Grocery Shopping Ain't No Fun!

Today, feeling good and optimistic as I usually do, I returned home from an appointment to a message from my 90 year-old mother, 8 hours away in Southern California. She had been grocery shopping and someone stole her wallet from her purse while she was in the store. I could tell she was pretty upset. By the time I called back, a policewoman was at her home taking a report. My mother had already called the bank to put a stop on her debit card. The only other things taken were her ID card, and 20 dollars. She has no idea when her purse was violated. She thought it was close to her all the time. And of course she is trusting, too trusting, and apparently feeling safe in the store environment.

I began to get up tight about it and then thought, wait a minute. She is fine. It could have been worse—she could have been outside of the store and knocked to the ground and injured. So apparently someone thought they needed money worse than she did, (and maybe so). I don't like that the elderly are so vulnerable, yet I do want her, (and others) to have their independence. We soon realized it really didn't matter that much, just a little inconvenience—and another day of shopping as she could not pay for her groceries.

But what her experience brought to mind is what is happening here in California with threats of police officers and firemen being let go because there is no money to pay them. The Sacramento County Sheriff may have to let 200-300 officers go. Other cities are having the same problem. I don’t know if other states are going through this but it is shameful that we have this situation in California. I know one city has been able to avoid layoffs of their police force so far.

When unemployment is so high, new jobs almost nonexistent, people losing their homes, or places to live, it is absolutely no time to cut law enforcement. Crime goes up when people become desperate. We are already seeing that. So we all have to be more careful, more aware.

Live Large and Stay Safe...

~Linda

Return of the Swallows to California

I’ve long remembered the Return of the Swallows to Mission San Juan Capistrano in Southern California on or about St. Joseph’s Day, March 19. The birds have traveled thousands of miles on their migrational flight from South America.

Every year the small town of San Juan Capistrano takes on a fiesta air and tourists and locals gather to witness the “miracle” of the return of the swallows. Apparently each year a few scouts arrive prior to the larger flocks of birds whose main arrival is said to be on the morning of St. Joseph’s Day.

As soon as the birds arrive they begin building or rebuilding their mud nests, which are clinging to the eves, arches, and adobe walls of the old mission chapel founded in 1776 by Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan priest.

The return of the swallows has always been a celebration, a mythical and mystical event, and much appreciated by those who witness it.

But three or so weeks later, 475 miles away, in Auburn, in Northern California, there is little celebration of returning swallows. In fact, some in Auburn are not happy at all to have these birds around the 111 year-old Placer County Courthouse, a place they have nested for many years.

Over the winter, about 100 nests were removed and $36,000 worth of see through black mess–netting was put up around the dome and colonnade to prevent nesting. One local business owner of the Courthouse Coffee shop across the street has enjoyed watching the birds return for several years. Linda Lareau, is quoted in the Auburn Journal as saying, “I say, ‘let them return.’” Others have commented on the apparent frustration of the birds as they are unable to get to their usual nesting place, and still others have said the birds don’t bother them.

Photo by Ben Furtado, Auburn Journal Newspaper

Some may disagree as bird droppings may end up on sidewalks and cars. The swallows and their nest are protected under state and federal law.

Photo by Ben Furtado, Auburn Journal Newspaper

All swallows are included under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 as migratory insectivorous birds and as such are protected by state and federal regulations. It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit. As a result, certain activities affecting swallows are subject to legal restrictions.

The California Department of Fish and Game, the enforcement agency, considers February 15 to September 1 to be the swallow nesting season. Completed nests during this breeding season cannot be touched without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Outside of these dates, the nests can be removed without a permit. During nesting, a permit authorizing nest removal will be issued only if it can be justified by strong, compelling reasons.

Netting can provide a physical barrier between the birds and the nest site. The mesh size should be 1/2 to 3/4 inch; however, 1 inch has been used successfully. If a plastic net is used, it should be attached so that it can be pulled taut. This prevents flapping in the wind, which looks unsightly and results in tangles or breakage at mounting points. The net should not have any loose pockets or wrinkles that could trap and entangle birds. …Attach netting to buildings before the birds arrive and leave it up permanently or remove it after the nesting season

Cliff swallows are found throughout California, except in high mountains and the dry southeastern desert. Four basic conditions are found at all cliff swallow colonies: (1) an open habitat for foraging; (2) a vertical surface beneath an overhang for attaching the nest; (3) a supply of mud that has the proper consistency for nest building; and (4) a body of fresh water for drinking.


Swallows feed on insects. A large part of each day they are in the air catching flies, beetles, and mosquitoes (that should be beneficial for the West Nile threat). Their long, pointed wings give them speed and maneuverability. Normally, they are not seen on the ground except when collecting mud for their nests. Most do not have musical voices but only twitter or squeak.

For a number of years, my family would camp in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains and would fish the Owens River. And under the bridges would be swallow nests and the flickering flight and squeaking of the swallows. The Owens River gave the birds all the mud and water they could have dreamed of. It would be so strange to go there and not see the swallows, the same as it would be if they were gone from San Juan Capistrano and their other habitual nesting places, places they’ve nested for decades, and even centuries.

Auburn is also having other bird problems. Wild turkeys are chasing and attacking people.

Photo by Gus Thomson, Auburn Journal

Could it be the birds in Auburn are talking to each other?

~Linda

So Cal Nancy

My first blog! This should be great fun. North Sister-South Sister, as you may already know, means my sister & I live in opposite parts of California. We also sometimes have opposing views, likes and dislikes. Amazing to have grown up together in southern California during the late 40’s, the 50’s and early 60’s, only 2 years apart and to have developed into two diverse & unique women. I continue to live within 5 miles of where I was born even though I always thought the East Coast was where I belonged. As a wee tike I spoke as a native New Yorker or Bostonian. Maybe a past life? When I visited New England in 1985, I felt like I had come home. I still plan to return there but watching the weather daily in Bar Harbor, Maine, I don’t think I’m a person who would be happy with 7 months of winter.

Having stayed in this area means I have seen enormous growth, change (not all for the better), congestion and influx of so many cultures. One major change is that people have become so rude. Not on a one-to-one basis, but when they are in a group or out in public it seems nobody wants to be accountable for their actions. In the drive thru lane at Starbucks every once in awhile there is a car ahead of me with a driver who is not paying attention to their surroundings and refuse to move up in the lane in a timely fashion. The problem with that is the traffic which is trying to turn in off the street ends up blocking the cars that are trying to get where they’re going. It seems everyone has their iPod or phone in their ear and is in their own little universe. Then there is the person who gets their drink at the pick up window and promptly wads up their receipt and drops it on the ground. Even though there is a trash can past the window for just that purpose.

Who do people think is going to come behind them and pick up their mess? It’s left for all of us to see blowing around on our streets and sitting on and under the shrubs along the roadway. Last week end as I was driving home from my son’s house, in the middle of the street just west of the left turn signal I saw a half full gallon of milk sitting on the pavement. What??? Who would have done that? You have to wonder if it was still cold, or all clumped together and smelly. Would the street sweeper pick that up in the middle of the road like that? The problem with crowded southern California is that there are so many of these instances that it just becomes part of our landscape. And what is familiar, that you see everyday, becomes acceptable.

Nancy February 6, 2007