Columns

In January we lost one of our most celebrated agricultural leaders, Richard Kunde. Rich, and his beloved Saralee McClelland Kunde, both from multi-generational Sonoma County families, had the rich qualities of the place of which they were born.

Every so often one of my teenagers does something so endearing, it makes me want to cry. This last Thursday, as my husband packed and left for a second business trip in two weeks, I did just that; cried. I know, I know, probably not the best way to start off the day, but I felt deflated.

On Saturday, Jan. 27, the Windsor Town Council held its annual goal-setting workshop. My personal takeaways were that, at a minimum, three priorities were identified and discussed.

Many lessons were learned from the wildfires of 2017. The most important of which is that any fire, with enough fuel and driven by wind can burn through almost anything. It is never possible to protect your property 100 percent, but there are things you can do with your landscaping to provide your family a fighting chance.

It has been four months since the Oct. 8 north bay wildfires, and we continue to look both backward and forward. The very early steps of rebuilding and recovery have begun. Resources and strategies continue to be bundled. And the drastically altered picture that is Sonoma County’s future is beginning to come into focus. It is both daunting and exhilarating.

“We are born at a given moment, in a given place, and, like vintage years of wine, we have qualities of the year and of the season of which we were born.” – Carl Jung.

At the start of January — just days after the adult use of cannabis became legal in California — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ended the Obama-era guidelines that kept federal agents from interfering in states where medial marijuana was legal. Cannabis stocks declined 21 percent, though they quickly rebounded.

Our community has never been stronger than it is today. We were sorely tested by the fires in October. We’ve been sorely tested ever since, as fire survivors clean up the ashes and rubble of our homes and attempt to keep our focus on the future.

The status quo has got to go. It’s not healthy for the community, doesn’t adequately support our officers and costs the county money. John Mutz is running for Sonoma County Sheriff in order to cultivate a fundamental, long-term, cultural shift — based on community engagement and relationships — to keep our community safer, reduce costs and improve department morale.

Along with acknowledging presidents, Black history, bird feeding, and groundhogs, Feb. is also National Library Lovers month. What’s not to like? Looking for a quiet refuge to contemplate life’s great mysteries, pore over a newspaper or magazine, or research a complicated concept? Drop in, relax and if you need help, ask one of our terrific librarians.