In my first “This Citizen’s View” writing, I jumped right into the deep end. My premise to even be so bold as to write monthly with my thoughts is to have others engage in some way with what is, to my mind, important thinking and discussion. The things I think important to discuss will come in the next columns. I appreciate the opportunity from the Mountain Messenger Team. We are all citizens. We may claim citizenship in the more local or the more global of contexts. It all relates back to our place and our connections. We are so very fortunate, as is said many times over in this most fortunate of print papers, to be here and to come, come back and go out from here, Sierra County, the Sierra-Nevada Mountain Range. Our experiences are unique and shared but also diverse. This is what I hope to explore here.

One of the things that I think about is how those who have grown up here have gone out from here. Folks younger than myself, schooled in the ways of Sierra County by living and by attendance at their local school, are fanned out to other parts of California, the USA and the world. We take a certain pride in the medical doctors (two that I know of), nurses, architects, attorneys, scientists, artists in music and in the visual arts… So much more. And, some come back or they stay and become our entrepreneurs, teachers and administrators in government. We are rich in more than gold.

Another thing I think about is the change and yet stability in place and culture that is here. Historians, naturalists, … contribute everyday to our life whether we stay in our house or come out to visit. Jack and Linda Marshall pass me many days at the time I happen to be out walking our dog Tanner. The banter that we share is a nourishing of ourselves as if we were partaking of a break for tea and biscuits (as my English ancestor would say).

There are always predictions about those who land in Sierra County as to whether they are the type that will stay or go. It is never a “for certain” for anyone. I was one that was pegged as a short timer. That was 32 years ago. We have had professionals and those who keep the wheels turning. They work in the restaurants, in homes and on crews trying to keep lights on, roads navigable and food raised. Most usually have a second hat that they wear as a volunteer and many continue this even after retirement from the day/night job. There is a comfort in knowing the worker on the road, in the store, in county offices, or in the Sheriff's or Fire Department. So, I write this as one of you. I have traveled the Yuba Pass to my day job as a teacher and also traveled Highway 49 as a volunteer EMT-Alt. I have watched as this place has changed while staying the same. Participate as much as you can, fellow citizens/friends. You won’t regret it!