Nothing theoretical bounced off the four walls of Theory Wellness, a popular cannabis dispensary, not far from the French Cafe on Main Street where I had lingered over a croissant and a cafe au lait. I was in the middle of my vacation. I might have taken a break from cannabis, but what was the point? I wanted to taste the local foods, drink the local spirits and smoke the local weed.
I stood online and gazed around the room.
Yes, the activities were all mercantile and practical, not theoretical. The budtenders talked about products and prices, the medical and recreational marijuana users asked questions about THC and CBD, and paid in cash and with debit cards.
Products flew off the shelves, out the front door and into the parking lot filled with vehicles. It felt good to be 3,000 miles from home and to be able to buy cannabis legally at prices I could afford. No anxiety, no paranoia. I must have been the only Californian inside Theory, but the other consumers seemed like soul mates. We had at least one big thing in common.
I was doing what cannabis columnists are often obliged to do on vacation. Buying pre-rolled joints. I happened to be in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, which became the 18th state in the U.S. to legalize, tax and regulate cannabis, in 2016. Nearby states like New York still haven’t given their stamp of approval to the crop that has swept across the country thanks to activists, lobbyists, scientists and users.
I asked one of the budtenders, a guy with tattoos and piercings, “Do consumers drive here from other states to get their drug of choice?” He looked at me like I was from Mars. “Are you kidding me?” he said. “People drive hundreds of miles to get to Theory. They come from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, President Biden’s state.” Indeed, Massachusetts, otherwise known as “The Commonwealth” and one of the original 13 colonies, is a destination for potheads and medical marijuana users from all over the Eastern Seaboard.
Two dear friends had driven me to Theory. They’re not stoners, but they decided to buy gummies and cannabis-infused chocolates so they could offer them to guests over the Massachusetts’ summer when everything is green, corn grows tall and tourists like me mix with locals who love pot.
In my friends’ home, I fired up a joint, smoked about half and got stoned, pleasantly. It was good to know that Massachusetts weed worked as well and as fast as California weed. There was no point competing. We are all sojourners in the great, unwashed cannabis culture that can be theoretical if you want it to be.
Jonah Raskin is the author of “Marijuanaland: Dispatches from an American War.”
A few weeks ago I heard a strange buzzing on the driveway outside my house, and it generated a numinous feeling inside me. I followed the sound to its source and beheld a swarm of bees hanging off a high tree branch like a giant dollop of honey.
The sight made me giddy.
My neighbor, who is rancherly and knows many things, was quick to obtain a wooden hive and somehow, with the aid of smoke magic, to corral the bees into it. They literally fell off the branch into their new home, as docile as 10,000 mini-Bambis in a UFO beam. Now we have a beehive on the corner of our property. It sits quietly and majestically, and yellow honey bees buzz in and out of it all day long, working their terrestrial magic. They are adorable.
As luck would have it, this is the year I planted a flower garden. As soon as the beehive arrived, I noticed an uptick in the number of bees among the flowers. The count went from two to six on any given morning. Not only that, the new bees looked extra healthy; from a distance they gleamed like my kitty cat’s naughty, golden eyes.
We here at Apple Dog Farm pride ourselves on being quasi-able to get ourselves up to full-farm self-sufficiency in two years if the dung ever hits the propeller, and with Goddess tossing us a bunch of bees, it will take less than two years now. It’s these little carrots that keep a man my age going during interesting times.
I stand barefoot in the garden these afternoons, my toes warmed by sunlight, watching the bees buzz about. On certain days the honey bees become especially excited, darting in and out of flowers with extra viv and zazz. What nice, tiny lives they live.
The honey bees remind me more than a little of Twiddlebugs, if you must know. If you don’t know what Twiddlebugs are, google them now—and shame on you! For many years I secretly wanted a Twiddlebug family in my very own window box, but that, alas, can’t happen, because Twiddlebugs live in the realm of the unreal, and West County ain’t actually Sesame Street, if you know what I mean.
But it doesn’t matter, my wish is fulfilled. The bees arrived, and my kitty and I spend time in the garden with them, all of us enjoying the flowers, together, as friends. As Goddess would want it to be.
Mark Fernquest writes and edits in a glass house in a West County apple orchard. He is for sale.
While the Covid-19 pandemic certainly hit the pause button on live music in Marin County last year, it did not break up the scene; local bands are jamming once again as venues reopen and live events return to the North Bay.
One of Marin’s busiest musicians is Point Reyes–based Danny Vitali, who’s playing in a half-dozen groups right now, and who just released his second album under his own name.
Out now as a digital album and soon coming on blue vinyl, Vitali’s Fronds is a seven-track trip of psychedelic-folk that tells the story of, well, everything.
Born in California, but raised in the Midwest, Vitali relocated to West Marin a decade ago, and his debut solo record, 2016’s Invernesia, was heavily influenced by his surroundings.
“In the five years since (Invernesia), I’ve been traveling around California and exploring it,” Vitali says. “I feel like California is so broad and wide, there’s so much to see.”
After taking in sights ranging from Mount Lassen to Death Valley, Vitali used that expanded landscape to fuel his creativity, making Fronds a somewhat musical continuation of Invernesia.
Yet, Vitali plunges his indie-folk style into deeper waters on Fronds, creating his most ambient tones yet—such as the album’s hypnotic instrumental title track—as well as crafting his catchiest song to date, “The Afterglow,” which is a heavy contender for Marin’s song of the summer.
Thematically, Fronds contains a compelling narrative arc that Vitali compares to a sci-fi fantasy story.
“Sort of like an alternate world that you enter in the first song,” he says. “And you go through kind of like a psychedelic trip.”
In that trip, Vitali experiences the death of the ego in the song “The Big Beyond” and finds clarity in the final track “Alturas,” which both refers to the idea of altruism and is the name of a tiny town next to Modoc National Forest in the northeast corner of California.
“I was reading a lot of Ursula K. Le Guin,” Vitali says.
Recorded before the pandemic, in the Bay Area’s acclaimed Tiny Telephone Studios, Fronds features the talents of Rob Shelton (production, synthesizers, keyboards), Luke Temple (co-production, guitar, synthesizer, vocals) Dylan Squires (guitars, vocals, co-writing), Michael Pinkham (drums), Andrew Maguire (percussion), Paul Spring (vocals) and Carly Bond (vocals).
When the pandemic shuttered the North Bay in March 2020, Vitali says he began stress gardening and refocused on completing the album’s production and release. Given that the record was recorded analog and straight to tape, he says the imminently-arriving vinyl is the ideal way to experience Fronds. “It makes a lot more sense when you hear it in that format,” he says. “Really loud.”
Now that West Marin destinations like the Old Western Saloon and Smiley’s Schooner Saloon are reopening, Vitali splits his time by playing with several local outfits including the Haggards, Kelly McFarling’s band, the West Marin Grateful Dead Appreciation Society led by Alex Bleeker and more.
“I’m playing in about eight groups right now, and everybody has a record coming,” Vitali says. “It’s going to be a fun, outdoor-show summer, and I’m looking forward to it all.”
It’s been said that there are dog people and cat people. I’m neither. I’m barely a people person. This is ironic since people occasionally comment upon my natural leadership abilities and become disappointed when I don’t pass the Kool-Aid.
I have been known, however, to share the wine, and if you’re seeking a Jim Jones-esque experience, the diminutive size of my expense account relative to affordable plonk could very well yield a killer hangover. And what’s the point? Two’s company … but not a cult.
To that end, I am not, naturally speaking, a top-dog, alpha-male or über-mensch type anyway—unless I’m alone, which makes me all the above with the added bonus of being a “lone wolf.” Then I’m a total badass until I run into another lone wolf. Inevitably, we discuss joining forces and forming our own pack. But running in a pack of lone wolves is rather like attending the anarchy club—oxymoronic at its best, and embarrassing if one actually shows up.
When other would-be top dogs ask me why they have poor pack retention, I point out it’s because they’re stingy with their knowledge.
They rationalize that smart leaders don’t foment their own competition. They think underdogs created concepts like “mentoring,” which is just a way of learning everything necessary to overthrow the person mentoring you. I nod sagely, then I offer them some well-deserved Kool-Aid.
There are other ways to become a top dog, of course. A pal of mine once fell in with a rough pack of feral canines—wolves, really—and later came down with a nasty case of lycanthropy. Now, he does public service announcements:
“Remember, there is no cure for lycanthropy, and it may be contagious even if there are no symptoms like excessive body hair or a full moon.”
The only headache worse than having a werewolf friend—they eat guacamole right out of the bowl—is when a dog arrives at my doorstep leashed to a pal of mine, who wants to enter my home. With his dog. Though it’s unpopular to admit, I don’t like animals in my house. It sort of defeats the purpose of living indoors, doesn’t it? I mean, we built houses to live apart from the animals, didn’t we?
“But the dog is part of my family,” my friend protests.
And since I’m a gracious host, I welcome them both inside. Then I explain how genetics work while filling their bowls.
Editor Daedalus Howell is the author of the upcoming children’s book about pirate dogs, “Skalliwagz.”
When the technology became sufficient, video game designers created open-ended worlds in which characters could roam freely. Obstacles were placed in each character’s way, and if characters overcame them their powers were upgraded. Each character’s “will” was controlled by a higher intelligence, namely the player holding the controls.
Now, where do you suppose the designers got this idea?
In our last column we examined how the universe repeats the same patterns at different levels of resolution. That is also the case with the virtual realities mankind creates. The life lessons offered by sophisticated video games mirror the hard-won wisdom of real life, such as if you encounter a situation that seems unsolvable, there’s probably some key detail you have not noticed. Find your blind spot, and solving the puzzle becomes easy.
Technology’s rise has led some to suggest that reality is a “simulation”; that the material world is designed like a game that ultimately isn’t “real.” The ancients had the same view; they just looked at things metaphysically rather than technologically, believing the world was created by a higher intelligence, and that godly or planetary powers were capable of being upgraded by those who played the game properly.
We moderns think of the world as being matter-based, with Platonic concepts of metaphysical reality belonging to a less-enlightened past. But according to traditional doctrines, the material world is just one plane of reality—the lowest—in a consciousness-based universe. Matter, in this sense, is simply a dense form of consciousness. Hence the saying, “Even a stone is God, it just doesn’t know it.”
This brings up the notion of fate. From the point of view of eternity, past, present and future all exist simultaneously. Ponder this scenario: Say you drop a potato chip in the path of a meandering ant. The ant doesn’t know there’s a chip in its future if it stays on course, but you do. You have a vaster vista of reality, a godlike point of view compared to the ant. Whether it finds the chip or veers on another course is irrelevant to the reality of the chip. Thus, at any moment all future scenarios exist.
You could have chosen not to read this, but you did. And now here you are with a new perspective, wondering what you might do next.
After the last year of pandemic stress, a wellness weekend is just what the North Bay needs. Thankfully, that is exactly what the Meritage Resort and Spa, and its neighboring sister property, Vista Collina Resort, are planning for the first-ever Moondance Napa Wellness Weekend. Opening with a reception and drum circle on June 24, the four-day series of packages include yoga and other outdoor activities, spa treatments, meditation, a “Celebration of Spring” concert, healthy meals, artisan markets with wellness vendors and more. Sign up for individual packages, or the whole weekend, Thursday through Sunday, June 24–27, 875 Bordeaux Way, Napa. Meritagecollection.com.
St. Helena
Blue Note Napa and Another Planet continue to present headlining entertainment outside at the Charles Krug Winery, Napa Valley’s Oldest Wine Estate this summer. Normally, the groups present live music; this week, they welcome standup comedian and actor Fortune Feimster– whose first one-hour special, Sweet & Salty, is currently streaming on Netflix and was nominated for Best Comedy Special for the Critics’ Choice Awards–to the outdoor stage for two shows on Friday, June 25, at 2800 Main St., St. Helena. 5:30pm and 8:30pm. Bluenotenapa.com.
Novato
As part of Pride Month, Marin County nonprofit organization the Spahr Center—which serves the LGBTQ+ community and supports those affected by HIV—is holding an LGBTQ+ Pride Rally this weekend at Novato City Hall. The event is being held to thank City and Town Councils throughout Marin, as well as the Board of Supervisors, for flying the LGBTQ+ Pride Flag during the month of June, and to present the center’s LGBTQ+ agenda for Marin. Limited seating is available, and a pop-up tent will accommodate some rally goers. As with all events, masks and social distancing are encouraged for the rally on Saturday, June 26, at 901 Sherman Ave., Novato. Noon. Free. thespahrcenter.org.
Healdsburg
The weather is not the only thing heating up in Healdsburg. This week, recently-opened gallery Legion Projects opens “Heatwave,” a duo show featuring works by San Francisco-based artist Anoushka Mirchandani and Oakland-based artist Taylor Smalls. Mirchandani examines her experiences navigating a multiplicity of identities as an Indian, a woman and an artist in her work. Smalls centers her paintings around the kaleidoscopic range of Black and Brown skin through highly pigmented colors. “Heatwave” runs June 26–Aug. 6 and opens with a reception featuring complimentary wine and a food pop-up on Saturday, June 26, at Legion Projects, 711A Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. 1–5pm. Free. Legionsf.com.
Sebastopol
With in-person events making a comeback, local venues like HopMonk Tavern are welcoming bands back for much-needed live music. This weekend, Sonoma County five-piece party-starters Burnside are at HopMonk in Sebastopol and ready to make the crowd move with original tunes that incorporate soul, folk, indie-rock and Americana. Joining Burnside for the show is another popular local figure, singer-songwriter Caitlin Jemma, who will likely perform some songs off her upcoming record True Meaning, due out later this summer. Catch up with the music on Saturday, June 26, at HopMonk Tavern, 230 Petaluma Ave, Sebastopol. 8pm. 21 and over. $18. Hopmonk.com/sebastopol.
Since the Railroad Square Music Festival is unable to bring the people to the music this summer due to the pandemic, they decided to bring the music to the people.
This month, organizers of Railroad Square Music Festival—which normally takes over the titular downtown district in Santa Rosa for a free day of live music in June—are instead dropping a new compilation, RSMF Records Vol 1: Live at Prairie Sun 2021, featuring 12 eclectic North Bay bands and artists and available online for streaming and as a digital album.
“Because of the pandemic, Mooka (Mark “Mooka” Rennick) and the other managers at Prairie Sun Studio wanted to bring some energy back to the music scene,” says RSMF co-founder Susy Dugan.
In addition to co-founding RSMF with Josh Windmiller, Dugan works as an audio engineer with Prairie Sun Live, the live events branch of Prairie Sun Recording Studios. Each June, Prairie Sun Live provides the audio for the RSMF. With the event canceled for the second summer in a row, the two groups joined forces for this new compilation record.
“This was a perfect collaboration to bring some people into the studio, but also give people a safe space and opportunity to be artists and to create again,” Dugan says.
RSMF Records Vol 1: Live at Prairie Sun 2021 features electro-jazz artist Eki Shola, funk ensemble Bronze Medal Hopefuls, hip-hop artist Kayatta, harmonizing rockers Heartwood Trio, soul star Simone Mosely, lo-fi act Coldest, norteño alternativos Pistoleros Famosos, surf pop-punkers the Happys, Highway Poets’ frontman Sebastian St. James, acoustic R&B duo Jaz and Crow, a new band by Gabe Katz called Bummer Peak and Windmiller’s band the Crux.
“We had four days of recording, and we had three or four bands per day,” Dugan says. “We ran it a lot like we would a live concert, where the bands load in, do a couple takes of their live performance and then we get ready for the next band.”
For some of the bands, this marked their debut at the famed recording studios in Cotati, and Dugan says many of the album tracks were written during the pandemic, so this is the first time audiences will get to hear those tunes.
“Being there for the recording was a moving experience, I had goosebumps the whole time,” Dugan says. “We’re so happy to be able to present local performers, and we’re grateful to Prairie Sun for the opportunity to shine a light on all of the incredible talent in the North Bay.”
The album is available online now, and Henhouse Brewing Company even has a custom From the Heart IPA featuring a QR code on the can to direct folks to the record. In addition to the album, RSMF is also continuing work on its RSMF TV series of videos and eyeing a return to live events in 2022.
“At the Railroad Square Music Festival, our entire focus is to bring more attention to the music community,” Dugan says. “The compilation accomplished that, and it helped me remember why we do this.”
Please extend my congratulations to Eva Chrysanthe for her superb article, “Pushed Around” in the June 9–15 2021 issue of the Pacific Sun. It is well-researched, well-documented and well-written, and deals with a topic—homelessness—that has relevance on the local, state and national levels.
I think it is worthy of consideration for a Pulitzer Prize. Please submit it to the Pulitzer Prize committee for consideration. Again, my congratulations to Eva Chrysanthe for a beautifully written article on a difficult and complex subject.
Sara Godwin, Fairfax
Bad Blood
The article titled “Bad Blood” in the June 9–15, 2021 Bohemian is not referenced on the cover.
The beauty of “Bad Blood” is its close focus on crimes, lawyers and the example it sets for the country in its detailed, concise and colorful presentation. Easy to miss. This is an issue whose front page features “Vinyl Destination,” “Culture Crush,” “Left Edge Returns” and “Trivia Cafe.”
“Bad Blood” is an exceptionally good article, and hard to find in the Bohemian’s feel-good layout.
Hugh Brady, Sonoma County
Numbers Game
I’ve never before responded to an article, but I feel “compelled” to share my observation on 50 Up Magazine. Every decade seems to make most people feel “old.” After all, it’s the oldest they’ve ever been. My mother said the same thing in her 80s that I’m going to share here, at 68. Inside, we are still that young, somewhat-awkward person. When I say, “when will I grow up?” I realize this IS me grown up. Still enjoying cannabis 50+ years later, still loving the Beatles and reggae music and live concerts. Enjoying dancing. Wearing tie-dye. At almost sixty-freakin’-nine! I used to think it was just men who didn’t grow up. But I was wrong.
On May 10, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quietly signed off on a plan meant to reduce pollution in the 146-square-mile Petaluma River Watershed.
That’s right. Although the problem is rarely discussed, the Petaluma River has been listed as “impaired” by excessive levels of bacteria since 1975.
The bureaucratic document approved by the EPA is known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). It sets levels of acceptable waste discharge from various sources in an attempt to lower the levels of fecal bacteria found in the watershed until the water is deemed clean.
While preparing the TMDL, scientists from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board tested water from throughout the watershed for Fecal Indicator Bacteria to determine the amount of waste from warm-blooded mammals that has seeped into the water. Although indicator bacteria themselves are not dangerous, scientists use the strains to detect potentially dangerous levels of contamination in the water.
In a report accompanying the TMDL, water board staff identified 12 sources of pollution, which they then lumped into three general categories: human waste, animal waste and municipal stormwater runoff. In tests conducted between 2015 and 2016, water board scientists found bacteria tied to humans, horses, cows and dogs throughout the Petaluma River and its tributaries.
When asked in late 2019 about the levels of E. coli discovered in the Petaluma River, Farhad Ghodrati, an environmental scientist with the San Francisco Bay board, said the test results showed “some of the highest concentrations we have seen in the region.”
At the same time, Dr. Celeste Philips, who then served as Sonoma County’s Health Officer, warned Petaluma River users against drinking the river water or using the water for cooking due to the levels of E. coli. “Adults and children should wash hands/shower and towel dry after swimming; rinse off pets after they come into contact with the water,” Philips added.
Although some of the various parties named in the report appear to be undertaking the work required of them by the TMDL, the clean-up process will likely stretch on for at least a decade, according to an implementation timeline.
However, if critics of the plan are correct, the process may stretch on much longer due to flaws in the TMDL. San Francisco Bay Keeper, a nonprofit focused on cleaning up Bay Area water sources, raised concerns throughout the approval process that the plan does not meet the legal requirements of a TMDL laid out in the Clean Water Act.
“Baykeeper has concerns about the strength and legality of the Petaluma River Bacteria and Nutrients TMDL because we believe the TMDL isn’t specific enough or strong enough to lead to meaningful improvements for the river,” Ben Eichenberg, a staff attorney with Bay Keeper, said in a statement. Among other weaknesses, Eichenberg says that the current TMDL fails to identify specific pollutant sources and “underestimates the scope and cost of what it will take to clean things up.”
The regional and State Water Quality Control Boards largely dismissed Bay Keepers’ concerns throughout the plan approval process, and the EPA appears to have signed off without making any changes.
Whether or not the current plan is strong or specific enough, the current TMDL and accompanying documents do offer some insight into the reason the watershed is polluted—and what should be done about it. Now, without further delay, let’s take a look at a few of the sources and suggested solutions.
Cattle and Horses
According to a 2020 staff report, the 17 cow dairies in the Petaluma River Watershed are home to an estimated 11,000 cows. Meanwhile, 32 horse farms house approximately 8,600 animals in the watershed.
Given the number of four-legged watershed residents, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that tests found that bacteria originating from cow and horse waste “were identified at very high rates throughout the watershed, in both dry and wet seasons.”
In order to comply with the TMDL, Confined Animal Facilities, the technical term for high-density commercial ag operations, must prove they comply with Water Board regulations “as soon as possible,” and monitor water quality as required by the Water Board moving forward.
Meanwhile, grazing operations in the watershed, which include less dense ag operations, must obtain a Grazing Order from the Water Board by September and follow Water Board regulations.
Sewer Systems
Sewer system overflows during heavy rainstorms appear to be another historically significant source of pollution in the watershed.
Between 2007 and 2017, the Petaluma and the Penngrove Sanitation Zone, a small district located north of Petaluma, reported 94 large overflows, spewing a total of 1.35 million gallons of sewage into the watershed.
Tests in 2016 and 2017 “detected fecal bacteria of human origin at many sites throughout the watershed, which could point to discharges from the sanitary sewer collection systems as a likely source,” the 2020 staff report notes.
The report tasks Petaluma and the Penngrove Sanitation Zone with preparing an updated Sewer System Management Plan identifying necessary repairs to the systems within a year. Once the plans are approved by the water board, the agencies will have 10 years to complete all of the required improvements. More pressing projects identified in the report must be completed within five years.
Homeless Encampments and Marinas
People living in informal shelters inside the watershed may also pose a risk to water quality.
In July 2017, there were an estimated 17 encampments along waterways within Petaluma city limits. If encampment residents are not disposing of their waste properly, it could make its way into the waterways.
As a result, the TMDL requires Petaluma and CalTrans, the state transportation agency, to create a plan to “prevent human waste discharges into storm sewer systems from homeless encampments on City of Petaluma and Caltrans properties within the Petaluma River watershed” by next May. The resulting plan must be implemented by the end of 2022.
The TMDL also requires marina owners and operators to increase “no dumping” education for boat owners by the end of 2021, and to create a plan review and install proper waste management equipment by next May. The marina owners must complete the improvements within five years.
More information about the Petaluma River Bacteria TMDL is available here.
I’ve fallen hopelessly in love dozens of times over the past decade. Apparently, I’m just a girl who can’t say no, immediately opening my heart and home to every new sweetie who comes my way. Age, breeding and even gender never matter to me.
I’m addicted to caring for foster dogs.
The furry faces and soulful eyes of abandoned pups do me in every time. My first foray into fostering was with a black toy poodle named Alfie, who came from Muttville, the Bay Area’s senior dog rescue. Since then, I’ve cared for so many that I’ve lost count. Some stay only a few days, and others, like my current foster dog Jordan who had health issues, live with me for months.
Jordan, a four-year-old, 90-pound Alaskan Malamute/Siberian husky mix, was dumped at the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA. The family he lived with since he was a puppy said they were moving, a common reason given for surrendering a dog. The notes on Jordan’s paperwork indicate he stayed outside on a balcony in Daly City for most of his life.
Unfortunately, Jordan, who started out as a friendly fellow, emotionally shut down in the shelter after being there for two months. He no longer wanted attention, became unresponsive and even growled at a staff member. With Jordan’s spirit broken, it was clearly time for him to leave the noisy, fast-paced shelter.
Shelters often work with rescues to help find homes for animals, particularly those with special needs. The Bay Area Siberian Husky Rescue, a small rescue focusing on Northern breeds, took Jordan into their foster program. I volunteered to foster the pooch, and brought him home to Sausalito.
Foster dogs and cats live in a home, and are treated as a member of the family, until they’re adopted. The foster parent gets to know the pet’s personality, and works with the animal on socializing and training. Sometimes, as with Jordan, the foster person nurses a pet back to health as they recover from medical conditions or surgeries. Mostly, the foster family provides love and stability.
“All dogs thrive better in a home,” said Sherri Franklin, founder and CEO of Muttville. “Even though we have a shelter, we stay foster based. It’s best for the dog and the adopter. We’re able to give an adopter a clearer picture of what sort of dog they’re bringing home. We can matchmake a dog with a person in a more confident way.”
Most shelters remained closed to the public during the pandemic, and relied on foster homes to care for their animals. The foster program was such a success for Marin Humane in Novato, they have decided to continue the model of keeping as many pets as possible in foster homes. In fact, they recently tripled the size of their foster program by partnering with Hopalong Animal Rescue.
Baxter was recently placed in a loving home by Marin Humane. Photo courtesy of Marin Humane.
“We found that we had less sickness among pets in foster homes,” said Lisa Bloch, director of marketing and communications at Marin Humane. “Especially with cats, because stress can often lead to upper respiratory infections.”
Kittens also benefit from staying in foster homes. Spring marked the start of kitten season, and shelters are now overflowing with the tiny felines.
“Our foster program is essential, because we bring in kittens from shelters across the state that have too many kittens to handle,” said Asher Belden, adoption program manager of the Humane Society of Sonoma County. “If we didn’t take the kittens, they might be euthanized.”
The agency has taken in 329 kittens this season, with 60 in foster care right now. People are flocking to their kitty adoption events.
During the pandemic lockdown, pets available for adoption were in high demand, an unusual and gratifying phenomenon, according to animal welfare groups. Some rescues and shelters are still seeing more adoption applicants than in pre-pandemic times.
“It was an explosive year,” said Hannah Houston, director of foster and adoption at Dogwood Animal Rescue, based in Sonoma County. “It became abundantly clear during Covid that people were suffering from loneliness and isolation. They didn’t just want a dog, they needed a dog.”
Dogwood Animal Rescue adopted out 750 dogs and cats in 2020, close to double the amount of a typical year. Each dog had at least 25 applicants, and 60 people were on the kitten waiting list.
Adoption applications during the pandemic increased by 400% at Muttville, the senior dog rescue. Even dogs that are typically harder to place, such as blind or diabetic dogs, were adopted quickly.
Popcorn, an eight-year-old Parson Russell terrier, is awaiting adoption. Photo courtesy of Muttville.
With last week officially marking the end of the lockdown in the Bay Area, many pet parents are heading back to the office for the first time in more than a year. There have been dire headlines in the media about people giving up their newly adopted companions now that we’re on the move again.
“The pandemic brought about a pet adoption boom—but now, U.S. shelters are struggling to take in growing numbers of cats and dogs,” the BBC reported last month.
Not so, according to Bay Area shelters and rescues. The agencies say the extra time and effort they invested to prepare adopters for the inevitable return to normalcy was well worth it.
“We’re not seeing returns at Muttville as people go back to work,” Franklin said. “Most of us in the adoption world talked to the adopters about their expectations and their plans for when they go back to work. We made sure people thought this through, because it’s a commitment. Having these conversations during the adoption process really helped.”
Discussions with pet owners have now shifted to how to leave their dogs and cats at home alone. It’s not just the animals suffering from separation anxiety—humans are having a hard time adjusting, too.
Experts recommend initially leaving your pet for a few minutes, exiting and returning without fanfare. Come and go frequently, gradually extending the amount of time you’re away.
“It’s also helpful to increase their exercise,” Bloch, of Marin Humane, said. “Take your dog on an extra-long walk or jog. Play with your cats as well. Leave toys at home that provide mental stimulation.”
Although we managed to foster and adopt in record numbers during the pandemic, the never-ending flow of stray and abandoned animals entering shelters and rescues continues. Fostering and adopting remain just as important in our post-pandemic world.
When I picked up my foster dog Jordan from the shelter, I didn’t think he’d be with me for seven months and counting, far longer than any of my other fosters. It will be bittersweet when Jordan goes to his forever home, but I’ll dry my tears quickly and make room for the next foster dog who will, no doubt, steal my heart again.
Nothing theoretical bounced off the four walls of Theory Wellness, a popular cannabis dispensary, not far from the French Cafe on Main Street where I had lingered over a croissant and a cafe au lait. I was in the middle of my vacation. I might have taken a break from cannabis, but what was the point? I wanted to...
A few weeks ago I heard a strange buzzing on the driveway outside my house, and it generated a numinous feeling inside me. I followed the sound to its source and beheld a swarm of bees hanging off a high tree branch like a giant dollop of honey.
The sight made me giddy.
My neighbor, who is rancherly and knows many...
While the Covid-19 pandemic certainly hit the pause button on live music in Marin County last year, it did not break up the scene; local bands are jamming once again as venues reopen and live events return to the North Bay.
One of Marin’s busiest musicians is Point Reyes–based Danny Vitali, who’s playing in a half-dozen groups right now, and...
Bow-wow
It’s been said that there are dog people and cat people. I’m neither. I’m barely a people person. This is ironic since people occasionally comment upon my natural leadership abilities and become disappointed when I don’t pass the Kool-Aid.
I have been known, however, to share the wine, and if you’re seeking a Jim Jones-esque experience, the diminutive size of...
Gaming Fate
When the technology became sufficient, video game designers created open-ended worlds in which characters could roam freely. Obstacles were placed in each character’s way, and if characters overcame them their powers were upgraded. Each character’s “will” was controlled by a higher intelligence, namely the player holding the controls.
Now, where do you suppose the designers got this idea?
In our...
Napa
After the last year of pandemic stress, a wellness weekend is just what the North Bay needs. Thankfully, that is exactly what the Meritage Resort and Spa, and its neighboring sister property, Vista Collina Resort, are planning for the first-ever Moondance Napa Wellness Weekend. Opening with a reception and drum circle on June 24, the four-day series of packages...
Since the Railroad Square Music Festival is unable to bring the people to the music this summer due to the pandemic, they decided to bring the music to the people.
This month, organizers of Railroad Square Music Festival—which normally takes over the titular downtown district in Santa Rosa for a free day of live music in June—are instead dropping a...
Prize Worthy
Please extend my congratulations to Eva Chrysanthe for her superb article, “Pushed Around” in the June 9–15 2021 issue of the Pacific Sun. It is well-researched, well-documented and well-written, and deals with a topic—homelessness—that has relevance on the local, state and national levels.
I think it is worthy of consideration for a Pulitzer Prize. Please submit it to the...
On May 10, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quietly signed off on a plan meant to reduce pollution in the 146-square-mile Petaluma River Watershed.
That’s right. Although the problem is rarely discussed, the Petaluma River has been listed as “impaired” by excessive levels of bacteria since 1975.
The bureaucratic document approved by the EPA is known as a Total Maximum Daily...
