Under the Southern Cross

         When down south, below the Equator, a visitor from North America has an opportunity to feast his eyes on the night sky without the reflected glare of large urban centers.  This affords the stargazer a fantastic view, especially in summer, with its Milky Way.  Here in the southern hemisphere, the Southern Cross is a storied feature of the night sky.
       The constellation is the smallest of the 88 "modern" constellations, but one of the most distinctive.  It is composed of 5 stars, 4 of which are located at the ends of an imaginary 'cross' formed by connecting the dots.  A 5th star is located just inside the lines, known as the e or epsilon star.  The stars have names: Acrux, Mimosa, Delta Crucis, Gacrux, and Epsilon.   The group of stars was known to the ancient Greeks, but few others as it cannot be seen much farther north.  As explorers and navigators traveled to the southern hemisphere, they became aware of this constellation.
       In Argentina and Chile, it is widely known.  In Brazil, it is almost revered as a symbol of Southern pride.  The stars can be found on the Brazilian flag, a few state flags, and on the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa.  In Spanish, it is known as Cruz del Sur.  Brazil has a soccer club of some repute named Southern Cross.
       For Americans, it has been popularized by World War II participants who fought in the South Pacific.  Namely, the 1st Marine Division.  The division's blue diamond insignia features a scarlet numeral one surrounded by the stars of the Crux in white.  The patch of the Americal Division features the 4 major stars on a shield.  Both divisions were formed to fight Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands in 1942, located between the Philipine Islands and Australia.  Richard Rodgers, composer of theme music for the series "Victory at Sea", named one melody "Under the Southern Cross" to accompany film footage of battleships heading to the islands in the Coral Sea.
      The pop group Crosby, Stills, Nash titled one of their songs"Southern Cross".
      Today, in Patagonian Argentina and Chile, gauchos and rural folk use the stars as a night time navigation aid.  Without the Big Dipper, the Pole Star, and others, northern visitors have to be content with this fabled, easily recognized substitute: the Southern Cross.

Mas Patagonia

Buenos Dies, mi Amigos.  The Mayor is down under.  Way down under.  The weather es muy bueno.  Our    delegation is doing well.  Our guide is up to the task.  We are now in the Andes, near Rio Palena, after driving several hundreds of miles on the super highway ^general Augusto Pinochet.  That is Highway Numero 7.  300 miles of washboard, unpaved super highway.  Amazing.  Look out for the cows, pigs, washouts, etc.  What a ride.  Our driver guide did an exceptional job.  Our Ford all wheeldrive performed well .
      We`ve spent 2 days fishing and have done well.  Conditions were near perfect.  The rivers are somewhat low, but clear.  We fished on Lago Yelcho yesterday, and it was beautiful.  The scenary is amazing.  Woords can,t do it justice.  We saw condors floating high over the peaks, riding the up drafts.  Everywhere one looks, there are glaciers, sharp peaks, and waterfalls, even this late in the southern hemisphere.
     Moving on today, for 3 days of fishing on Lago Palena, near the Argentine border.  No internet at our camp where we,ll be camping in a small cabin on the river.
Ciao,

Patagonia Junket / Latin American Visit

   The Mayor received word from the Minister of Latin American Affairs that there are issues in Chile and Argentina that need some attention.  So, the Mayor is packing his bags for a quick junket to visit the land of the Gaucho, the guanaco, the Andes, the Atacama Desert, and of course, Tierra del Fuego.
   Fly rod in hand, the Mayor will test the waters near Bariloche and Santiago.  The summer in the southland has been mild, but the seasons are in transition and rain is in the forecast for southern Chile.  Rain is OK, but if the wind picks up, it could be challenging out there in the bush, wading in the rivers, looking for the elusive steelhead.
More later.

Winter Part II with Lindsay

   So, just when you thought it was safe to plant flowers outside,, Ol' Man Winter returns for a little jaunt about the Lake.  Seems the forecasts call for: "Ta-daaaa-S-N-O-W!  Perhaps as much as a few feet, depending on elevation.  We'll welcome this with open arms; better late than never.  It could sooth the pain of the prior few months, but I doubt it.

Lindsay Vonn- Skier Extraordinaire
     Unless you've been living under a rock or stopped skiing 10 years ago, you can't overlook the accomplishments of American skier, Lindsay Vonn.  This season has placed her in the pantheon of great American skiers.  What she has done -in one season- most athletes won't accomplish in a lifetime.  This young woman, Olympic gold medalist, has won her 4th World Cup title!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with 5 races left on the circuit.  On Friday, March 9, she beat the Mayor's cousin, Federica Brignone of Italia by 0.50 seconds(a lot!).  Let's hear it for Lindsay.  Red Bull, the pervasive bull...., is one of her sponsors.  Oh, well, it's OK.
   Hopefully, Lindsay will ski at Homewood sometime soon and give the Mayor a few tips on his downhill/slalom skills(yeh,sure).

Jerry Brown and his Budget

    Our Governor, Jerry Brown, has a strategy- a strategy of hope.  He "HOPES" voters will be generous in November and vote to raise income taxes in California-AGAIN!
    California has already lost 1/3 of high income taxpayers in the last 3 years($500,000 and above). HOw many does he project we'll lose this time?  He doesn't.  He says we need to have more income.Period.
     Maybe one party politics is not so goooooood for the Golden State.  Maybe it is time to split the state in two: north and south.  Seems to have worked in the Dakota's, the Virginia's, the Carolina's,etc.  It could make this diverse state operate more effectively if not efficiently.  It would give the Left Coast more clout in Congress with 2 more senatorial seats for openers.  The world's 7th economy by volume has only 2 senators representing 33million citizens.  Not very many.  All the nay sayers will point out duplication of efforts, pension issues, disruption of services, etc., etc., and on and on.  Average citizens are not blind nor are they stupid.  They have watched California play smoke and mirrors with revenue and spending figures for years.  Once the silly Democrats no longer had to listen to Republicans, the die was cast for profligate spending, unabashed disrespect for the welfare of the populace, blatant partisanship, cronyism, and outright criminality.  The State of California ranks with two other states: New York and Illinois as the 3 worst case examples of how NOT to run a state government.
   What do we have to look forward to?  I would read the papers more closely; it's all there in black and white.  Sad, grim predictions, with accuracy, of reduced budgets for all departments: education, public health, roads and highways, parks and recreation, and public safety.  The DAY of Reckoning has arrived. 
     Think of this situation when you vote and vote accordingly.
More later.

Lose an Hour Sleep in

Now the weather is often seen as the culprit when the seasons change.  We locals have another marker: Daylight Saving Time.  Tonight, when we retire, we are advised to advance our time pieces.  Fortunately, modern electronic devices do it for us.  No need to run about the house/apartment/office/auto/man cave,etc. updating clocks-they're self-adjusting.  Il miracolo!
      Tomorrow afternoon, we welcome the extra time to accomplish our daily schedule: more time to ................(fill in the blanks).
      We can now acknowledge the fact of having lived through a very dry winter with little precipitation of any type.  Get used to the predictions and warnings ad nauseum about wild fires, droughts, end-of-the-world scenarios that print/TV media types love to cast about to stir up the populace.  BORING!
    Time marches on and, by the way, it's an election year.
    The Mayor hasn't even begun to put his toe in the water of political prognostications, too early.  But that will change soon enough.
   More later.

Green Gulch Farm at Zen Center

     The Mayor has decided that Tahoma needs a chaplain.  In that quest, the Mayor will visit Green Gulch in Muir Beach in Marin to observe some Buddhists in their home environment.  Might do some meditating and work on some mindfulness.
     In the course of the search, the mayor has identified a potential candidate: a young man who aspires to be a fully ordained Buddhist priest with all rights and privileges.  He could set up his own temple in Tahoma and gather a flock centered in his temple.  This could have a profound affect on the local environment: natural and social.  All for the good.
     Despite the seasonal services held on Sundays in the park, there is nothing the rest of the week and nothing after summer is over.  Locals would respond positively to a regular presence of a spiritual leader/center that they could count on.  It would be a feather in the hat of the community to have its own temple.
    The much anticipated experience this weekend should bear fruit.  The selection committee eagarly awaits the input from the Mayor(and Deputy).
Stay tuned.

If its March There Must Be Madness!

         The Mayor noticed on the front page of the paper that it's March already.  Sure enough, he turned on the tube and there's basketball(aka roundball, ball) going on.  It's now championship week.  Across the nation, young men are striving:striving to make the cut, striving to make the hallowed ground of the Final Four and the National Championship Game.  Of course, like most young men in these situations, they lie in bed at night dreamin': dreamin' of making the big time, the NBA, where miracles occur and dreams come true.  They've been practicing for years, they've been yelled at by these wildmen they called "Coach" for so long they hardly hear them anymore.
     Now, it's 'showtime': no more talk, do the  'walk'! Show your stuff and hope you win because if you don't, there's not much left for losers and also rans.  Those folks go back to campus and try harder and some go home, back to the 'hood and anonymity.  "I coulda been somebody; now I'm a nobody".
   An American story-Madness, and it starts in March.
     Locals along the westshore follow the Wolfpack, the Nevada team.  They haven't done much lately, but that doesn't bother the locals.  Some California schools have a following: UCLA, USF, USC, UC Berkeley, or little Peppardine, or even Santa Clara, but they're followed mostly by visitors and 2nd home owners from the Bay Area.  Some seasonal employees about don't follow round ball at all: too busy trying to survive.  Understandable in this recession-first things first, and they didn't go to college anyway.
Watch it and go mad,too.

Perfect Weekend for snow sports

No matter where you were this weekend around the Lake, you enjoyed excellent conditions. That high pressure system out in Nevada brought light breezes from the east and kept the clouds and fog and cold winds somewhere else.
While visiting a restaurant in the neighborhood, the TV was broadcasting a game from spring training camp between the New York Yankees and Phillies. New York won 8-5. The fans were in sunwear, dark glasses and short sleeves, definitely spring training. So here we are: the first weekend of March, the solstice in about 3 weeks, and a dry winter in the books. Combine this season with the ongoing recession, and we have a deepening of adverse conditions for residents around the Lake. It is a hard lesson in business cycles, changing demographics, a new model for resort business, and continued antagonism between developer interests and environmentalists(NIMBY's). The Boomers are retiring now in ever growing numbers and many have found their circumstances less than what they had hoped for while working: their homes are worth less, pensions worth less, Social Security eaten up by inflation, Medicare only a partial insurance program, and healthcare rising at an annual rate of 6% or more. All this in a presidential election year with the 2 parties facing off over who's to blame for the BIG RECESSion.
Maybe it's time to board the Rocket Ship and take a long vacation; then return and hope things have improved.

Avalance conditions exist today

Advisory from the Mayor's Office of Ski Safety: Alpine Meadows resort reported an avalance that claimed the life of a young man who was swept away with several friends who were not injured during the event. Search and rescue personnel retrieved the body after a difficult climb to the location pointed out by his companions.
The slide occurred in off trail areas, not a regular run. It underscores the dangers that exist off groomed runs.
With the late winter snowfall, overly aggressive skiers can trigger slides that otherwise would not occur.
Maintain awareness of conditions in all areas ahead of time.

YES SNOW

Well, you asked for it. Finally, measurable snow falling around Tahoma. A bit late, true, but, we'll take it. It might last through tomorrow. Viva for the late winter event. This could set the stage for some Spring skiing, or in the case of 2012: winter skiing, only later.

Real Estate
The Case/Shiller Index came out Tuesday with more bad news. The 20 region measure of home prices indicates that prices continue to slide south. Obama hasn't quite figured it out. Maybe he will if he's reelected in November. Judging by the opposition efforts to unseat him, he'll have time in 2013 to boost the real estate market using any new strategy he can come up with.
Since his pal at the Fed,Ben Bernanke, promised low rates for 3 more years, the interest rate lever has been taken off the table. Apparently, the eggheads in DC are playing the waiting game to see if: 1) the Euro will survive,2)PIGS will survive,3)American banks will have to write down Euro -denominated paper on their books.
Until that happens, the RE market will stumble along, looking for the bottom.

February 29th Leap day

By definition, a leap year must have a leap day. That would be February 29. A weird day, to be sure: it screws up everybody's calendar, promotes unusual behaviors in both sexes, and causes stresses in the work place, schools, and at the gym where work outs run on and on.
Probably the most difficult day for those poor saps born on a February 29, leap day. Every year they become unwitting victims of jokes, intended or not, surrounding their parentage, their intellectual weight, and their actual age. "Well, I'm only 12 years old if you're counting birthdays".
and the like.
Most people could care less, but for some, there can be some memories attached to Leap Year.
1968 was a Leap Year. That most memorable of American years when worldwide upheavals at home and abroad threatened to cause civilization to implode. The list of events of that Leap Year continues to grow as writers/ historians unearth facts and figures related to events in 1968.
Soon the mayor will post up a preliminary list and request the citizenry to add to the list to make it more complete. Involving the community in this "living" history project will benefit the wider community.
Stay tuned.