Life of Wry

I prefer the creek with flowing, sparkling water, ducks afloat… but sometimes, a university’s gotta do what a university’s gotta do. Two years of rebuilding, which will hopefully restore, improve and invigorate our beloved creek extra long lake. . Until then, lots of re-routing around our loop trail and views like this…

That is mostly mud, not water. There is a bit of water on the far side of this — the middle lake.

At the very end, at lake #3, on the west side of a makeshift dam, there is still a bit of water.. not sure why it’s so green, but there it is. It’s low, too, as you can see. Poor ducks and turtles.

I’m just loving the light. Loving the temps (high 86 today). Loving the way I spent today… a leisurely brunch, lotsa time in the backyard, time in the rocking chair on the deck, time on the patio in the sun (to warm up after a late afternoon freezing cold smoothie)… I mostly putzed, flitting from one thing to another: did random things on my laptop, went down a few rabbit holes, did all the NYT puzzles (of course), listened to music while swinging in the hammock playing Spider, checked in with a few people, spontaneously cleaned out my junk drawer in my desk, reorganized the TP supply, downsized the dining room table and found a new home for the leaves, did a bit of political work, made a garden list for Mary the gardener, read some stuff. I even watered our one (so far) tomato plant and weeded at about 9:00pm… still light enough (until I came in and looking out the window and saw that it was, in fact, dark)! Summer’s that way. Twelve more days before it starts getting darker again. Going to enjoy this.

I took this at 7:00 this evening…. sun still streaming in.

Quite a large number of people attended a fundraiser for Rudy Salas this evening at a lovely home on the banks of the Putah in old Willowbank. Maybe 100-125? Saw tons of folks I knew — lots of conversation, lots of money raised for Rudy… a dem from CA-22 (down near Bakersfield) who’s vying for a congressional seat currently held by a rep. A very flippable district, which means a lot of national attention is on this race.

My friendraising group has raised money for Rudy. I’ve phone banked and postcarded AND have done some voter registration at one of the community colleges in his district earlier this year. Plus, I’ve given not a trivial amount of money.

So it was nice to get a chance to meet him in person and hear him speak. He’s a great candidate and his winning would def contribute to the democratic effort to regain the House!

I’m going to append below the letter I drafted (and which everyone in our group sent to their list of friends in April).

Below is Antonio making some excellent comments in support of Rudy. Antonio recently ran for a seat on the Yolo Board of Supes, but lost. He’s got all kinds of political experience, having been a staffer for Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, among other things. He grew up in Davis and went to Chavez (he’s is a few years older than Peter). I like him a lot and hope somebody’ll be introducing him at a fundraiser one day. He belongs in elected public service.

Hello friends,

Welcome to our April opportunity to make a difference. We’re pumped about this one! 

As you know, we often focus on flippable statehouse races in swing states because these low-profile races are, in fact, little bombshells of strategy magic where our dollars make an outsized impact. But this month we are doing something a little different, higher profile, because the stakes are unusually high.

As you also know, the US House of Representatives is NARROWLY controlled by Republicans. California has a swath of congressional districts in the very red Central Valley whose current representatives are vulnerable. These districts are attracting a lot of attention because — were they to flip — they might affect who controls the House next year. 

With that in mind, we have our eyes on CA District 22 (Bakersfield area). The Cook Political Report says that this district is Democrats’ best pickup opportunity in 2024. Democrat Rudy Salas is in a close race against David Valadao, an anti-choice (anti-everything good, as it turns out), incumbent MAGA zealot. 

Rudy grew up in the Central Valley, working in the grape fields with his family. He graduated from UCLA and became the first Latino elected to the Bakersfield City Council. He has served for (5) terms in the California State Assembly. He put Prop 1 on the ballot (abortion access, contraceptives); he’s worked to expand rural healthcare access; he secured funds for social and infrastructure projects, safe water initiatives, climate and wildfire management, and tons more. He would be an excellent representative in the House! 

CA-22 has one of the youngest and poorest electorates in the state. Low voter turnout resulted in a republican win last election. Rudy described the challenge, “The battle is getting the ballot from the kitchen table to the ballot box.” Our early dollars to Rudy’s campaign are vital. Funds now will help build out the campaign, hire staff and canvassers, buy important ad time… all of which will help to reach those low propensity voters. The fact is, Democrats hold an 18-point registration advantage over Republicans in this district. We just need to get them to vote! Everyone knows this will be a close race, but it’s also WINNABLE! 

Election watchers are predicting Rudy’s will be the most expensive House race in the country. As Gavin Newsom said this week, early financial support is important for so many reasons: it shows the press, Rudy’s allies and his opponents that his campaign has strength, depth and momentum. And dollars always beget dollars. 

Both our February and March appeals raised nearly $6000 each. I’m serious when I say our efforts are making a difference in these key races. We are on a roll! 

Whew! Thanks for reading. 

To contribute to Rudy’s campaign, click on this ActBlue link: 

With sincerely thanks,

Me with Maita and the twins. Nice to have breakfast with them (and Alan before he returned to SF).

We got to go to another UC Davis musical event, courtesy of our nephew Matthew. It combined the UC Davis Concert Choir, the Chamber Singers (with whom Matthew sings) and the UC Davis Concert Band. And, it was at the Mondavi.

Such a treat!

Maita flew up from LA, Dean flew down from Seattle and Alan drove over from SF. We had dinner at our house before the concert, and dessert after the concert. A lovely time was had by all.

Some pics:

( ^^ About the best my camera phone can do — with me as an operator — in a dark theater from a pretty good distance.)

This piece was interesting…. called “Weather,” it was composed by Rollo Dilworth based on a poem about racial justice (injustice, actually) written by Claudia Rankine (who may have been sitting down the row from us).

All the pieces performed were very… unique. They were lively and, in my limited experience, non-traditional, but all held my attention. Fun to see Matthew be part of something like this. A whole bunch of his lab cohort showed up to support him, which was nice. Glad we could go.

At Monday’s celebration of David and the day he first stood at 3rd and C collecting compassion definitions, emcee (and former Poet Laureate of Davis) Andy Jones presented this poem:

The Giver – a Poem for David Breaux

By Dr. Andy Jones

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.

— William Wordsworth

“The only way to survive is by taking care of one another.”

– Grace Lee Boggs

Gathering and accumulating, getting and spending,

We stockpile markers of success,

Hedges against downturns, such as those revealed daily in the news.

Enmeshed in fear, the primary source of superstition and cruelty,

We sometimes feel as if we sit beneath a downspout of downturns.

Before long, we stumble under the weight,

Becoming accumulators of accumulations.

We look askance at the man who doesn’t play this game,

The man who sheds rather than accumulates,

The man who reads instead of wading screen-deep into the muck,

The man whose private resolutions are sacred agreements.

Blessed be the rare man who awakens!

Such a man sees what most of us see only at the end:

That kindnesses offered and received matter,

That connections offered and received matter,

That compassion matters. Perhaps it matters the most.

Such treasures of the mystic, such treasures of the poet, 

such treasures of the well-read philosopher

cannot be gained through accumulation.

Like a twinkle-eyed smile received from a tall stranger with a notebook,

Such treasures grow through the giving.

Think of your favorite causes, think of your favorite movements:

Someone had to be there at the start who was willing to give and give and give.

Partake in the riches of a twinkle-eyed smile,

Partake in the riches of the curious poet,

Partake in the riches foreseen by a saint of compassion

By giving as he gave, by giving it all away.

~~

I also liked what he said afterward:

“I thank David for his friendship and for the ways that he continues to light a path before us, one that will require many steps yet to understand and to set into motion.“

As seen on 3rd Street!

Maya’s will open in the place where El Toro Bravo used to sit. El Toro Bravo was a pretty great place for Mexican food, if casual, but they closed just a month or so before the pandemic and that corner has sat empty for over four years. Finally, El Toro Bravo is clearing out and making way for a new restaurant.

I’m worried it’ll be just another fast food restaurant in town.. but crossing my fingers that it’s at least decent, and worth a grown up dining experience every now and then.

And, of course, fun that it’s named after Peter’s Maya. Lol.

June 3 is the anniversary of David’s first day (2009) of standing on the corner of 3rd and C — now dubbed Compassion Corner — and asking people to write their definition of compassion in a notebook. When David was alive, he’d celebrate this day by having a marathon session at the bench. Last year, Maria organized a memorial at the corner. This year, it was a gathering at Davis Community Church.

Andy Jones was the emcee and also read a poem he’d written (will post when I can get my hands on a copy). Eight of us were invited to share in 1-2 minutes our concept of compassion. And Maria gave a presentation on David and forgiveness.

The Threshold Singers sang before the program started and the event was catered. (Left overs went to the Night Market.. a nice touch.)

All in all, a really lovely way to honor David.

Me thinks 2024’s going to be a politically busy one. It feels a bit like 2020 (though nothing’ll ever top that year in terms of political action, largely due to the captive audience of the pandemic). Same candidates, same urgency, same two local orgs coordinating similar actions (canvassing, fundraising, phone and text banking, postcarding). I’m slightly moderating my involvement (compared to 2020), but have pretty much been engaged in just about all of those activities (not textbanking) and at a pretty good clip.

Gotta. It’s pretty dire out there in politicsland.

Saturday was all day door knocking in Sparks, NV and today was a Sister District workparty out at the Cannery–a new venue for us. Now, if the pandemic had not occurred, we’d probably still occupy that spiffy, gargantuan, two-story space on Olive Drive at which we had a very celebratory opening in March of 2020….

About 50-70 folks turned out, I’m guessing. It was fun energy.. people in every corner, inside and out, making calls, sending texts, writing postcards.

Just shows to go ya what determined (panicked) dems can do.

Just a couple pics…

We (twelve of us from Davis joined dozens more from all over) canvassed today in support of Biden/Harris and Senator Jacky Rosen in Reno (Sparks, actually). We were data gathering for the campaign, essentially, helping them prepare for a massive get out the vote effort as the election nears. We also did some good pursuasion canvassing. It was a productive day.

My blog title? Those were the words of an old geezer with a days-old grey beard growth and barefoot who wasn’t having my pitch for a Biden/Harris win in November. LOL. Here’s my note to the campaign (via the Mini-Van app which we canvassers use to identify which doors we’ll knock on.. maps and data prepared by the campaigns):

So many comebacks I didn’t come up with until later! And yeah, at the conclusion of his rant he said forcefully: GO AWAY!

Which I did.. (but inside I was SMH and half laughing at what just felt ridiculous).

I talked to another women — a registered voter who claims she does not vote! — who wasn’t sure who Biden was running against in November.

Good to get out of the Davis bubble once in a while.

Here’re some shots on the day….a lovely one at that!

The owner of this yard, with whom I’d had a very worthwhile conversation, chased me down moments after I’d left his house, to give me an ice cold bottle of water (he also offered me a coke). A very sweet gesture which I took him up on. Wish I’d gotten a pic of him.. he was missing most of his teeth, but had a warm smile and a funny dog. And a nice garden!

This was the morning’s training, which we skipped out on (bc we’re old hands at this stuff).

And here’s part of the Davis group: