A&E

We finally got enough rain to blow out the River. Over five inches fell in the hills above Healdsburg raising the Russian river to just under eight feet for the first time this year. This may be just what the doctor ordered as far as the fish go. The fishermen, many whom have had their way with the fish this year especially in the lower river, will have to wait for the river to clear once again. This will happen up towards Healdsburg by this weekend but for those in the Guerneville area, their days in the sun have passed I am afraid (figuratively and literally). The Russian River Steelhead Season closes to bait fishermen on April 1 and the river will likely not be clear enough down that way before then for anything but bait.

Mary’s son died in Afghanistan a few years ago. Not much later she developed a painful ovarian cyst. She did not want to have surgery. When she came into my office, she was skeptical about the possibility of her son’s death and her cyst being related.

This has got to be the strangest Steelhead season I can ever remember. Back in the 70’s when the “D” word was a common topic at the dinner table I was only fishing in the salt water. My understanding was that the fishing was horrible. There was no hatchery program and the river was a dessert. Then in 1983 Warm Springs Dam was finished and along with it the Hatchery to provide angler mitigation for the loss of habitat and subsequent loss of fish. Since then, we have had rainfalls sufficient to fill the reservoirs and the hatchery has filled the rivers with Steelhead. Often our biggest problem was having too much rain and not having it rain long enough so the rivers would clear so we could fish.

At the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last Tuesday, I chaired a program on Food Addiction. The panel included doctors, clinicians, and scientists from all over the country and Canada. It was an incredible event and everyone learned so much; the physical elements of food addiction such as dopamine release, (ah, pleasure…) the correlation of fats/salt and sugar to food addiction, and certainly the psychology behind food addiction were so interesting. Then there are policy implications by acknowledging food addiction as ‘real’ –a program in itself.  

There is lots going on in the gardening world during March and April. So get ready! Find your gloves and sharpen up your shovels and trowels! March 20 not only features the first day of spring, but also our local California Native Plant Society’s March program! Eliza Shepard will discuss her work on a “Locally Rare Plant Project.” Folks may bring photos of plants they believe should be included as rare plants.