/YGuR0PGrhEI/AAAAAAAAOr8/RKL2tXsQk58UD05sZpsfSsBhCayHwlLdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Tri-Colored%2Bblackbird1-RR-Tom%2BMuehleisen.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PVxqqEOJy5M/YGuR0PGrhEI/AAAAAAAAOr8/RKL2tXsQk58UD05sZpsfSsBhCayHwlLdgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/Tri-Colored%2Bblackbird1-RR-Tom%2BMuehleisen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Tom Muehleisen</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />A
study published in the journal <em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">Science</span></em> in
2019 found that bird populations in North America have taken a nosedive in the
last 50 years. By crunching data from citizen scientist counts and surveys,
scientists found that there are three billion fewer birds than there were in
1970.</span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">One
species that has taken a heavy hit is the tricolored blackbird, whose
population has plummeted from several million in the mid-19th century to less
than 180,000 today, according to Audubon California. In response to the
population crash, a band of individuals and conservation organizations are
finding creative ways to bring this bird back from the brink.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/take-these-broken-wings/">Learn more </a></span><a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/take-these-broken-wings/" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">in my article for </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Bay Area Monitor</i></a> <a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/take-these-broken-wings/" style="font-family: verdana;">about what's being done to save this California bird.</a></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></o:p></p><br /></div>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-1559367004892339362021-03-23T16:56:00.004-07:002021-03-23T17:02:28.949-07:00Nourishing Alameda's Encinal Beach<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JXFPggabeL8/YFp_bOAIRYI/AAAAAAAAOqw/dq_rBD4oVcoJxuAL97Td7w-B3Ojbx3U9gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Observing%2Bseals%2BJune%2B16%252C%2B2020-Richard%2BBangert.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1503" data-original-width="2048" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JXFPggabeL8/YFp_bOAIRYI/AAAAAAAAOqw/dq_rBD4oVcoJxuAL97Td7w-B3Ojbx3U9gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h294/Observing%2Bseals%2BJune%2B16%252C%2B2020-Richard%2BBangert.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo by <span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Richard Bangert</span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></span><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It's not an easy place to find for non-locals like me, but find it I did.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span>A short walk on the San Francisco Bay Trail brought me to a good spot to view </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">the only custom-built haul out designed for harbor seals in the world, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">the only spot in the East Bay between Yerba Buena Island and Newark where they haul out.</span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">They like it. When we humans were social distancing, the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Alameda Point Harbor Seal Monitors counted 86 seals piled onto the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">500-square-foot raft on December 14. That's a lot of seals.</span></span></p><p><a href="https://www.sfestuary.org/estuary-news-nourishing-encinal-beach/"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Read about it in <i>Estuary News</i> here.</span></a></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p></div>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-43319259579535321982021-02-04T12:02:00.006-08:002021-02-09T17:01:59.865-08:00Forging Layered Trails of History<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">When I'm hiking on a trail steeped in history, I like to think of the history as layers beneath my feet.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I contemplate the people who lived there along with the corresponding natural and cultural histories, and then with my imagination place them in layers and set them in motion all at once. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Read my latest in the Bay Area Monitor, <a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/forging-layered-trails-of-history/">Forging Layered Trails of History</a>, that highlights the San Francisco Bay Trail in Richmond, Big Basin Redwood State Park, and Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yoxnpJsjPDU/YBxRsZDrXGI/AAAAAAAAOlI/7myNHuZTbQQe23loiZtZJ06ZFExXCdCfQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/RTTrail%2526SmTreGeorge%2B-%2BCropped.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1847" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yoxnpJsjPDU/YBxRsZDrXGI/AAAAAAAAOlI/7myNHuZTbQQe23loiZtZJ06ZFExXCdCfQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/RTTrail%2526SmTreGeorge%2B-%2BCropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi<br />by Aleta George</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-77146772208532377262021-01-26T16:23:00.006-08:002021-01-27T10:34:25.579-08:00Slow Bells Could Not Prevent Ferry Disaster<p><span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Today’s
ferryboat commuters and recreational passengers can relax and enjoy the expansive
views of the San Francisco Bay, trusting that technology will keep them safe from
collision with other vessels.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EVO_Zo1lNBg/YBCyGOSrHMI/AAAAAAAAOio/v0L0TJefbosoKDdnuhp5MmNg2iRGXcWXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG-3364.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Aleta George</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;">In addition to traveling in designated lanes, modern
ferryboat captains can rely on radar, electronic chart plotters, an automatic identification
system, and backup from the U.S. Coast Guard. “These safeguards reduce chances of a collision to as close
to zero as you’re going to get,” says Jim Swindler, deputy general manager of the
ferry division of Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span>These
technologies were absent during the ferryboat heyday when as many as 25 ferry
companies crisscrossed the bay transporting people, goods, livestock, and even
railroad cars. </span></span><span>From
the 1850s until the Golden Gate and San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridges were
built, a captain relied on a compass and his senses </span><span>in fair or foul weather</span><span>,
skills that proved inadequate to prevent the worst ferryboat collision on the
San Francisco Bay.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jlsltlpJoys/YBCqjnxjBnI/AAAAAAAAOiU/hZH2v8RrMAUuMVr-qlsgbgaRF-fomNu2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/1984.154.c.Sausalito%2Bfer251-WEB-SausalitoHistoricalSociety.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jlsltlpJoys/YBCqjnxjBnI/AAAAAAAAOiU/hZH2v8RrMAUuMVr-qlsgbgaRF-fomNu2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1984.154.c.Sausalito%2Bfer251-WEB-SausalitoHistoricalSociety.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">The <i>Sausalito</i>, Sausalito Historical Society</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="text-indent: 48px;">On Saturday, November 30, 1901, i</span>n
tule fog denser than anyone remembered having seen, the 1766-ton </span><span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Sausalito</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> left its Marin County slip 90
minutes after sunset. Five minutes later, the 692-ton,
jewel-box </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">San Rafael</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> cast off from
San Francisco with an unusually large number of children who had been to the
matinees.</span></span></span><div><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Steaming against a strong ebb tide, the captains of the </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Sausalito</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> and </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">San Rafael</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> plowed their usual routes across the bay under slow bells,
a go-easy signal rung from a device on the bridge known as an engine order
telegraph that communicated the desired speed of a vessel to the engine room. By
necessity, captains and their crews were fluent in the language of bells, and knew the meaning of whistles blasted from other vessels that told of a
boat’s location and a pilot’s intentions.</span></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBxJJ9vdGdY/YBCo-IGmdoI/AAAAAAAAOiA/YtUpR3CJv_EbAiVfNYbpKKw11IxplzdqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1109/James%2BBard%2Bof%2BSan%2BRafael.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="1109" height="195" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBxJJ9vdGdY/YBCo-IGmdoI/AAAAAAAAOiA/YtUpR3CJv_EbAiVfNYbpKKw11IxplzdqQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h195/James%2BBard%2Bof%2BSan%2BRafael.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">The <i>San Rafael</i>, James Bard, 1877</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>The pilothouses were dark as was the custom at night, and crew members
were stationed on </span><span>deck, their ears strained to hear other vessels. Somewhere
near Alcatraz Island, with both ferries blasting their whistles, the </span><i>Sausalito</i><span>
and </span><i>San Rafael</i><span> were upon each other. Both ferries ordered three reverse bells,
but it was too late. The </span><i>Sausalito</i><span> rammed
into the side of the </span><i>San Rafael, </i><span>fatally
pinning a waiter in the restaurant beneath crushed timber. Another passenger,
who lost an ear from a felled post, later said he’d still have two ears if he
had been in the bar where he belonged.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>The
crews acted quickly. They tied the boats together and laid a plank so that the
passengers on the sinking </span><i>San Rafael</i><span> could board the </span><i>Sausalito</i><span>. During the 20-minute rescue, the
majority of the 250 passengers on the </span><span>keeling boat</span><span> stepped safely onto the </span><i>Sausalito</i><span>, but about eighty souls fell
into the icy water, either upon impact or because they jumped in panic.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cUkW900Rtf4/YBGxdh9NtkI/AAAAAAAAOi0/e-PokE5eqHQZOdDj7gZghmDxk8MJEUeyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/SF-Call-ferry-crash-image-12.1-PP-lighter.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1347" data-original-width="2048" height="263" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cUkW900Rtf4/YBGxdh9NtkI/AAAAAAAAOi0/e-PokE5eqHQZOdDj7gZghmDxk8MJEUeyQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h263/SF-Call-ferry-crash-image-12.1-PP-lighter.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>San Francisco Call</i>, November 31, 1901</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>The
ferries launched rescue boats and lowered lanterns to pluck swimmers out of the
dark water</span><span>. One man was close to losing
consciousness before he was rescued. Another wasn’t so lucky. His life-jacketed
body was found on Angel Island a few days later. Without a detailed passenger
list, the number of casualties could only be estimated, with up to five people reported
dead.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>The
</span><i>San Rafael</i><span> went down with her
lights still burning, but the </span><i>Sausalito</i><span>
returned to work. Four years later, Jack London transformed the infamous
ferry boat accident into a dramatic opening for one of his bestselling novels, </span><i>The Sea Wolf</i><span>.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>In
1934, a year after the bridges opened, the Sportsmen Yacht Club moved the
retired </span><i>Sausalito</i><span> to Antioch, where the bar is still open to members.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usSMNIktSL4/YBCrJ7ySycI/AAAAAAAAOic/Qq25AOJT2XguIeMBSChjXhR5-cUU7vjFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2016/Sausalito%2BPilot%2Bhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usSMNIktSL4/YBCrJ7ySycI/AAAAAAAAOic/Qq25AOJT2XguIeMBSChjXhR5-cUU7vjFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sausalito%2BPilot%2Bhouse.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Sausalito pilot house, drydocked in Antioch.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>Although
the popularity and use of ferries is nowhere near what it was in its heyday, usage
will likely increase due to the passage of Regional Measure 3 in 2018, which
calls for an expanded regional ferry system</span><span style="background: white;">. And when the fog rolls in, as it inevitably will,
Golden Gate’s Swindler says that even with all the layers of advanced
technology, ferryboat captains will continue to put staff on the bridge to
“look and listen.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A longer version of this article by Aleta George was originally published in the December 2020 issue of <a href="https://www.sfestuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EstuaryNewsDec2020.pdf#page=4" target="_blank"><i>Estuary News</i></a>.</span></span></p></div>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-37633370204591697462020-12-01T12:35:00.003-08:002020-12-01T12:39:51.389-08:00Lockstep with Nature: A new bill will help veterans find healing outside<p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #282828; line-height: 1.66em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6R-Qmm_M5XM/X8akcqe_I6I/AAAAAAAAOaA/5b2Xy2U7glUACvEiXPmcgoDXhFYWJrMwQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Argento-Bhavya%2BThyagarajan%2BPhotogrpahy.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6R-Qmm_M5XM/X8akcqe_I6I/AAAAAAAAOaA/5b2Xy2U7glUACvEiXPmcgoDXhFYWJrMwQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Argento-Bhavya%2BThyagarajan%2BPhotogrpahy.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Veteran Maury Argento</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by </span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Bhavya Thyagarajan Photography</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">United States Army veteran Maury Argento prefers to get her
exercise outside.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">Sometimes she hikes with her family, but more often than not
this businesswoman and mom climbs San Francisco’s hills and outdoor stairways
with her two dogs and infant child. Captain Argento has been out of the
military for nearly 15 years, after having served for six years with
specializations in weapons of mass destruction and communications.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">Primarily
stationed in Germany, she was also deployed to a Saudi Arabia combat zone for a
time, and after returning to civilian life was diagnosed with post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. “I was on medication, but the most
effective thing for me has always been exercise and being outdoors. I suffer
substantially if I don’t get exercise and get outside,” she said.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Argento found her way outdoors for healing, but not all
vets do. More of them may be following in her footsteps, however, thanks to
the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2435" target="_blank"><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors (AVRO) Act</span></a>.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #282828; line-height: 1.66em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/lockstep-with-nature/">Read the full story at <i>Bay Area Monitor.</i></a></span></span></div><p></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-21989188531152066232020-10-08T14:42:00.004-07:002021-01-28T17:30:50.460-08:00Imperiled Islands of the San Francisco Bay<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gPaYzCDjyfs/X39ov0SFjvI/AAAAAAAAONg/TsHTz02iXbwgaAdUEvwhmMbv5hdv89tPwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/camp-reynolds-for-web.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gPaYzCDjyfs/X39ov0SFjvI/AAAAAAAAONg/TsHTz02iXbwgaAdUEvwhmMbv5hdv89tPwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/camp-reynolds-for-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Climate change and sea level rise are not going away, even as we cope with everything else. That is why, when my editor Alec MacDonald and I discussed topics for the October/November issue of </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Bay Area Monitor</i><span style="font-family: verdana;">, we settled on the effects of sea-level rise on the islands in the San Francisco Bay </span><span style="font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">islands that I love, either those we all visit like Angel Island, or those we look at from afar by land or ferry, knowing they are vital habitat for birds.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is no topic more important than climate change. We need to see it and think about it. We need to make changes now for our kids, our grandkids, and all the young adults who feel adrift about their future.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">That's why I wanted to write about the islands in the bay and how they will be affected by sea-level rise. This is home for us and we need to look at the changes that are coming with eyes wide open. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4379315581602447882/2198918853115206623#">Read the article here.</a></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">Photo courtesy of the Angel Island Conservancy.</span></i></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-67285295804741512092020-09-30T16:18:00.002-07:002021-01-26T14:11:53.104-08:00Jack London and his wife Charmian roam the San Francisco Bay circa 1910<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gis_pupWEvk/X3UPmyUwzOI/AAAAAAAAOLs/r7uXDz7Sp3wHPhbc8xd_SBKvQ9JJtbWZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1724/10-1-Roamer-p16003coll7_7270_full-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1724" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gis_pupWEvk/X3UPmyUwzOI/AAAAAAAAOLs/r7uXDz7Sp3wHPhbc8xd_SBKvQ9JJtbWZQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h258/10-1-Roamer-p16003coll7_7270_full-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Jack London aboard the </i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Roamer</span><i style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">. Courtesy of<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.</span></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jack London was known for his world adventures,
but his training ground — and lifelong love — was the San Francisco Bay. As a boy he learned to
sail a skiff in the Oakland Estuary, and at sixteen he ran with the oyster pirates before
jumping ship to crew for the California Fish Patrol. London
wrote </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">The Sea Wolf </i><span style="font-family: verdana;">aboard a sailboat purchased from the sale
of </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Call of the Wild</i><span style="font-family: verdana;">, and in his final years he and his wife, Charmian, spent a month a year exploring and feasting on the bay and in the Delta</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span></div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">"Always I come back to
the sea,” wrote London. “In my case it is usually [the] San Francisco Bay, than
which no lustier, tougher sheet of water can be found for small-boat sailing.”*</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Charmian-Kittredge-London-Trailblazer-Adventurer/dp/0806167130" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="907" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5iywlEDGHO0/X3UKPVSo7nI/AAAAAAAAOLU/q7N2jNnsd58FiJRPsGJxxQC_H6xLqILRwCLcBGAsYHQ/w133-h200/Charmian%2BKittridge%2BLondon%2BBook%2Bimage.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">One of the primary sources for my book in progress about Jack London and the San Francisco Bay is Charmian Kittridge London's diaries. To coincide with the publication of the first full-length biography of Charmian London (written by friend and colleague Iris Jamahl Dunkle), I wrote an article for <i>Estuary News</i> about Jack and Charmian's explorations of the bay from 1910-1914.</span></div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.sfestuary.org/londons-roam-and-feast-on-the-bay-circa-1910/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Read my article in <i>Estuary News</i> here.</span></a></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small;">* London, Jack, "The Joy of Small-boat Sailing," Country Life in America, August 1, 1912</span><i style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px rgb(226, 226, 226); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></i></div></div>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-57390468929789837492020-08-12T18:16:00.002-07:002020-08-12T18:17:28.688-07:00Waves of grain<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">During the COVID-19 pandemic, baking has become a popular and passionate pastime for countless people sheltering in place. They might not be aware, however, that every time they measure out another cup of flour, they have a chance to support California agriculture.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n43123wHxYE/XzSRbzNt5mI/AAAAAAAAOCU/PLFUEBKLuX4gwoh_jkTzwm1S09LZdxE2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/13%2BWeeks%2BHourani%2Bbeautiful%2Bblue%2Bgreen%2Bhue.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n43123wHxYE/XzSRbzNt5mI/AAAAAAAAOCU/PLFUEBKLuX4gwoh_jkTzwm1S09LZdxE2QCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h384/13%2BWeeks%2BHourani%2Bbeautiful%2Bblue%2Bgreen%2Bhue.jpeg" width="512" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #282828;">Hourani wheat grown by </span><span style="color: #222222;">Honoré Farm and Mill at </span><span style="color: #282828;">HomeFarm in Healdsburg.<br />(Photo courtesy of </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Honoré Farm and Mill)</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="color: #282828; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/waves-of-grain/" target="_blank">For this article in the Bay Area Monitor</a><span style="color: #282828;"> I interviewed three California farmers who grow wheat for bread making:</span></span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fritz Durst of <a href="http://stewards.farmland.org/farm/tule-farms/" target="_blank">Tule Farms</a> is a fifth-generation farmer with a large grain-growing operation about 90 miles northeast of San Francisco.</span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.froghollow.com/" target="_blank">Frog Hollow Farm</a> in Brentwood planted white Sonora wheat flour on land slated for a new nectarine orchard this year. Sonora wheat is a heritage grain with a two-hundred-year history in the Americas.</span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://honoremill.org/" target="_blank">Honoré Farm & Mill</a> also grows organic wheat, but they have a higher calling: to re-connect people to land and community.</span></span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #282828;">I had fun writing this piece and learned a ton. As Elizabeth DeRuff, president and agricultural chaplain of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Honoré Farm and Mill told me, "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Wheat is an unbelievable topic!"</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Right she is!</span></span></div><p></p><p></p><div><span style="color: #282828; font-family: Open Sans;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-19086698381342847652020-04-22T08:36:00.000-07:002020-04-22T08:36:46.523-07:00Happy 50th Earth Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“There is a new level of emotional intensity now that climate change has gone from a distant threat to a clear and present danger,” said <i>Sierra</i> magazine editor Jason Mark of the young people who took to the streets last year for the climate strike. “They’re pissed off — there’s no other way to characterize it. Young people feel like their very future, if not their current present, is on the line.”</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DWeFiCdZN_M/XqBfSVDD9sI/AAAAAAAANnU/MZ2mfxpOudIyKz_EPkNL_kq3ygPGkuM1wCEwYBhgL/s1600/Earth%2BDay%2BSources-Head%2Bshots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="1600" height="132" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DWeFiCdZN_M/XqBfSVDD9sI/AAAAAAAANnU/MZ2mfxpOudIyKz_EPkNL_kq3ygPGkuM1wCEwYBhgL/s400/Earth%2BDay%2BSources-Head%2Bshots.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #282828;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark was one of my interviewees for <a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/earth-day-at-50-mulling-the-blue-marbles-next-half-century/" target="_blank">"Earth Day at 50: Mulling the Blue Marble's Next Half Century,"</a> a piece I wrote for the <i>Bay Area Monitor</i> to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #282828;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked several noted environmentalists working in different fields — </span></span><span style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">U.S. Forest Service filmmaker Steve Dunsky, author Mary Ellen Hannibal, </span><span style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">editor and urban farmer Mark, and Ph.D. candidate C.N.E. Corbin — about the history and importance of Earth Day, and the role it might play in the next 50 years.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Earth Day is a timeout to consider our fundamental reliance on earth and its natural systems, and then to consider what we can do individually, or ideally collectively, to safeguard those systems,” said Mark.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Earth Day, a day to appreciate our Blue Marble and what we can do to protect it.</span></div>
Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-49192940556395029482020-03-24T15:54:00.000-07:002020-03-24T15:54:41.478-07:00Time Travel on the San Francisco Bay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Few boats on the San Francisco Bay can
claim to be time machines, but that’s just how <i>East Bay Yesterday</i> podcaster Liam O’Donoghue, tour guide of
the Oakland and Richmond historical waterfronts, views the <i>Pacific Pearl</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxEFhy3MF94/XnqO5OIdkRI/AAAAAAAANNs/3dn9LyTPbcAZOVV86JhpY75_j-UEyS3MwCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoB3yWwhZ2Uy3AwnKbXmaAhQ0K1icNBtiwQWbmdZF2osUkggDn_PDhZpIM5XozSX3bzrQGFbRzkLr4dgsBLBdNgK-Xj4GdIKplF2iVvnYgV8VnluNK7YZZLF84fB5Y05Xs3N4G9-dbD9t0PcK1BW_cgX4a-g-PLGQDjpJCqH4SXJ80CneEl9KxhDItsbQweX0AaGfwgjPbuyahtfbJhC6HnntfIFUWrLhlsYbSN7HYddLMUirYA6BG7wfqn9GsRploidhVIeV8mff1hU9Xy9Di80cmN1gjQI_pkdaAscoyiU4e1cd27pcfHXxOjV_uH9RwiRF5DmODHtsX_xo3mtjLMzfMF9otEfUTHOiuee9knkXZCNf7McsVmhNKkqqjZBFlSIMT8cNp6ar9XtpKkMpiGLiaUoxlk5tNh14INegL2-D6doQKGBHWFpwiBw5l9qYoJu4a6cIJIN5C7JgzPj-OLANTqcPjVTqcVEngMSQgun_wMVbc_u5YbpRjDDSWFcAnjqCc-teYwCfOtxRbLagY1vd1n7O8sq1OM1o4enQmQ5r0o4C4b4FC_iJ8LN-1AtaQwW-dJpuIZ4C2M9bkBX4BEX5hJ3r4r8dmowsaDq8wU/s1600/AG%2Bboat%2Btours%2BDave%2BAleta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxEFhy3MF94/XnqO5OIdkRI/AAAAAAAANNs/3dn9LyTPbcAZOVV86JhpY75_j-UEyS3MwCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoB3yWwhZ2Uy3AwnKbXmaAhQ0K1icNBtiwQWbmdZF2osUkggDn_PDhZpIM5XozSX3bzrQGFbRzkLr4dgsBLBdNgK-Xj4GdIKplF2iVvnYgV8VnluNK7YZZLF84fB5Y05Xs3N4G9-dbD9t0PcK1BW_cgX4a-g-PLGQDjpJCqH4SXJ80CneEl9KxhDItsbQweX0AaGfwgjPbuyahtfbJhC6HnntfIFUWrLhlsYbSN7HYddLMUirYA6BG7wfqn9GsRploidhVIeV8mff1hU9Xy9Di80cmN1gjQI_pkdaAscoyiU4e1cd27pcfHXxOjV_uH9RwiRF5DmODHtsX_xo3mtjLMzfMF9otEfUTHOiuee9knkXZCNf7McsVmhNKkqqjZBFlSIMT8cNp6ar9XtpKkMpiGLiaUoxlk5tNh14INegL2-D6doQKGBHWFpwiBw5l9qYoJu4a6cIJIN5C7JgzPj-OLANTqcPjVTqcVEngMSQgun_wMVbc_u5YbpRjDDSWFcAnjqCc-teYwCfOtxRbLagY1vd1n7O8sq1OM1o4enQmQ5r0o4C4b4FC_iJ8LN-1AtaQwW-dJpuIZ4C2M9bkBX4BEX5hJ3r4r8dmowsaDq8wU/s320/AG%2Bboat%2Btours%2BDave%2BAleta.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dave and Aleta George on Fish Emeryville's </i>Pacific Pearl <i>in the<br />Oakland Estuary.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“In day-to-day life we look at the world
in a three-dimensional view,” he says, “but when you know history, you can look
at it through four dimensions because you can see into the past using your
imagination.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">O'Donoghue has been leading historical tours of the East Bay waterfronts with Fish Emeryville. Although the tours have been cancelled for now due to the coronavirus, you can engage in some arm-chair travel on the bay by <a href="https://www.sfestuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EstuaryNewsMar2020.pdf#page=26" target="_blank">reading my article in <i>Estuary News</i></a>--and stick a pin in it for when the tours start up again!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4379315581602447882.post-71313722411714083772020-02-04T18:40:00.002-08:002020-10-26T14:44:01.484-07:00Whose space? Our space! Voicing democracy on the public commons <div class="gmail_default">
<span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;">“Public space, by its very nature and construct, is the neutral common ground that we the people own and fund collectively,” said Nidhi Gulati at <a href="https://www.pps.org/" target="_blank">Project for Public Spaces</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;">, a nonprofit that creates community-based public places. “It’s the most rightful place for us to occupy as members of a civil society to express our opinions.”</span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/whose-space-our-space-voicing-democracy-on-the-public-commons/" target="_blank">Read my latest</a> for the <i>Bay Area Monitor</i> in which I interview Bay Area Women's March organizers and discuss civic open spaces as places for the citizenry to exercise their First Amendment Rights.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uF2gFNm66hA/XjoqevDr9nI/AAAAAAAANEI/VSa8TStCF5MCeDcsCpD0XpDQ37CEttSpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-3459-web.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="640" height="432" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uF2gFNm66hA/XjoqevDr9nI/AAAAAAAANEI/VSa8TStCF5MCeDcsCpD0XpDQ37CEttSpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG-3459-web.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Aleta George taken at Women's March Contra Costa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">This article appears in the <a href="https://bayareamonitor.org/article/whose-space-our-space-voicing-democracy-on-the-public-commons/" target="_blank">League Centennial Special Edition</a> of the Bay Area Monitor, a publication of the League of Women Voters of the Bay Area.</span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div>
Aleta Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06061732763676544049noreply@blogger.com0