Good evening, 919 Gang. Contrary to what you probably
believe, there is not a lot of excitement in Ramona. So, when someone stirs up
some dust we tend to make the most of it.
You may remember a few years back there was talk of finding
a location on which to build a new San Diego airport. Someone (and this has all
the earmarks of a committee job) came up with a lengthy list that included a
number of highly unlikely sites. (Someone said one of the sites was a Wendy’s
parking lot, but I’m not sure of that.) But for sure, one of the sites listed
was the Ramona airport. We have a nice airport, and it’s particularly important
in firefighting operations. But an international airport? No one could take
that seriously.
Oh, but a lot of Ramona people did. There were petitions,
angry letters to the editor, meetings and impassioned speeches, some starting
off “Four score and …” This town got stirred up.
It’s happened again. The fellow who owns 20 vacant acres a
block off Main Street mentioned at a public meeting that he would like to see a
big box store built on his property. He probably would like to win the lottery,
too, but get real.
His one comment stirred a lot of reaction around town.
Everyone agrees we don’t want a Walmart or a Target here. The main argument
goes that a Target or Walmart would put a lot of small shops along Main Street
out of business. Well, maybe, but only if they sold liquor at cut-rate prices
and offered tattoos.
Target and Walmart have not expressed the slightest
interest in a Ramona store, but facts such as that are not going to stop our
blood pressure from peaking.
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ALISON DaROSA
writes:
A quick note to say how much I'm enjoying Michael Burge's
recollections of his travels in Japan. I was lucky enough to visit Miyajima at
low tide -- and I've attached a photo that indeed shows visitors walking to the
Torii gate. As for the deer, they can be not quite so charming...
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PRESTON TUREGANO
writes:
I received an astonishing reaction about visiting the
Dachau death camp near Munich from a German friend in Berlin in 1993. Michael
Forester was born in the 1960s. His father had been a mail carrier in Mainz.
When I mentioned going to the extermination factory, Michael asked, “Why would
you want to go there?” My answer: “Because seeing it gives you the most vivid
perspective of the horrors that occurred there. More profound than any photo.”
My comment was met by silence and no facial expression. So, we moved on to a
visit of Sanssouci palace in Potsdam. Along the way, we stopped in front of a
mansion with a gate flanked by a gigantic gold-leafed griffin (coincidentally
my favorite mythological creature). “A high-ranking German officer lived there
during the war,” Michael said. “It is now a private residence.” Because it
wasn’t a tourist attraction, I was denied the chance to ask the same question
that had been posed to me about Dachau.
Back in Berlin, we visited a cemetery about two blocks from
Michael’s apartment. It was a snowy November day approximately five months
after the diabetes-related death of my significant other/companion Rory Schork.
Michael said the legendary actress/singer Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) was
buried in the cemetery, so I was game for a look-see. Marlene had initially
been buried in Paris, but after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she was interred
next to her mother in Berlin. At the entrance of the well-maintained burial
grounds, Michael bought a single red rose, which I assumed was going to be
placed on Marlene’s grave. We ignored new snowfall that had commenced and
stopped at the late movie star’s plot, but the rose wasn’t for her. Nearby, it
was for Michael’s late significant other/companion who earlier in the year had
died of AIDS. From the inscription on a tombstone, I realized that the day of
our cemetery visit was the same day as the deceased man’s birthday. I lost it.
And so did Michael, whom, because of his Dachau sentiment, I erroneously had
thought was heartless.
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RICK SMITH writes:
Anyone
have an answer to this?: My newspapers have arrived well before 6 a.m. the last
two days, after months of 7:30 or later during the week and 9 a.m. on Sundays.
Go figure, as they say.
P.S.:
Correct or incorrect, use of colon after question mark.
------------------------
REBER:
Tonight it’s your turn, Kelly Terry. Happy Birthday, Aug. 11.
P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.
