THE WAY I SEE IT by Don Polson Red Bluff Daily News 7/01/2024
Almost heaven; double moonset
Most readers are of a generation that fondly recalls the John Denver
ballad, “Country Roads.” The lyrics go: “Almost heaven, West Virginia; Blue
Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.”
Our Idaho locale inspires similar lyrics: “Almost heaven, Sawtooth
Mountains; Payette River, Stanley Lake and River. Green and azure, pine trees
reach the sky; winds caressing, almost makes you high.” After that, I’ve got
nothing. A “double moonset” is when the setting moon dips behind part of a
mountain on its angular path to the west, emerges from behind it and then sets
further north on the horizon. It’s an amazing sight.
This week’s anecdotes and tales from our campground:
First, we noticed the obvious contrast between California and Idaho
economies. We navigated the roads in the Garden City area north of Boise and
saw all kinds of development, both residential and commercial, recent
construction and new. It’s “booming” with no hesitation to expand roads to keep
traffic eventually flowing—you won’t find the anti-growth mentality of “road
diets” and “bicyclist’s mandated space” here.
Whether it’s Red Bluff, Sacramento, Bend or Portland, Oregon, the
two-wheeled contingent is a boutique splinter of the transit population,
unrealistic for almost all folks. The “E-bikes” make some city folk more
comfortable knowing they won’t be drenched in sweat to get around; it’s still
impractical for normal purposes. Bike lanes are fine, but don’t insult us with
reduced automotive lanes.
Californians constitute a sizable share of transplants to Idaho; a
political “welcome wagon” is not unreasonable. While there is concern that
those moving from deep-blue CA will bring their progressive politics with them,
our friends, the Says, who many in Red Bluff know for their contributions to
local Republican efforts, illustrate—like many other “red state” recipients of
Cali-migrants—it’s actually “like seeks like.”
Overwhelmingly, outmigrants are all too aware of the cause-and-effect of
Democrat socialist, progressive politics; and economic and educational
stagnation, nightmarish urban living, homelessness and drug cultures.
***
The “azure skies” mentioned above are a wonder to anyone who hasn’t
ventured to the 6,000-foot or higher realm outside of fire season, like when we
are skiing on Mount Bachelor. Such places as Summit Lake in Lassen Park, and
Medicine Lake northeast of McCloud are, absent smoke, blessed with such deep
blue colors.
So, when we arrive in a Stanley Lake campground and see the pristine
views of McGowan Peak and the Sawtooth Mountains, our wonder is broken when,
after a few days, a light haze floats over between us and the mountains.
Suspecting the source of the haze, a call to a relative in Clear Lake confirms it—her
skies are brown and there is only one direction that smoke goes: east toward
the Rockies. Call it “Cali-fowling” the air.
A young ski instructor friend, stationed in Montana, works the fire
season and is currently deployed to the Orland area.
This visit included an awe-inspiring convergence of sprinkles, clearing,
thunderstorms, hail; and clouds floating over the water, below the tree line. A
small leak from our slide-out aside, it’s good to be in our “tin tent” with incredible
views through our “picture window” windshield.
***
A disturbing encounter with someone we’ll call “yoga lady” contained a
sad lesson on duplicity and the self-styled lefty warriors among us. Barb
politely enquired how long the camper was staying; hearing that it’s till the
day after tomorrow, she asked to leave a chair so we can show up after the
camper leaves to move into the spot. The agreeable camper said “sure”; we left
to return in 2 days.
Upon driving by the host’s spot to show that our truck is towed, and not
a second vehicle paying a fee, the host told us that the camper complained of
Barb’s rudeness. Having heard the chat as it happened, I knew for a fact that
the camper was simply lying through her teeth; I didn’t make it a big deal.
Thinking back, we saw the female camper doing yoga (healthy pastime) on
the 5-foot-wide boardwalk built for walkers and bikers (inconsiderate). I saw
some walkers go around “yoga lady,” a self-centered person oblivious to
propriety.
So, why lie to the host? Well, as we drove away, she could read our
Republican, gun rights and NRA stickers, so it was pretty clear she was one of
these self-appointed lefty warriors feeling a duty to make any identifiable
conservative’s life a little miserable. It’s a sad commentary on how the
simplest of social interactions can become polluted with political and cultural
vindictiveness by the left.
***
I must advise readers that wherever they see or hear that President Trump
said to “inject bleach” to counteract COVID, they’re being told an abominable
falsehood, easily disproved by a few clicks on the Internet. It’s a shame that
supposedly informed, respectable political discussions have become such
cesspools of fabrications, simply because they’re repeated endlessly by progressive
sources who could ascertain the facts, but chose propaganda over truth.
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