It was the best of days; it
was the worst of days.
The weather was autumn
perfection: cool air, bright sun, blue sky, red leaves. I rode cross-town to where
East Washington Creek passes under East Washington Street, between the
Quick-Stop and the Chevron station. There, with some City employees, the paving
contractor, and fellow pedestrian-bicycling advocates, we cut the ribbon on the
freshly laid East Washington Creek Trail. Three of us went on to ride this
broad, tree-lined creek side trail the full 1.2 miles out to the airport (thank
you, Dusty Resnek!) From there we turned left, and
followed another series of trails and routes-- including one that hugs Lynch
Creek as it flows under the freeway-- all the way back to the
soon-to-be-opening Petaluma River trail. The future of transportation has
arrived in Petaluma.
I spent the afternoon phone
banking for Kerry, but you know the rest of *that* story. By the end of the
day, all counts considered, my batting average wouldn’t have got me off the
farm team. When I tried to get up the next morning, I felt like Barry Bonds’ home
run derby ball. I took some comfort in knowing that the forces of
sustainability, of liberty *and* justice, came together with sophistication and
intensity, and we laid the foundation of a powerful grassroots movement that
will soon prevail. But, Hell! Four more years!!!
Like many other
wound-licking activists, I’m refreshing my commitment to local service and activism,
where the work can be more rewarding and the results more immediate. The idea
of a non-profit group to support bicycling and walking around town has been
gaining currency among my peers, so we decided to formalize a “Petaluma Green
Lane” group under the umbrella of the Healthy Community Consortium. PGL will
promote bicycle safety, develop and maintain trails, and educate potential
riders about good practical routes. We’re working on a color-coded map of
existing routes and trails, soon be published, and have formed a partnership
with Petaluma High School to build map kiosks for trailheads and intersections.
Petaluma Green Lane is
holding its kickoff meeting next Wednesday, November 17, from 6-7PM, at the
Teen Center building behind the Petaluma Library. Email thehman@pacbell.net if you have
questions.
In my last column, I made a
plea to City Hall to pave the dangerous shoulder of Petaluma Boulevard South
between the COTS family shelter and the McNear
Avenue. COTS residents are stuck having to traverse it on their way into town.
I emailed a copy of that request to several City officials, including Engineer
Steve Castaldo. Steve was at the ribbon cutting
ceremony; I thought I’d ask him about it. He must have read my mind, because
before I could even identify the subject, he said, “We’ve started grading
today, and the paving will be finished tomorrow.” It was. Wow! That’s responsive local
government! A big Petaluma Green Lane hurrah to Mike Bierman,
Jim Carr, Steve, and especially Steve’s boss, Public Facilities and Services
Director Rick Skladzien, who approved the project.
The inspiration for the Green
Lane COTS path “campaign” came from a presentation I attended at COTS a few
weeks earlier. I heard about an seriously ill infant boy who was able to get life
saving treatment thanks to the advocacy of COTS staff and volunteers.
I heard another story that morning,
one I will hold in my heart when I feel buried under bad times. COTS Children’s
Haven employee Teri Porter told of a sexually abused pre-school girl who could
express herself only through her paintings. After the abusive relationship was
broken up, the more she painted, the more she painted pictures of flowers. When
she left the shelter for permanent housing, Terri said, she found a dirt-filled
flower pot, and emptied the dirt onto an old tree stump. She watered the dirt,
carefully, day after day. But there had been more than dirt in the pot. There
was a flower bulb. And thanks to the girl’s faithful work, the bulb sprouted
and sent forth a blossom.
Today, things may look like
nothing but dirt. But keep watering.