Fourth of July, 2018
Category: Hope
Tourist Tuesday, 4/3/18
I took a closer look at thepresentation MCCVB made at the last BSMBAAC meeting. While I can see the need for a “Destination Master Plan” for Monterey County, I think we need a separate and community oriented, implemented, and managed Sustainable Destination Stewardship Program/Plan for Big Sur. In discussions with Tammy Blount of MCCVB, she has agreed that a separate, “special” forum should be held for Big Sur. I look forward to working with Tammy and finding a common vocabulary which will strengthen our sense of community here in Big Sur – the crown jewel of Monterey County.
A “Master Plan” reminds me too much of dystopian novels like 1984, Brave New World, Handmaiden’s Tale, Soylent Green, etc. Personally, I think the Sustainable and Stewardship components of any plan are critical to how we approach the issue of sustainability of both the community and the environment of Big Sur as tourism continues to increase exponentially. The focus needs to shift from making money to sustaining the sense of place, in my opinion. Making money is only relevant if it is used to enhance the experience – not profit from it. I also see that Big Sur needs a bigger voice in any planning endeavor. Big Sur needs to take the lead in any efforts to “market” her unique beauty, and if necessary, tell others she is not for sale. Several members of the board of CPOA are willing and delighted to work with us on creating an entity for such a purpose.
Naming, to me, helps to define, refine, and focus our goals so we don’t get distracted from the purpose we have for going forward, obtaining financing, other backing, and instituting meaningful change to save our community and place while we share it with visitors. Also, it will help establish the roles of all our various governmental and non-governmental agencies who claim a stakehold in Big Sur by helping them to fulfill their management plans and see the many ways each is compatible with the others. We need to get away from the singularity which defines each government agency and begin to see our Big Sur Coast as a holistic entity, entitled to the protection she needs and deserves.
Here is a quarterly event that MCCVB hosts that addresses this issue:
The above is a screen shot, so the registration button is not “live.” Here is a link you can go to to register for the Sustainable Moments marketing forum: Sustainable Moments Quarterly Forum. I have signed up to attend, and will report back after the Forum. Marcus Foster has also indicated he is interested in attending. I would encourage all of you interested in the future of Big Sur and her tourism component to come to this forum to listen, learn, and contribute, if appropriate. Big Sur is the driving force behind tourism for the entire Monterey Peninsula. It is time we have a bigger voice that is heard.
Next week, I will seek out information on how to work with and organize all the diverse stakeholders present in Big Sur. Thanks to others in the community with whom I have had conversations, I am convinced that the MCCVB is NOT the appropriate entity to spear head an issue to preserve and protect Big Sur, and am looking at a whether a disinterested outside consultant might be the way to go, along with formulating a non-profit Big Sur entity capable of grant-writing, funding a consultant, fund-raising, organizing, and implementing a long-term plan that incorporates all the various interlocking pieces that comprise Big Sur and make her who she is. If you want to be a part of this process, please let me know how you see yourself contributing, either in the comments or via email to kwnovoa@mac.com
I had not intended to make this portion of my blog a full-time endeavor, but that is what it is becoming. Big Sur needs protecting and all of us must become proactive in this. All the individual concerns we have: bathrooms, traffic, degradation of the wilderness, camping, enforcement, tourists who drive Highway One (poorly), but don’t spend here, preserving our community, work-force housing, our history, protecting our environment and so much more are pieces of this much larger puzzle. Join us in becoming a part of the solution, instead of just bitching. Let’s save the love of our lives and our home, Mama Sur.
Cancer Society Annual Fashion Show
Local Cancer Survivors Celebrate Life
Models use runway to share their inspiring stories
SALINAS, CA, February 14, 2018- The American Cancer Society’s annual Celebration of Life Fashion Show takes place Wednesday March 14th, 2018. All of the people modeling are local cancer survivors willing to share their cancer journey to inspire others and create awareness in the community. The 24th annual Celebration of Life Fashion Show ‘Under The Big Top’ includes a silent auction, raffle and luncheon.
Sponsorships are still needed, the deadline for sponsorship is March 5th. Many local businesses are long time sponsors and generous donors to the American Cancer Society’s Celebration of Life Fashion Show including Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Taylor Farms, Rabobank, RC Farms, Sammut Brothers, Church Brothers Farms, Pinnacle Bank and Salinas Valley Plastic Surgery Associates. The models will be modeling the latest fashion from the following stores: Chartreuse, Debra C., J. Jill, J. McLaughlin, Sylvie Unique Boutique, and Khaki’s of Carmel.
The 24th annual Celebration of Life fashion show takes place Wednesday, March 14 at the Monterey Hyatt Regency in Monterey. Doors open at 10:30 am for the silent auction. For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.acscelebration.org.
Happy New Year’s
From my house to yours…blessings for the joy of a new year.
Soberanes Fire Rebirth
Gorgeous photo by my friend, Michael Troutman. Thank you for letting me “borrow” it. Time for a bit of good news and renewed hope. Life finds a way …
These are the beginnings of the new growth of the mighty Coastal Redwoods. Ah … I can breathe again!
The beginning of bigsurkate, the blog
Used to be, all my readers knew how this site came to be. Now, only a few do. I started this blog 8 years ago because I got pissed off at the sheriff. It’s not wise to piss off a lawyer who has made her living going up against various forms of the government, especially law enforcement. If you want to read the early entries, go to the pull-down menu to the right for archives, and pull down and click on July 2008. I wrote over 50 entries that month. Eight years later, I have written 2,747 entries. Damn, how did that happen? I have had over a million, 100 thousand views. I thought this blog would have closed after the Basin Fire, but the Chalk Fire came on its heels, and by then the die was cast.
I got pissed off because of this:
Note the date and the time of this. 6 pm on the eve of a 3 day weekend. I got a copy on July 4 – Independence Day. I was pissed and went into overdrive. I stayed awake for almost 24 hours in order to combat this order and to learn how to blog. (It wasn’t as easy back then as it is now.) On July 5, 2008, I published both my first and second blog posts. This was the first:
“I began this blog, after 2 weeks of inundating everyone’s mailbox with news, links, editorials, and photos of the massive Big Sur Fire of 2008. I decided a blog might be a better venue for us all to stay connected, share information, and remain informed. PLUS, I got totally frustrated when my email send function became so erratic. I can receive, but sending is completely hit and miss. I am hoping the email fairy visits me soon!😉
I will also be posting some of my photographs, also, as and when I can.
Welcome! Once the fire is past, I will convert this to random musings, I suppose, or it will evolve into something else.”
Boy did it ever evolve into something else – something I could not even imagine back then.
A year later, I recounted as best I could, what happened those first few days. I wrote:
“July 4, 2008 – I cannot find my notes, and I did not write in my journal for much of July, as I was far too busy, but I started my blog one year ago tomorrow, so some of the story about last Independence Day was reported then. I am recreating the day, based primarily on a memory with holes in it – swiss cheese holes – a moth-eaten sweater. I also have no photographs taken that day, at least that I can find. The road was closed, as previously posted.
When I first got a copy of the 409.5 memo on 7/4, I called OES (Office of Emergency Services), and they had a Commander Teter of the MCSO call me back. When I got no satisfactory explanation about the issuance of the memo, other than it was to “educate” the Big Sur community about the power the MCSO had, I was furious. The MCSO was flexing its muscles and declaring a police-state in Big Sur, and fully intended on arresting who ever got in their way.
It was a holiday. Everything was closed. What could I do? The only places open were newsrooms. Having lived and worked in Monterey County, much of that in the justice system, I knew I needed to go outside of the county. I called the LA Times newsroom and the SF Chronicle newsroom. I posted something on surfire2008.org. Before my post was removed from surfire2008, Deborah Schoch, a staff reporter from the LA Times called. After speaking with her for some time, I got her phone numbers, and said I’d pass it on to a member of the Curtis family who was not in Big Sur, and if they wanted, they could pass it on to Micah and Ross. This resulted in more phone calls, and more long conversations with Curtis family members and LA Times reporter, Eric Bailey. Only a few days later, he and Deborah Schoch published a 3-page article about the police state in Big Sur. It is no longer accessible unfortunately.
This was the start of the battle between Big Sur Locals and the Mike Kanalakis, Sheriff of Monterey County. Kanalakis also made the mistake of taking on Cachagua in Carmel Valley. Both were big mistakes.
Thanks to Jim Kimball for archiving posts from surfire2008 and other sources, we have an excellent record of all that happened on this day last year. It was a busy day, with reports from locals coming in up and down the coast all day long. Let’s not forget what it was like to live in this police state from July 3, 2008 to July 8, 2008, when the road opened to locals and their employees, and July 11, 2008 when the road opened completely.
Go to this link, and scroll down. It is arranged as all blogs tend to be, with the older posts first, or backwards chronology. Just scroll down to July 4th and start reading. It is fascinating:
http://www.surcoast.com/Info_Update_OLD.html
So, Big Sur, and lovers of Big Sur, we celebrate our independence, along with our country’s independence and may we never forget the battles we have fought against oppressive government entities in both 1776 and in 2008. Happy Independence Day. Keep strong, and battle on when needed.
Believe
Veterans Day
This is my annual Veterans Day post.
In 1967, the Summer of Love was over. Viet Nam protests were barely beginning, and I found myself in unusual circumstances in an unusual time, and so I joined the USWACs.
The Army was segregated in those days — not by race, but by sex. All WAC training was held at Ft. McClellan, AL and so the Army flew me out to begin my training. It was in Alabama, in 1967 that I first observed racial segregation. I saw “whites-only” bathrooms and water faucets. They were NOT just a “left-over” relic from an earlier and sad time. They were a commentary on how far we still had to come, and have come. Racial segregation, at least not overt, was minimal in California. It was still rampant in Alabama when I was there.
In 1968 I was stationed at Ft. Huachuca, AZ at the Combat Surveillance School/Training Center Headquarters. (Spook School) I was on my way home to California when an automobile accident almost took my life, and did take my leg.
I ended up at the Veteran’s Hospital in West LA, associated with UCLA medical center. The medical care there was the best available. What wasn’t the best, was how they treated women veterans. We were a rarity, and the VA was not set up to deal with us.
There were no changing rooms for physical therapy for women vets, and I was the only one in the program. They had me use a broom closet. I was in therapy with a few WWII vets, but mostly with Viet Nam vets, youngsters like me, who had been blown up in the war – had lost one or both legs, one or both arms, or some combination of amputations. It was a difficult time, but that was 45 years ago.
Today, we honor our veterans, from all wars, across time and oceans and death. Today, I’d like to pay tribute to all veterans, but especially to my deceased step-father, Bruce Mises, a veteran, who died at the age of 93.
Bruce was an incredible man. He was a Jew. He escaped Auschwitz (actually from a train as they were transferring him) and was smuggled out through Hungary to the United States. He lost his entire family to the Nazis. When he got to the United States, he joined the Army and they sent him to Africa to be an interpreter. He did not like to talk about his experiences during WWII. They were not pleasant. He just did what he had to do, and then gave back to his “adopted” country.
It is veterans like Him, and all the others I have had the pleasure of knowing, through service, and Veteran’s Hospitals, and Clinics that I salute today. I am one of you, and as long as I live, I will not forget. Welcome home, soldiers. You are safe, now.
Missy, the Mystery Dog, part 2
Trying to learn who she is, and I am learning she is the sweetest, smartest dog I have ever had find me. I will never know how she came to me. I wish I could read her mind better. She has become thoroughly, and completely attached. She needs to stay close to me, or watch me, constantly. I cannot go to the bathroom alone … reminds me of when my kids were little. It is only when I am safely in bed does she lay on her own bed, right near mine. I know she doesn’t talk, except through her eyes, and her behavior. She still is not barking or otherwise making any sounds. I wish I were a better dog whisperer.
I took her to the vet Wednesday. She did not want to get in the car, and then, when she did, with much help from me, she shook for the first 1/2 hour or more. After I got her in the car at home, she wanted out, so I was concerned about stopping anywhere, lest she try to escape. She never did. She found her spot on the passenger side back seat, and was comfortable. She got out easily at the Vet, and was not fearful there. She enjoyed the little girl who wanted to be friends, the staff, who fell in love with her, and the only procedure she objected to was having her temperature taken. We postponed any shots or other things until her next visit in a month.
She played a lot of ball catching with her last owner, per her canine teeth, the vet assistant said. She is not chipped. She is not spayed. Probably not de-barked, just trying to get her confidence about her place in the pack, per the vet. She is between 1 and 2 years old, and in good health, especially considering her travels.
She got back into the car at the vets with confidence, and happily. I wasn’t leaving her.
When we got home, I let her out with the others off leash for the first time. She couldn’t get any privacy to do her “business” so snipped at Gideon. Dakota, Bear, and Missy came in when asked, but I had to put Missy into the bathroom so that Miranda, my most skittish dog, would come in, which I did. Gideon could not be found, until later. Thursday, I let them all out together, and she did really well.
Missy was very insecure, as could be expected, But is adapting very fast. There is a fine line I must tread in making her feel welcome, and making my other dogs not feel displaced. But we made a lot of progress on Thursday. She is not snipping at the others, and is wanting to play with them. The others are not sure, after her initial snarling. We need to work out her place in our pack … Our family. But each day she settles in more and more, finds her place, and everyone becomes a little more comfortable than they were the day before. She and Dakota are deciding who will be number one in this pack. Gideon and the others have always bowed to Dakota’s decisions, so we are 1/2 way there.
I’ve received a few inquiries, but so far, all for males. I have become very attached, just in four days. However, if there is a heartbroken owner out there, I will relinquish her, sadly.
I stopped for lunch at a Chinese buffet. I got two fortune cookies. One said, “a great reward will come to you.” The second said, “do not stray from the path that fate has laid out for you.” I gave Missy the cookies, and decided she is both my fate and my reward. I am just glad a Great Dane or St. Bernard didn’t show up!
The Saga of Missy, the mystery traveler
Well, she easily made it through her first day in her new found home. She has managed to cower all four of my other dogs – individually, and as a pack. Amazing, as they are all twice as big as she is. I imagine her snarling at them, “You ain’t nothin’ I just survived weeks in the wilds with mountain lions, coyotes, and foxes. You think you scare me? Ha, this is MY human now! Know what I went thru to find her? I walked miles and miles through the wilderness. Yup, she’s mine now!” And it is true. She has won my heart. Not over the others, but in addition too. I worked hard all day to make sure the others did not feel neglected. Whew, I had no idea the turn my day would take when I woke up.
She ate 4 cups of dog food yesterday, spread throughout the day so she didn’t get sick. She scarfed the last one as hungrily as she did the first. it will take some time to put all that weight back on, so I may have to add some things to her diet.
I took her out on a leash, twice, and she did very well, although not her “business.” She is either leash trained, or not wanting to get more than inches away from me, borne out by her inside behavior. Not fond of the great outdoors, at the moment. That’s okay. She can have a few mistakes inside, as long as she doesn’t make a habit of it. She gets some special consideration for a while.
She needed constant reassurance yesterday, so my day was completely rearranged to accommodate her needs, assimilate her into my tribe, make her feel safe, above all. She followed me everywhere, and whenever I sat, stood, or walked, she was right there sitting at my feet. She wanted up in my bed, but it is too tall, and I did not want to encourage a tick-infested dog into my bed. So, I laid a big fluffy bath towel near the back window door, where I was within sight. She can watch the world outside and me, too.
I have yet to hear her bark, yelp, or make any sound other than this slight snarl she used with the other dogs to establish her place in the pack. They all listened.
I called the shelters in Monterey and San Luis Obispo, posted everywhere, checked Fido Finder, Craigslist, and did what I could to find her “other” human. I emailed and took calls all day. At sunset, we were all settled in for the night, including the cats.
About 9 pm, Missy started acting a little differently. She gave out a quiet whimper, the only sound I had heard her make all day, with the exception of the quiet little dominance, leave me alone snarls I had heard directed at my dogs. She was wandering through the house, so I decided since she needed to go outside to go potty. I had taken my leg off, was in my pjs, and dogs don’t go out at night up here, due to mountain lions.
I got up, put my leg on, didn’t bother getting dressed, grabbed the leash, led her to the door and opened it. Dakota got out, but Missy took one look at the dark, and decided she didn’t want to go after all. I can only imagine the scary nights she shivered and hid through recently, but I reassured her and led her out. Dakota stayed with us, and Missy stayed close to me. We went to a dirt area, we went to a grassy area. All she did was sit. I gave up and told her we weren’t going out anymore tonight. Then, she looked at me with those sweet, loving eyes again. I pretended I didn’t notice her, and she went back to her spot and laid down. Smart dog.
