Page 40 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2018

April already? And I was just getting used to winter. Time ies like an arrow. If you can’t y like an arrow, you’ll probably need to drive. And if you drive, watch out for potholes. You’ve probably noticed some new ones after the recent storms. How is it that potholes form so fast and get so deep? It’s not as quick as it looks. Like tomato plants or an angry outburst, the process has been going on for weeks before the bloom. Water seeps into the roadbed through cracks in the asphalt, then spends time down there eroding the material that supports what you think of as the road (that asphalt thing), then nally washes enough of it away that nothing supports the asphalt, and it cracks. And lo, there is your pothole.
The majestic redwoods outside of my cosy cyber-hut are outlined by cloudy, damp skies. The very wet week is continuing and we have been receiving some much-needed rain.
Why am I talking about potholes? Last month I started talking about roadwork and ran out of space. Now I have space. I will start with the burning question? When, oh when, is Bohemian Highway going to get xed? One wag in particular, the one making the humorous gra ti on the bumpy parts of the road going up the hill to Occidental and down the hill to Monte Rio, particularly wants to know. Anyone who navigates the moguls in those spots wants to know: Bohemian Highway is less than smooth sailing these days.
Corrected date: The Russian River Jewish Community will celebrate Passover, the Festival of Freedom, with a community seder on Thursday, April 5th-5 p.m. at the Monte Rio Community Center. Reservations are requested and there is a low fee and potluck dish requirement. Wonderful music by Jubilee Klezmer Ensemble. Please call 632 545 for more info and reservations.
According to the Sonoma County “Pavement Preservation” web page
(just google those four words and you’ll nd it), we are on the docket for
some time in 2018 or 2019. The original plan was 2017, but there was such extensive damage (and, apparently, required ADA compliance sidewalk stu in Occidental) across the county from the storms last winter that we got pushed back.
I am happy to announce that the St. Coleman’s Guild will hold the wonderful Salad Luncheon on Tuesday, July 24th-noon at the Firehall. A truly unique and festive afternoon. Please contact susan.barich@barischbiz.com for reservations.
Well, gee, you might think. What’s so hard about paving
a road? Glad you asked, because it gives me a chance to talk about civil engineering. Now, now—don’t glaze those eyes over yet! I promise it will
be at least slightly entertaining. As a mechanical engineer myself, we used
to gently rib the civil guys because their math wasn’t quite as fancy as ours. Now after a decade or three in the professional ranks, I must give grudging respect. Mechanical engineers get to deal with solid things like stainless steel and aluminum. Civil guys have to work with dirt- and like the Inuit, they have seventeen di erent words for dirt, including six alone for di erent kinds of “slurry”. Slurry is kind of the crunchy peanut butter of dirt: oily, buttery, and full of nuts. When thinking of road construction, think of a layer cake: First you scrape down to the road bed, then you start putting down some slurry. Unless your road wends over hill and dale as Bohemian Highway does: then you also have to worry about the dirt UNDER the roadbed, because this dirt has an annoying tendency to move around. But back to the slurry: This slurry will contain some aggregate. This is another of those Civil Engineering terms for “dirt”, in this case the aggregate would be the nuts in the crunchy peanut butter: crushed up rocks, sand, gravel (three more words for dirt). Eventually you have your roadbed laid down, and you are ready to put some asphalt
April is shaping up to be another busy month for the students at the Montgomery Elementary School with some exciting eld trips. Mr. Sotak’s 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will be participating in the Fort Ross Conservancy Environmental Living Program overnight from April 2nd-3rd. Mrs. Mercieca’s 6th, 7th, and 8th graders will also be going on an overnight eld trip to the CYO Camp’s Outdoor Environmental Education Program from April 9th-April 11th. Ms. Port’s TK, KN, 1st and 2nd graders will be going
on a eld trip to the UCD Bodega Marine Laboratory on April 24th. April is also the month to start registering children who will be entering Transition Kindergarten (born after Sept 1st and before Dec 2nd) or Kindergarten (born on or before Sept 1st) in the Fall. Contact the o ce at 632-5221 with questions or to request a registration packet.
on top of it, along with an emulsion to seal it up against the water ingress we started this column with.
Mr. Trombly’s Teas and Table stores, Treats and Toys, and Marissa’s new women and men’s clothing shop near the ower store—all located in Duncans Mills-are owned by Cazaderans. Lots of live music now o ered at Gold Coast, along with a variety of dinner plates. Their rear expanded deck is one of my fave places to just sit and chat with friends, occasionally petting the resident kitties.
So when you get right down to it, a paved asphalt road is just a fancy form of dirt road. There’s nothing permanent about it: Road engineers gure a brand new roadway has about thirty years of life in it. This is where
it gets tricky: because our road dollars are not in nite, Bohemian may not get the full thirty-year treatment, the “full depth reclamation” like the one recently completed on Cazadero Highway that is supposed to last for the full thirty years. We might get economy models like the asphalt concrete overlay (15 years), the Bonded Wearing Course (10 years), the Chip Seal (5-7 years), or even my personal favorite, the Slurry Seal ( fteen minutes). No, just joking: slurry seal and its cousin fog seal are only for roads that are sort of in good shape.
Frank Egger, owner of Cazadero Winery tells me that that he just delivered wine to the Caz Store.
As we can all attest, good old Boho Highway cannot be mistaken for a road in “good shape”. Okay, here endeth the lesson: keep this column tucked away for the day when they announce when Boho will be worked on, and what kind of dirt solution we will get. Then you can pounce.
I wish very HAPPY APRIL BIRTHDAYS to Tyler Cole, turning 28 on the 2nd, Wes Parmeter on the 5th, J.J. Marek enjoys the 7th, Hannah Lockhart- Murley will be 27 on the 9th, Corina Ryan celebrates on the 12th, along with locally grown Chris Caplan,who will be 28, Brooke Brady on the 14th, Ryan Port-Sonenshine celebrates on the 18th, Christian Madrone on the 21st, Steve Parmeter on the 22nd, Liza Brown on the 26th and Justin Thaman on the 27th.
40 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 4/18
Enjoy Spring and call me at 632-5545 or email mayawrld@sonic.net with info for your Cazadero Column!
As Spring o cially begins, the Cazadero Community Club will meet monthly on the 1st Tuesday of the month-7 p.m. at Firehall #1. Please join your neighbors in planning events which bene t the entire community. The April 3rd meeting is especially important, as the rest of the Club’s o cers will be elected. Without your participation, the activities of the Club will be limited. Dues of only $10.Individual and $15. Family rate may be sent to P.O. Box 3, Cazadero CA 95421.
The lovely Sky Garden may be expanding. Please contact Cathy at schezer@ comcast regarding volunteering.
Remember Cazadero Supply’s 1st Saturday 15% Discount Day o ers a vast assortment of household, garden and vehicle items for your spring projects. Raymond’s Bakery continues its popular pizza/music nights each Friday
until 9 p.m. Both the Cazadero and Duncans Mills General Stores have daily groceries, tasty sandwiches and specialty items. Check out the array of locally hand-crafted items at CaZ Central, next to the Caz Store.
I just saws the For Sale sign on Berry’s Mill—wow! Lots of Caz history there!
More Gold in the hills of Cazadero! Cazadero Winery was awarded a Double Gold medal at the 2017 Sonoma County Harvest Fair for their 94 point Parmeter King Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay and now the 2018 Monterey International Wine Competition has just given them a Gold Medal for their 2016 Bei Ranch Chardonnay. Congratulations to Cazadero Winery’s grape growers, the Bei and Parmeter families.