Main Street: The jolly old elf
Once upon a time, back in the 1990s, I was asked an unusual question. A nice fellow named Ben used to dress up in a red suit every year and play the role of a cultural icon. He was the star of an annual parade and he handed out candy canes to hundreds of good little girls and boys.
Market Report: An extended market
Hello market friends. I missed my deadline for the column this month, because I was so focused on making sure word got out that we were extending the dates for Saturday market. Yes, for those of you who haven’t kept up with the latest news (in Healdsburg, that is), it’s true. The Healdsburg Farmers’ Market is continuing into December; staying open through the 19th of the month. Not only will we be open three extra weeks, we’re extending the hours slightly as well: staying open until 12:30 p.m. in December, just to catch those of you longing for an extra half hour under the covers. We’ll still be in the West Plaza Parking Lot, where we are all year, so it’ll be easy to find your favorites.
Instant intelligence
We don’t understand all the fuss about distance learning during the pandemic where almost all the schools are forced to remain closed. We should be taking advantage of this unfortunate viral invasion and start making all these school closings permanent. We don’t need schools any more.
A Sonoma Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving we find ourselves living under very stern public health warnings not to travel or gather in large groups due to the continuing spread of coronavirus cases here and almost everywhere across the continent. It looks like there will be no big table gathering at grandma’s house this year. We’ll be in our own homes, trying to make the best of things, adding stuffing a turkey to our other shelter-in-place routines like distance learning, working at home and watching too much TV.
Main Street: Together we … rise?
Like everyone else in this sector of the solar system, I’ve been obsessed with the national elections for the past year, and the results have made me wonder what I believe.
Lies don’t work unless they are believed
In a very alarming development, it has been discovered that all 13 local tax measures that were reported to have passed after election night on Nov. 3 have instead all failed. The staff at the county’s Registrar of Voters’ office, using new computer equipment, entered all of the ballots into the machines with the wrong edges facing to the left. Hence, instead of the tax measures passing by the required two-thirds majority needed, they all actually were defeated by that amount.
