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Most people have heard the slogan “Only rain down the drain” or have seen decals near storm drain inlets with the words “DRAINS TO CREEK, NO DUMPING” on them. And we know what a wonderful environment we have in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties — our rivers and creeks are a major part of what is so great about living here. As you go about your daily tasks at work and home, you want to do what’s right to protect our environment, but sometimes it seems more convenient to overlook the responsible action, or just take a shortcut. It may seem easy to just clean a paint brush or roller with a hose into the street gutter or inlet rather than into the sink. After all, it’s just a little paint. Or when completing the replacement of a portion of a driveway you might be tempted to hose off the excess concrete into the nearby storm drain inlet — what else can you do with it? Let’s say the area around the dumpster or garbage can is getting a little dirty so why not a quick rinse with a hose to clean it up? It goes to a treatment plant, doesn’t it? These are all examples of how waste can end in our creeks.

Driving up the Oregon coast we heard a radio interview with a woman, someone who lived in the far-off troubled Arab world, I think she was Lebanese, saying she takes her family to the beach because people don’t usually bomb beaches. That’s something I never thought about. But here I was imagining a mother grabbing sunhats and sand buckets to take time off from war.

Crowds can be powerful, dangerous, glorious, murderous. Think of the crowds in the streets of cities in the middle east in what has been called the Arab Spring, a spring that has blossomed in hope for justice and freedom, a spring that has also suffered the chill of brutal repression. Think of the crowds of the Occupy events around the US, citizens gathering in protest, in hope, in resentment, and sometimes in crazy violence.

Two big Healdsburg wineries are up for sale right now: the Comstock winery at 1290 Dry Creek Rd., that giant wine-tasting emporium you see on your left as you drive out of town, and the Quivira & LaFollette winery out further in the valley...