Jan,
Holy Smoke!
Yes it is. Bless the A24 Farming, and Dave Roberti. Finally!
The United States census of 1850 counted 8,327 hemp plantations (minimum 3,000 acre farms) growing cannibus hemp for cloth, canvas and cordage used for baling cotton.
Hemp Stead, Long Island; Hemp Stead County, Arkansas; Hempstead, Texas; Hemphill, North Carolina; Hemp Field, Pennsylvania. Get it?
In 1938 Popular Mechanics magazine described hemp as a “billion dollar crop.†It was the first time in American history that the term “billion dollar†was ever applied to any U.S. agricultural crop.
I could go on.
As you know the New Yorker magazine “outted†me recently as a dope smoking biker from Portola,California. Damn right I am, and I have been “ahead of the curve†for 50 years.
I have been trying to tell people that the largest alpine valley at this altitude is a perfect setting for growing hemp in the United States.
Sierra Valley!
Call it Hempleton if you must!
But it will put Loyalton back in the green.
Amazing Feets
Dear Booster,
I found Marvin Reed's letter (June 14, 2018) about bike riders interesting and had some further thoughts. I know some bike riders can be thoughtless and disregard motorist's rights and safety. A number of years ago, I drove big rigs and occasionally had difficulties with cyclists crowding lanes, causing a danger to both of us. I also owned a business in California that paid taxes on 9 trucks, 3 cars and seven trailers. I have also been a lifelong bicyclist and so have an understanding of the cyclist's plight and issues on the road. And while I have heard several people suggest that cyclists don't pay road taxes, I am still an active cyclist and while I only own 6 vehicles these days for which I pay road and gas taxes, I most often take one of those vehicles to the beginning of my bike ride. Most cyclists I know do.
I understand and accept that Marvin's mind won't be changed by this letter, and that there are plenty of folks out there who don't appreciate cyclists, their use of 'our' roads, and what appears to be a different life interest. Still, there are a number of benefits that cyclists bring to communities, since we do drive to our rides, purchase gasoline, food, post ride adult beverages, etc., from local businesses. In some communities that recognize this fact, including Reno (where Marvin lives), a great deal of effort is being put into bringing cyclists into the community, since those communities realize the economic and social benefits.
I have some personal experience with a cycling event that takes place in the Sierra Valley called the 'Tour de Manure' that, despite its humorous name, has been a convener of community and a huge benefit to the local Sierraville Volunteer Fire Department, which just purchased a new first response truck, partly with the proceeds from the Tour de Manure. That truck is often first out on emergency calls and is a significant benefit to the community and visitors alike. So if, in the future, Marvin Reed happens to be visiting the Sierraville area and has a health problem or car accident or fire that requires emergency response, he will most likely be helped by volunteers who help put on that Tour de Manure and who are staffing the first response vehicle partly paid for by cyclists who brought that money from elsewhere into our beautiful valley to enjoy bicycle riding, a fun afterparty and to help our community. And we hope that we have also fostered a greater appreciation between motorists and cyclists who, I believe, are both better for sharing the road.
Thank you,
Michael Hogan
The Climbing Tree
By Hugh Huntley
High in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, mostly over 5,000 feet, the Ponderosa Pine Tree is king. Its wood is desired for making all kinds of products from floors to furniture. The demand for the wood was why so many sawmills were built in the late 1800's.
The Clover Valley Mill in Loyalton was where my dad was 'yard boss' for the dry lumber it produced. He had about a hundred men under him and was liked and respected by all. As his 9 year-old son, I felt 'at home' in the yard.
One sunny May afternoon I went to the yard after school. The day was warm with thin white clouds in the blue sky. My objective was to climb the 80+ foot Pondersoa Pine that stood alone between the apple orchard and the mill pond. Most pine are tall and stately but this one had lower limbs that were accessible.
As I started to climb, I startled two robins that were building their nest. The feel of the smooth bark was pleasant and it smelled like vanilla. Soon I could look down on the logs floating in the pond and almost over the mill itself. The apple trees on the west were shedding their blossoms and getting ready for summer.
By this time on my climb, the branches were smaller but the trunk was solid and firm. About then, a breeze came up and the tree began to sway. A few more feet and I was as high as I could go. By then the wind was pretty strong and my perch was swaying too. I was delighted and I was 'one happy camper' but not for long.
“Hughie†– I looked down and saw my dad at the bottom of the tree. “You come down right now!†He seemed to be upset.
On the way down, I could not understand why he was so upset. “Don't you know how dangerous that was?†he said. To which I replied, “No,†(which was not what he wanted to hear). “Don't you ever do that again!†to which I replied, “Yes, Daddy.†(But I really didn't mean it.)
Years after the experience, that time would come up at family gatherings and we all would have a good laugh.
I really did like to climb trees.
Trump is pure EVIL
Any person who considers themselves a decent human being would never separate children from them parents. Under Trumps orders ICE employees are taking children who are nursing from their mothers. All suspected illegal children coming over the border are being taken from their parents. Some of these children are being kept in cages. Sessions, the federal attorney general, said it is being done to hurt the parents so they stop coming across the border. Doing this to children severely traumatizes them for life. In many cases the parents are sent back without their children and they are never, never, reunited. This is the purest kind of evil similar to Hitler's treatment of the Jews and the Slave trader's treatment of slave children. Trump is right up there with that kind of EVIL. I can't believe that the so called Republican Party is not stopping this EVIL abuse of children. Trump stands there and says he has to do this because of the Democrats, but who controls the house and the Senate. Trump ordered this but he says it is all the Democrats fault. He won't even own up to his own EVILNESS. When are you Republicans going to stand up to this treasonous, corrupt, evil human being.
By the way Trump just pulled us out of the U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNSEL. Of course, you can't be in the human rights counsel when you are committing human atrocities. I Hope the U.N charges Trump with human rights abuses and tries him at the Hague for what he is doing to these children. Maybe they will put him in prison where he belongs.
