Out of the Box

News Spotting
By Lois Laine


We Love "Us"--Show It Tuesday!
Checked with Stu Brown (of Stu's News fame), and he spoke positively about the Town's Measure R--the sales/transaction tax plan of action on Tuesday's Mono County ballot. Voters would be interested to learn that this tax proposal will be a "line item" in the Town's budget--no free-floating money here. Measure R's revenue is to enhance tourism experiences, according to Brown, and this means more collaborative work by the MLTPA (Mammoth Lakes Trails and Public Access) people, the Town and others. There is an emphasis on "Trails" in this possibly ear-marked money. I know I've written this many ways over the years, but it bears saying again. Tourism is 90 percent or more of our existence in this part of the country. Just like farming, you can just plant seed, and hope that something comes along with Mother Nature stamped all over it, OR, you can add soil amendments early on. Most everything we do up here is word-of-mouth (75 percent), so look for more on a regular basis from the news ambassadors, like Mr. Brown, the Town's Community Relations Man. (get it?). Stuart says Measure R is a chance to "invest in ourselves." The half-a-percent proposed increase brings the sales tax to 7.75 percent (same as Bishop's). The revenue drawn from the special tax would be used to enhance trail experiences, and the one-million to 1.2 million dollar proceeds could be placed in an account for the ice rink, ball fields, parks and other outside fun. "The Town Council is very supportive, " Stuart says of the Measure.

Remember to Vote!
Don't forget to vote people. Otherwise we are reliquishing a near-god-given right we still possess. The right, buried in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, is one of freedom to press, assembly (hanging out with each other-so long as we don't incite a riot or puncture someone's ego), religion, thoughts and expression. That right also encompasses the right to have a brain and use it. voting our thoughts onto a ballot amounts to casting an idea or thought into action. And, you can't get pis$y with anyone about the current state of affairs in our country if you don't cast an opinion. By the way, voter turn-oout is important in Mono County. Several years back, John Kerry won by one vote in Mono County. A vote recount was documented, and every single vote counted right down to the single thought....

"The pen speaks for the mind, and a new idea is cast
into play"--Lois Laine

All Passes a "Go"
It's great to report that as of June 2, all the east-to-west passes are open. However, things can change in an eastern Sierra moment. I have the easiest three numbers to dial around here for up-to-date road conditions. It's "511" and then be prepared to give the highway number. Clues for getting around: use a current map--and you can buy one of these at most of the gas stations along US 395. Be aware of your surroundings, and remember to keep your wits about you. People die up here for the sake of fun, so be prepared for the elements. Never underestimate Mother Nature--she holds the ace everytime!

What's Afoot?
Steve Searles, bearologist for the Eastern Sierra, has given me a recent wildlife update, including that the bears will be moving down canyon soon. They are following the snowmelting line, and picking at the great grasses and other veggies around. It's also possible to spot other feline species this time of year--since it is still officially "The Year of the Bobcat," Searles says. As for the bear mothers, Searles reports that there are three mothers: one with a pair of newbies and the other two with yearlings and two-year-olds. The little bears will be pushed out soon into the new world. Coyotes are becoming a problem, so don't encourage them by leaving food out and about. More this week....

The High Sierra Country Store
From Lois' Collection- A Place to Find and Talk About Local Treasures
write to lois.laine59@gmail.com

I've traveled the high Sierra backroads for just short of 30 years--come July. My parents, Dennis and Phillis Reed, started tent camping in the late 1970s with my brother, Dan, and I. The old army canvas tent, for eight, was my earliest recollection of staying amid the pines of the Sierra. My pop's was a school teacher for more than 30 years, and we always took long summer car camping trips across the country. We'd be gone for weeks, to British Columbia and Montana, and Virginia Creek in the high Sierra. I fell in love with this area when I was 16 years old, and endured the "shitty life" to get up to that remote mountain meadow beside Virginia Creek every summer. My friends have memories on film of me, seven months pregnant with my sons in the 1980s, bathing in the creek in a bikini--late summer time. Some of the best moments in the next 28 years have happened in the "Land of the Uncommon"--a Lois Laine column next....

Land of the Uncommon:
From Mill Creek Station, With Love
By L.L.
Gotta love a place that specializes in individuals, and the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada attracts the uncommon like no other landscape in the Great Basin. So, I've found a new forum to showcase some of the most uncommon aspects of the Eastern Sierra. I'm starting with one of my favorite spots to see individuals of all ages. Mill Creek Station, in Round Valley (north of Bishop), is many things to many people. for New Mexico Phil, sculptor extraordinary, it's a spot for his tuff rock tribute to big wall mentor and climbing legend, Warren Harding. "Lars" cut his teeth promoting musical talent at the Tuff Rock Festivals in the mid-2000s, and his sound system (atop the garage) was "the bomb" in technology for the Rovana-based Tungsten City Band." I recall riding from Nevada Street, in Rovana Village, on a hot August night, and buying beer from Jack at the Station. They always had great stews, soups and chili on cold winter days, and Rose was great at showing you to the diary case. The Station had gas, camping supplies and charm, and it still has two of the three listed. Mill Creek Station is a part of the old Bly Quarry, and many of those old stones make up the foundation of some prominent buildings in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today, the stones gathered around the electric tangerine-orange homestead, are the meeting grounds for music affectionados and dancers alike. Some of the region's brightest musical talents have literally battered up or generatored into recognition in the rock quarry nearby, fondly called, "The Pit,"--ask Lava Moon.... A recent look back at Mill Creek Station reveals a most unusual past in that rock quarry in the pastoral Round Valley, in the shadow of Mt. Tom. That small valley has been a beacon for people for thousands of years, and artists of all sorts can't help but live there--at least once in their life time. It will be my supremen pleasure to tell you stories from "The Land of the Uncommon." My boundaries are limitless, and I'm apt to be sippin' a bloody Mary in Nevada's oldest continuously used bar in Genoa or drinking an iced tea in Tonapah, as I am chasing down a water story in Nevada or Utah. Write me, I like pen pals. FREAK WARNING: Lois may be blonde, but she's not dumb. With my 4X4. there's no place I can't get to--eventually.

High Sierra Country Store Continued
There's something extra special about old fashioned remedies, and I thought I'd debut this little column with a small cure for ingrown toenails. It goes something like this. Tie a lizard's liver to a leather string. Take the leather string and tie it around your left ankle. According to an old remedy, the ingrown toenail (and probably all your friends and family) after nine days. If that doesn't work--here's a pain treatment. To ease pain of sickness or death, find a rock that is partly covered with dirt. Remove the rock from its resting place and spit n the bottom or covered side. Replace the rock in the same hold-exactly as you first found it. There you have it--FREE pain advice. Tell 'em you found it at http://www.mammothlakesdaily.com/, under "The High Sierra Country Store." Next issue: Fried Cucumbers and Boiled Okra, and a good "Receet for Washin Clothes" from circa (1880s).
Copyrighted by LL