Sonoma Country Life

Day in the Life of Petaluma's Aqus Cafe Populace

To capture a moment in time is one thing, but to capture the faces that frame practically each moment in one compact, cheery neighborhood space from dawn until dusk is a daunting task. Unless you are John Crowley, of course, community-elevated squire of Petaluma's artsy social circuit and mastermind behind this month's Aqus Art Project "One Day at Aqus" .

Captured on one single day in December, 400 Aqus Cafe customers in 400 photographs each bearing a unique time stamp supplied by 10 tireless Sonoma County photographers working in shifts.
 
"This is a one of a kind art project," says John. Always searching for intriguing ways to connect people,  Crowley gathered a team of talented photographers to photograph each willing customer who stopped in at the cafe.  The resulting 400 or more photographs are set to go on display at the cafe from Jan 7th until Jan 18th.  Each photograph will bear the exact time it was taken, documenting in chronological order an entire day at the bustling cafe from 7am until 10pm. 

The 10 photographers, LeAnn Baca Bartlett, Julie Arden, Robert Vente, Rosemarie Lion, Susan Price, Roger Minkow, Victoria Webb, Lee McLaughlin, Aida Daay and Margi Levin have collectively created a vibrant exhibit of a cross section of the city's modern populace.  And to prove that Petalumans are not mere pretty faces, Crowley asked his loyal base of regular customers for anonymous answers to a couple of insightful and inspirational questions:

"Answers reveal what it is that Petalumans would like to change in their lives in the coming 12 months," says Crowley, as well as "What they would like changed within their community."

Answers are to be posted apart from the photos so that personal thoughts and ideals remain nameless. An Opening Reception takes place this Thursday, January 7th at Aqus Cafe at Foundry Wharf, 189 H Street (on the corner of 2nd and H) Petaluma CA 94952 707.778.6060 at 5pm.

Look closely and you will spot yours truly, Scribbles Daily (looking a bit haggard due to racing across town from tail end of Carols in the Parking Garage, regular readers may recall), right next to John's partner at the Cafe, the lovely Lesley (captured in full trivia-night throttle). The Squire himself is snapped in black and white  romantic pose with wife and co-Aqus partner, Anne-Laure). 

Here's to a daily cuppa in a  fresh-faced crowd at a neighborhood java house, the popular 'pub' culture of today.

A Few Good Women - Bringing About Change in Youth Mental Health Services

When Lori's teenage son was diagnosed with an early on-set of severe schizophrenia it was shattering to all of us who know and love this family of most vibrant human beings, a Bay-Area tribe of remarkable individuals, known for shared qualities giving rise to frequent, random acts of community kindness and a quest for travel, adventure, enduring friendship.

For Lori (pictured at right) to come to terms with her beloved boy's early prognosis and subsequent years of turbulent periods ranging from remarkably serene to downright traumatic, it has been a mother's journey of discovery of her inner most strength and fortitude and a fantastical spirit of positivity, acceptance with a pioneering determination to make much-needed improvements in the field of mental health care for California youth.

Beginning on home turf in Marin County, Lori's first major impact on the county's Transitional Age Youth Program, a collaboration between Buckelew Programs and Family Service Agency of Marin has been as a leading influence in the launch of a spacious, new office center for the TAY Program in downtown San Rafael.

Thanks to the generosity of Sarah Shaw (pictured at left at the new office opening celebration on Lincoln Avenue with Kathy Eagle, TAY Team Leader, center), the TAY program is also looking for a new training house for young men and women (16-25) of Marin County who are struggling with mental health challenges.

The TAY program uses a strength-based model and integrates wellness and recovery principles, supporting transitional age youth to become architects of their own futures.

As Lori had discovered through her own personal experience, there is, except for the TAY program, a staggering lack of resources for young people suffering from similar mental health problems as her son. No longer a child, but not yet equipped with the experiences of an adult, this critical stage of transition requires guidance, supervision and care not easily available or affordable here in California.

Currently TAY provides full services to around 20 young adults and partial services to 70 to 100 more young men and women each year. Staffed by a Team Leader, Team Partner, Peer Mentor, Independent Living Skills Counselor and Family Advocate, TAY office services are community-based, with outreach by these staff, volunteers and many fully involved parents such as Lori.

Youth in need of full services are referred by County Mental Health Services and after an initial assessment, TAY provides 24-hour crisis management, medication oversight, peer mentoring, housing support, education and employment support.

Families and youth assist in the development of an individualized service plan based on a picture of the youth's goals for independence and psychiatric needs, symptoms and challenges, housing, education and job needs including a range of social issues and concerns.

Thanks to the generous support of the Shaw Family, the new training office on Lincoln Avenue offers all sorts of effective socialization programs including art, meditation, mind over mood, movie night, movie and video production in a small, on-site media center. Staff have been able to develop new collaborations with other providers to bring services such as counseling sessions and job training classes to the TAY offices. 

Lori's story is not unique. Sadly there are many more young men and women in the North Bay suffering from mental health illnesses such as schizophrenia, yet the development of programs within the community such as the Transition Age Youth Program help dispel much of the mystery, confusion and helplessness felt by the supportive families and provide invaluable full or partial care for the youth themselves, within an open environment.

Until you, or someone close to you experiences mental severe health challenges with a youth in the family, the crisis that these families face sometimes on a daily basis simply does not hit home. Programs such as TAY are a lifeline to the community. It is remarkable that given the current state of the economy, private funding has enabled this superb North Bay program to continue to expand and to realistically dream of furthering its reach in 2010.

Wait Just Another Minute, Mr Postman!

Another entirely new take on the concept of shopping closer to home struck me whilst waiting in line for an enlightened 40 minutes at the historic post office in downtown Petaluma.

Not even December at that point, relatively organized people with parcels were patiently awaiting their turn at the counter, confusing array of forms and customs slips in hand, hoping to beat the crowds but merely adding to the confusion of complicated new postal regulations and restrictions. 

By the time I'd reached the front of the line only to learn that the latest rules and regs regarding larger parcels to be sent overseas include a mandatory weight declaration of each and every item, I was left with little choice but to stand aside, strip open my carefully sealed package to the Italian in-laws and weigh out its gift-wrapped contents.

If the total weight of combined items declared does not match the weight of the parcel, give or take an extra few ounces for packaging, international packages now won't make it on the plane. 

Superb timing on behalf of the postal service, just before Christmas. Postal counters all over the country will be clogged this December as customers tear their hair out for what easily morphs into a crazed, half day episode of wrapping, packaging, form filling, line standing and, hopefully, at the end of the ordeal,  airmailing. 

Felt like dancing a jig by the end of my multi-package shipping extravaganza. I'd pulled it off - made it through the maze, dropped a hundred and forty (dollars, not pounds) and lived to tell the tale.

We have one of the sweetest postal clerks in Sonoma County here in West Petaluma, she's so patient and kind that she has actually won awards for the sheer notion of her consistent warm and friendly nature at the counter. By the time I'd made it back to the front of the line after the stripping, weighing and re-sealing episode, the not-quite-so-naturally nice clerk next to her, who'd clocked my toppling pile of parcels took one look at the nightmarish customs form for the big parcel and declared it officially his break. Classic.

Once Ms Congeniality corrected my marginal mistakes on the most complex international airmailing form I have ever laid eyes on, she gave me an invaluable piece of advice and recommended on-line shopping on sites in the country the gifts are actually going to. "It's their mail service you'll be utilizing, their packaging, their products. And you'll save yourself so much work." 

But what about the original notion of gift giving? Finding the special somethings for those special someones? Airmailing American crafts and one-of-a-kind items that make for more meaningful gifts? Maybe not such a grand idea these days. By making the mailing procedure such a pain, the Postal Service has actually managed to drive home the insistent global footprint impression on hauling all that stuff from one side of the world to the other.

Instead of relying entirely on Amazon.com, Interflora and all the big, brand, worldwide online merchants, maybe its time to track down the independent shops and services in the locale of far-away friends and family and start making a concentrated effort to gift through their delivery services.

If you are planning to ship overseas this year, the good news is that Priority Mail by December 10th is guaranteed delivery in 6-10 business days to 190 plus countries - that's a big improvement from previous years, $100 insurance is included.

I'd recommend checking online prior to arrival at the post office for custom forms  and free package pick-up.

Package gifts in small parcels to avoid the intense complexity of a major custom form and keep costs down.

Petaluma's Football Frenzy

Standing by the fence at the gates to Petaluma High School's humble track and football field (humble in the capacity of this particular Southern Sonoma County sporting arena retaining its mud and guts status as one of the few remaining high school fields in the region yet to be afforded a glam remodel into high-tech turf and a double set of state-of-the-art bleachers to boot), it was a heart-warming sight to see so many familiar faces from city hall to Big-Apple 20-somethings back home to rivertown for Thanksgiving and a not-to-be missed NCS Football Playoff game.

Number one seeded gladiatorial Petaluma High School Trojans are said to be the best team here in town in the past 20 years - currently ranked as number 6 favorite in the state by the SF Chron. Last night's 28-14 fever-pitch playoff game was a packed-out event with everyone and his mother wrapped up for the chilly, thrilling spectacle of the Trojans living up to this season's legend of undefeated victory.

A sea of scarves and gloves and hats and blankets failed to dampen the spirits of impassioned P'town fans in a spectacular show of community support this Thanksgiving weekend, just what the doctor ordered for this city at the end of a tough year for so many of its friends and neighbors.

There was nothing to mope about in the West Petaluma streets around PHS Friday night, walking down the hill with the dog and the crew to be a small part of the pounding crowd was a first for this unlikely football fan, but really, how could anyone resist?

(Dear pal with a Cardinal Newman star player for a son tipped me off to last night's game and though I'm a purple-crested, PHS parent myself, the first half momentum having gone to Newman made for the play a nail-bitingly grand evening out). 

Next Friday's game against the winner of today's NCL game between Eureka and Ygnacio Valley will be hosted at PHS at 7pm. If the Trojans win that playoff, they'll be off to the section finals for the first time in a decade.

 

West Petaluma Neighborhood Olive Harvest

 

 

 

 

Olive harvest time in this West Petaluma neighborhood this weekend with busy people picking the ripened Tuscan varietals from backyard trees and fully-loaded olive groves such as that of scenic Ridgeway Family Estate (pictured in top seven photos).

Having arrived to help with the harvest a day late and a dollar short (Teela and Mike had wrapped up operations several hours ahead due to increased productivity of picking party despite an increased haul over last year's harvest) a mini tour of the newly expanded hen house and a sunflower beheading session more than sufficed for my supposed afternoon of rustic activity. 

Was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Amazing Grace, Teela's pet chicken, the pride of Petaluma and the West's most well traveled bird.

Though with the new addition of a strutting, highly motivated rooster named Hugh Hefner, the Ridgeway hen house should be multiplying at a rapid pace in coming months, making Grace's absence slightly less  of a wrench!

A couple of hours was enough to strip the olive trees on our hillside, here at Rivetti mountain. Took our slim pickings of beautiful olives over to blend with the Ridgeways and the Azari's of Azari Vineyard and Winery.

McEvoy Ranch had its first community crush of the season this morning, with a second opportunity for olive growers to have their fruit turned into oil on Sunday December 6th during the ranch's popular Open House.

Debut for New Look San Francisco Chronicle

Pedaling away furiously at 24 hour fitness first thing this a.m whilst setting the world to rights with Lesley on the neighboring bike (who just-so happened to have found a rare 45 minute window in her usual morning role as bustling coffee shop proprietress), I noticed that the guy in front was flashing around a copy of the all-new, color magazine print style San Fran Chronicle.

Not being a subscriber myself (due to the fact that I reside in the boonies of the North Bay and very little in the Chron relates even remotely to those of us content to forage around in the seemingly mysterious outer realms of the greater Bay Area.)

Though judging by the rather meager content in today's dazzling, debut, new-look Chron ( I had the Italian husband driving all over the West Side here in P'Town this evening in search of a remaining copy - so clearly we hicks can in fact be tempted by a little splash of color and the silken promise of a bright new future for print media) there's really very little about local Bay Area life (other than the bridge and obligatory sports) to bring tears of nostalgia to the eyes of either long-time or reunited readers.

The majority of the main section was made up of associated press and NY Times syndicated news which is such an insufferable shame when readers are looking for authentic voice. Unlike most of the on-line critics of the new, tabloid-style layout, I don't think it's all that shocking or off-putting, except perhaps for the sudden brevity of reporting compared to the in depth traditions of the American traditional press. And I'm not too sure that the oversizing of lush, color photography doesn't add insult to the educated reader.

When I started my journalistic career in the far corners of the Cambridgeshire Fens back in an England of the late 80s I remember being told that standard reporting should be comprehensible to an average 14-year-old. I guess that's where we're going with the Chronicle, but the question begs to be asked. Does the average Bay Area 14-year old in Mill Valley, Richmond and San Leandro find the new look Chron a slam dunk for daily digestion?

As for me, I'll give it another go on the weekend. Take a look at the British Daily Telegraph, Times and the Sunday Times, think-tank members at the SF Chron, there are success stories out there in print media land, but will this be one of them?

Pizza and Politics in Petaluma

Look who I captured on my phone cam whilst strolling homeward along B Street, in West Petaluma yesterday afternoon. None other than the flour-fingered, politically involved Naomi of Pizza Politana as she deftly dealt with a mound of the day's softest, fluffy, white dough for a fleet of delicious, wood oven artisan pizzas to please the crowd at Lynn Woolsey for Congress fundraiser at Petaluma Women's Club. With supporters from all over the North Bay in town for the afternoon, Pizza Politana was a warm welcome to Petaluma, showcasing the best of the best of our regional produce and family owned business. After all, that's what it's all about.

To Be or Not to Be

Come clean, are you a Halloween enthusiast or not? Have you been planning your look for the past six weeks or will you be one of the many friends and neighbors showing up at my door tomorrow begging for a forage in the costume box?

It's slim pickings at this stage, as the boys have had at it, draping sofas, chairs and any clear surface inside of the house with scrunched up wigs and gold, lame bomber jackets, tatty old fake fur coats, an Elvis suit, pirate attire of various shapes and sizes, face paint, fake blood (all over the bathroom counter, thanks for that), Renaissance shirts and rapper glasses. It's all coming together, in a haphazard, somewhat eccentric sort of way. At least that's what I'm told. And the fantastic thing about the offspring all being of double digits in age at this stage, is that I haven't had to go traipsing around town and county in search of some random essential costuming element.

We all here in the house remember the oldest's rather unfortunate eighth grade Edward Scissorhands episode. Then there was a series of masks, Austin Powers, that sort of thing. Way too sweaty, ultimately distressing and almost totally vision impairing to parade safely up and down D Street.

Whatever mish-mash of a creative outfit comes out of the door for last ever elementary school parade is A OK with moi. It's only been about 14 million years since the oldest was at kindergarten, maybe I should be sporting a cave woman outfit in recognition of my tenure in line to view the annual grade-school parade?

As for me, I'm still thinking along the lines of historical Petaluma chicken ranch proprietress, but haven't decided if I need to hard boil the eggs first? Italian husband tends to look at me cross eyed whenever I bring up the concept. Think he'd prefer the French Maid approach, but why be boring with such rich, cultural heritage to call on? I know, how about exhausted English/American mother, sporadic writer and wife with faint image of ghostly, golf-club toting Italian Husband somewhere in the far outreaches of background? That might be a good one.

Demise of Gourmet adds to Dwindling Stack of Glossy Mags

This morning's rather shocking news of Conde Naste's decision to unceremoniously can its venerable 68-year print run on monthly Gourmet Magazine is less of a surprise than a wake-up call to the fact of this brutal economy undoubtedly being poised to continue its push of a whole slew of glossy favorites yet to head off the publishing cliff. 

Though one of my favorites for the luscious photography, intelligent feature articles and very essence of good taste, even as a subscriber, I have to admit, my ramshackle, batter-stained binder of torn out recipes reveals a distinct lack of Gourmet originals.

Sunset Magazine's simple, seasonal, California-friendly repertoire, a few wonderful dishes from Food and Wine, but on the whole, it's a quick hit on the likes of Epicurious.com  and the FoodNetwork.com that yield the most prolific response to my frequent, rapid-decision making in the kitchen, these days.

As a magazine writer it's in my blood to renew those pesky subscription cards to contribute to the cause of traditional print journalism having a home in keeping the presses rolling. Magazine junkies of my generation find it hard to imagine a world without a pile of the latest and greatest. And yet, like everyone else, I've cut the fluff and concentrated only on the periodicals that yield the greatest pleasure in a regular read.  

And I'm finding more and more that it's the printed matter that we can relate to that's focused closer to home which makes the cut in a crunch. Food from exotic places is a little too fantastic for our palate at present. Figuring out a localized holiday dinner that delights not only those around the table, but the immediate region's farmers, cheese makers, bakers, wineries, farmers market vendors and independent shop keepers. That's what we want to read about today. Whether on line, or in some sort of sustainable print.

What's on your coffee table in the magazine stack?  

Wine, Women and Petaluma Pumpkins!

Thinking of joining a no-strings social group that combines equal measures of fun and local philanthropy here in the Petaluma area? 

I’m always looking for a public place that captures the essence of our group and the community cause that we are supporting," says Krista Gawronski, leading lady of Petaluma's fast-growing Fabulous Women Group. "Our next gathering will be on Sunday, October 4th at The Peterson Pumpkin Farm. We will meet at 4PM this Sunday, October 4th at the farm, at 636 Gossage Avenue Petaluma."

This month, the Fabulous Women will be supporting Petaluma's Committee on the Shelterless. COTS anticipates losing 40% ($750,000.00) of its revenues in the upcoming year, while demand for services is multiplying. Says Krista: "If you are unfamiliar with the mission of COTS services, here it is:  COTS provides clients with the support they need to make the transition into independent living, their goal is to break the cycle of homelessness, and provide programs to get people back into being productive members of society."

Karen Nau, a previous member of Petaluma’s City Council and a member of the Fabulous Women is strongly committed to helping this important organization. "Our gathering will take place on her parent’s farm which has served the community for a long time. They have raised livestock, grown vegetables, and educated members of the community about farming, bees, and agriculture," says Krista. "The barn was just renovated for her daughter’s wedding.  It should be the perfect backdrop for our function. There will be beautiful pumpkins everywhere."

"Please join us for this social and meaningful gathering," says Krista, who as always, encourages new members to bring along a few girlfriends. "Bring a food dish to share or a bottle of wine, and your own wine glass. We will have food bins available for donations.  We appreciate your non perishables," says Krista.

In addition to the above requests, The Fabulous Women are requesting that members and new members bring easy soup or crock-pot recipes. "We are putting together recipe books for the COTS transitional homes," says Krista, who would appreciate anyone interested in coming along this Sunday  checking in with her on line ahead of time.  "We are not just looking for quick donations…we are looking for opportunities to educate the clients in the COTS program, " she says.