In celebration of Blog Action Day, thousands of blogs around the world have chosen to write about the environment. The topic is open, as long as you discuss ways that we can protect the precious planet we live on. Here is my submission.

When David and I got home the other day, we noticed a back of plumbing parts hanging on the front door. Apparently the plumbing fairy had stopped by the house with his bag of goodies - and I hadn’t even put an 0-ring under my pillow the night before…

Inside the bag we found two sink aerators, a new shower head, and a big blue plastic bag that sort of looked like a hot water bag you might use if you weren’t feeling well…or if you were constipated perhaps. But I digress.

Opening up the bag we discovered an assortment of inexpensive (and incompatible) goodies. We had the two faucet aerators that I just mentioned, one for the kitchen sink and one for the bathroom sink. Unfortunately, they did not fit. Apparently we have non-standard faucets, even though they are relatively brand new and from Home Depot. Is it wrong for me to assume that Home Depot would carry products with standard fittings?

So as we tried to save the environment in Sacramento, the score started out in the negative. Aerators - useless.

On to the shower head. Miraculously, the shower head fit just perfectly. It has settings for massage, and normal, and because it’s a water saver, it actually gives us more force in the smaller amount of water it sends out -so we don’t even notice that it’s low-flow. This one is a win, score one for the shower-head. Plus, it’s a very good brand - Niagara. That stands for waterfall, so you know it’s going to be good.

Next up, the toilet tank bank. I don’t know why they call it a bank, but the front of the bag says “deposit and save water and money”. I’m not sure if they wanted us to put pennies or water into the bag, but we opted for water, even though the pennies would be put to better use sitting in our toilet tank than at any retail store.

The big blue bag is now full of water and hanging inside the toilet tank, reducing the amount of water in each flush. Another win for the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities. (a quick update - David actually removed the bag after a few flushes because it kept getting caught inside the tank - note, if you have a relatively thin watertank on your toilet, this product wont’ work for you)

Toilet Tank Bank - useless.

If every person in the neighborhood actually uses some of these products, it should go a long way in reducing water consumption in our area - and I am all for it. My part of town isn’t metered at this point, so these products won’t save us any money on our utility bill, but they will help save our environment and provide more water to those who need it (and pay for it).

Note: This post is in the form of a photo travelogue.

On Sunday, 9/9/07, David and I took a mini photography road-trip to Rancho Seco, the former nukular power plant south of the Sacramento area.

The property is owned by SMUD, and includes a recreational lake where you can fish for 8-eyed trout and the like.

Actually, having a recreational lake near a nuclear plant is not all that new or fascinating. My dad often goes fishing at the Shearon Harris plant near Raleigh. I can’t recall ever eating anything from the lake, but it’s very likely that I have a bit of uranium residue floating around in my bones somewhere - and after driving incredible close to the plant yesterday, I probably have a bit more.

This was the second time in my life that I’ve been near a nuclear power plant, which is instantly recognizable wherever you are, by the twin water cooling towers and the main reactor building (which sometimes has a domed roof and looks like a bullet).

I won’t say that these things freak me out, but the hypochondriac side of me could absolutely feel all those little pierces of radiation blasting through the side of the jeep and into my body.

I never claimed to be sane, so just go with me here.

We ventured as close as we could get, which turned out to be a parking lot that was in need of significant repairs - they will eventually get around to fixing it when this place is converted over to natural gas energy (which is apparently the direction, according to David’s research).

We wanted to go visit the recreational lake just to take a few pictures, but decided that we’d rather not spend $5 for 5 minutes of driving around a parking lot, so we u-turned out of the place and drove north into wine country.

Well actually, we didn’t have to drive very far, because the entire area around the power plant is now absolutely COVERED in vineyards. And I’m not talking about 5 or 6 scattered vineyards, I’m talking about one huge one that went on for miles and miles, completely covering the landscape. The vines were so close to the water towers that if they hadn’t been trimmed back the entire side of the thing would have been crawling with cabernet.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I want to drink radioactive wine. This rich, full-bodied Cotes du Seco has all the peppery uranium aromas, black cherry, cassis, and argon flavours and a long half-life complex finish of a fine Seco wine and is a perfect accompaniment to redneck cooking. Mmmm, mmmm good.

We passed through the um, wine country, then up toward Plymouth where the real vineyards are. Places like Montevina, Karmere, etc. reside outside this teeny tiny little town that has exactly one cafe, one carousel, and one truck with a permanently attached American flag.

We ate at a little cafe (I had the vegetarian tamale and a crab cake while David opted for the foccacia sandwich with dead animal).

We both tried, what is advertised (on the label) to be the Great American Root Beer. It was not great; I can only assume it’s American based on where it is bottled; I can attest that it vaguely tasted like root beer.

At this cafe we also discovered (pictured in the background) Frambois. David loves that stuff - raspberry infused port, and it’s somewhat difficult to find. It’s bottled by Bonny Doon and is quite delicious over ice, with cream or on ice cream (which is a combination of ice and cream I just realized). Highly recommended if you like sweet dessert wines.

Just down the street was the coolest part of the town…an old carousel that is now used as a catering spot for your favourite events like wedding receptions and birthday parties.

The art on the interior is of a woman leading her son toward a group of kids who are celebrating a party - a birthday I assume. The decking is spread out with chairs and tables, and it appears to offer a pretty unique location for events - very cool spot.

Topping our trip off as we left the Plymouth area, we can’t forget the permanently affixed American flag on the red truck.

I really don’t think I need to say much more on this one.

Finally, we made our way up toward Placerville, back onto Highway 50 and in the direction of home.


But of course no trip would be complete without a message from Jesus, who has apparently moved on to billboard advertising now as part of his global marketing campaign.

When one wants to know the temperature in Sacramento, one has many places to choose from.

First, a lovely Firefox plugin shows the report from accuweather.com. Note that they share with you the RealFeel(r) temperature as well as the actual recorded temperature - apparently with 7 degrees difference.

If you’re a weather purist, you might choose weather.com for your report.

In this case…weather.com says it’s 96 and actually feels like 96.

What happened to the 7 degree difference from above?


Finally, for those of you who rebel against the purists of weather, we have the score from weather underground.

It looks like they are measuring at the same spot as weather.com, just presenting it in a bit different format.

Plus, we don’t know what it REALLY feels like when you go outside; but we do know that the wind is apparently calm, and we can see for miles and miles.

Those things are important when you’re standing in your back yard surrounded by trees.

And thank goodness the clouds are above ground level. I can’t stand underground cloud layers.

So if you really want to know what it feels like today in Sacramento, I present you the thermometer from our back yard.

Any questions?

David is a big fan of the fair, especially when it comes to fireworks or anything deep fried (especially those nasty and ridiculously disgusting corn dogs).

I prefer something a bit lighter like a diet pepsi. I could never stomach a deep fried twinkie or a chocolate dipped slab of cheesecake.


We went to the fair this weekend, because David wanted to see the fireworks. I was bored, and I wasn’t feeling well (I had a headache the entire day), but I braved the absolutely insane crowds, the fear-inducing heights of the ski-lift, and my inability to enjoy the Moscow Circus fun-house due to my throbbing and pounding headache.

David splurged for a disgusting and expensive $12 margarita that had absolutely zero tequila, zero sweet/sour, and zero flavour.

It was green/yellow ice. It was like using a Snoopy Sno-Cone machine with a bit of food colouring. (but not to fear, we went to our favourite mexican restaurant for dinner and had a REAL margarita just to spite the fair folks)


But…the highlight of the evening, before we braved the traffic trying to get out of the parking lot and home, was the 5 minute fireworks display at 10pm.

Now I enjoy fireworks, but David is NUTS about them. He wants to be directly beneath them so he can smell the sulfur of the explosion and feel the sting of the cinders as they fall in a sparkling, shimmering shower onto the ground.

I will admit…it was pretty cool :-).

(More pictures from our trip to the fair)

And here’s a video of the fireworks finale on 28 August.

An evening concert with Stacey Board - 7pm on 15 September

Not only has she opened for artists such as Chris Isaak, The Flatlanders, Patty Larkin, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Gorka and Jonatha Brooke, but she was also selected to perform in the Utah Performing Arts Tour 2005 – 2006. Now she joins us on the Cabana on September 15!

Awarded in 2001, 2003, and 2003 as the best Folk/Acoustic artists by the Salt Lake Area Music Awards, Stacey Board brings her music to Sacramento.

Join us for a wonderful evening of music, food, and wine, as we celebrate the Fall season at Cabana Gatherings.

Some reviews about Stacey and her music:

Board has a way with an image, whether it’s “the rearview mirror that sees right through me” or the “shivering finger tattoos on my arms”. If it is the quiet ones you have to watch out for, Stacey Board is as good a demonstration of that as you could wish. A cut above the torrent of female singer-songwriters out there – Americana UK magazine

Board can really carry through on a theme. This time, it’s about flowers, and again, she’s brilliant in the way she covers every detail. The lyrics make references to blooming and wilting and drinking in the sunlight. The tempo of each song is patient and laid-back, like a flower taking its sweet time to open. Hearing her pure country/folkie/earthy voice with its twangy spunk on this CD feels like lying in the warm grass on a spring day, basking in the sun – Jennifer Layton, Indie-Music Magazine

“Let’s get one thing straight: Board knows how to write sharp songs and she knows how to wrap her crisp alto around them” – Mountain Times, Park City Utah

More information is also available from her website: www.StaceyBoard.com.

Make your reservation now at www.cabanagatherings.com, using the Reserve Tickets link on the right side.

Seats will go quickly, so we hope you can join us for this wonderful show!

Get your tickets now!!!