People have been trying to wrest a living from the nooks and crannies of Plumas County since the last ice age. The Maidu (and the Washoe and Paiute summer visitors) focused on native and cultivated plants, and fish and game. The miners sought gold. The railroaders sought logs out of the backcountry. The ranchers raised crops and livestock on the 250,000 acres of rich meadows. Overwhelming all was the extent of the forest, the bounty of the waters, the beautiful valleys, and a climate that winnows out the weak.
My mom used to take my book away, shove me out the door and lock it behind me, saying “Go play!” I hated it.
Today I recognize the value of that directive, but given a choice, I read; I read a lot — two or more books a week on average.
Not all my reading consists of the masterworks of literature. I like mysteries and thrillers. I read finance, political science, biographies, history, pulp fiction and best-sellers. I’ll read anything that looks interesting.
There’s a well-worn line that “those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it,” along with another about the definition of “insanity” (doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result). Seems like the country is engaged in both. We should stop.
Conservative election victories last fall will make the history books, sure, but they continue an ideologically driven agenda of insanity we’ve seen for 30 years, solving neither the national debt nor the Great Recession. The two lightning rod terms of the day are “taxes” and “deregulation.”
I blame Dorothy really. Be sure to get two Great Pyrenees — a pair will be more of a challenge for predators, she said.
I heard predators, not challenge. Two 70-pound, 6-month-old puppies are more than a challenge for anyone, never mind a predator. I even think they could beat the demon squirrel.
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