Just wondering what it would be like to sit in my house with the windows open and a gentle breeze flowing through and to be able to hear the birds? All I hear are plane engines. I assume they are doing their take off and landing practice. I am not opposed to the airport or the planes, just would like to hear something other than engines all day long on beautiful days like today.

As I said, just a thought.

On my walk today, I went through Princeton Harbor, and noticed several piles of cairns in and around the water.

Who put them there, and why?

First off, for those who do not know what a cairn is, it is an artificial pile of stones, often placed in a conical shape. They are built for many reasons, some of which include marking a burial site, as holders for lighthouse-like fires to guide ships, or to commemorate events.

The first that I had ever heard of a cairn was when my husband Michael & I were climbing Mount Tallac in Lake Tahoe, and I saw the neatly piled stones along the way. I asked: "Why the heck are those rocks piled up like that?" Michael: "Those are cairns, sort of directional markers for climbers."

More recently, we watched a video about the artist Andy Goldsworthy, who piles up stones as pieces of artwork.

Whatever the reason for the cairns in Princeton Harbor, I enjoyed seeing the presence of these purposely-placed stones. Rock on!

Blue Blanket Improv will be hosting a “Beginning Improvisational Comedy Class” Starting Monday, September 22 @ 7-9pm

An introduction to the world of improv comedy.  Discover the power of “Yes, and...” Explore your inner Characters, Relationships, & Objectives.  Let go of planning, and enjoy living “in the moment”.  This 6 week class will give you the guidelines to unleash your inner creativity. Improv develops listening, risk-taking, and the ability to support your partner, great skills for offstage as well as on. The class will culminate in a “showcase”.  If that sounds intimidating, this class is for you! We support each other each step of the way, celebrating growth. There are no mistakes in improv! 

Prerequisites: A willingness to let go of your “inner critic”. An ability to accept the uncertainty that comes when you don’t have control of the situation (as if we ever do!) A recognition that trying to “be funny” is one of the big obstacles to enjoyable scenes. Unconditional respect for your fellow players and the audience.

For additional information on “Blue Blanket Improv” and the instructors please visit us at http://www.BlueBlanketImprov.com

Fee: Resident: $65.00. Non-resident: $70.00*
Ages: 14 and up
Location: Train Depot (Half Moon Bay)
Dates:  Mon, 9/22 - 10/27
Times: 7 - 9 pm
Class Code:  713319.01*

* Register on-line at:  http://www.HMBcity.com

All users of Propane from San Gregorio South to the Santa Cruz County line are invited to submit their information at: http://www.pescaderolodging.com/pugs, with enough interested parties (commercial as well) we will then invite all providers to submit their best pricing for the association.  We’re copying the structure of the South Skyline Association, of which many of us were members until Amerigas kicked out everyone in Loma Mar, San Gregorio, Pescadero and points South. No need to join the group until we’ve received our best package and it’s accpeted by enough to earn the substantial discount offered associations and based on volume.  If you have any questions please use the link provided on the site.

Rob Skinner

Half Moon Bay has, in the name of progress, ruined a perfectly functioning traffic pattern and turned it into a parking lot. I refer to the new lane-usage arrows encountered when leaving the Safeway shopping center to exit onto Highway 92 and/or Highway 1.

By making the ‘right-turn only lane’ into a ‘right-turn or straight-ahead lane’ a traffic jam has been created. It is now possible to have to wait through two (or more) cycles of the long signal change in order to turn right.

Surely, Half Moon Bay, in analyzing what they have done, will quickly revert back to the original ‘right-turn only lane’ configuration.

Bob Look

Coastside Lutheran Church will hold their annual Labor Day Book Fair Saturday and Sunday Aug 30 and 31 from 9am to 3pm, and Monday, Sept 1, from 9am to 1pm at the church, 900 Cabrillo Highway N, in Half Moon Bay, just north of Strawflower Village.  They are currently accepting donations of hardbound and paper backs, CDs, DVDs, books on tape, original video cassettes on Mondays to Thursdays from 9:30am to 2pm. Receipts are available. Please no encyclopedias, magazines, textbooks, computer books, Reader’s Digest books, or outdated travel books.

Are you a board member looking for more information on how to do your job?  Are you a nonprofit member who’s interested in governance? 

The Center for Excellence in Nonprofits (CEN) presents “Boards: Are We There Yet?” Wednesday, July 23 at 4pm. The program features guest speaker Molly Polidoroff, Executive Director of CEN and Janice Fry, Past Board Chairman and current Board member of CEN.

This session will provide insights and specific practices that will move boards (in partnership with their executive leadership) to be more productive and engaged in ways that further the work of their organizations. Board members will get a chance to work with each other and share best practices.

When: Wednesday, July 23; Time: 4-4:30 p.m. networking and refreshments, 4:30-7 p.m. program
Where: Senior Coastsiders, 535 Kelly Avenue, Half Moon Bay, 94019
How much: $25 single attendee of a CEN Member organization, $40 per person for Non CEN members

To register, please visit http://www.cen.org or email Monique Schulter at with first & last name, organization, phone number & extension, e-mail address and billing address for each attendee, or call 408-945-4500.

CEN (Center for Excellence in Nonprofits) fosters highly effective leaders and vibrant nonprofit organizations that transform the quality of life in our communities. CEN provides the nonprofit community of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties with in-depth leadership development and continuous improvement programs. CEN plays the role of catalyst in our community of nonprofits, building collaboration between organizations and their leaders, sharing and supporting exemplary leadership models and practices to transform our communities into the leaders of nonprofit excellence. The result of CEN’s work is improved leadership, better systems and, most important, improved services for the clients and communities aided by our member nonprofits.

Neil Merrilees’s excellent series is reproduced with permission from Montara Fog.

The greatest resource we have on the coastside is the quality of our residents. This video highlights locals who are experimenting with green technology, at their own expense, in order to find a way to live more sustainably. Some of these experiments will be successful and become mainstream practices. Some may prove too expensive and need revision. These community members are blazing the trail and making it easier for the rest of us to learn from their experiences.

There are many more of us out there who are concerned with saving energy. If you are interested in learning more about green building or are interested in sharing your own experiences--whether successes or failures--contact Darin at Montara Fog--and he will forward the e-mails to me.

Introduction by Neil Merrilees

LED Lighting with Patrick Melley

Residential Gray Water Recycling with Andy Geiser

AND MORE: There are four more videos in this series. Click below to watch them all.

The Coastside’s Relay for Life group is meeting Tuesday night at the Half Moon Bay Fire Station at 6:30pm. The relay will be on August 2 at Cunha Intermediate School.

Protecting Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness on the Fourth of July

by Deb Lagutaris

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

I was delighted to have the time to volunteer for the voter registration table at the 4th of July parade in Half Moon Bay.  We were set up about an hour before the parade began.  A few people stopped by to register and some to chat. 

The Coastside Democrats board originated the idea for a voter registration table at the parade.  The Dems host such tables at most major community events.  All comers are effectively registered, regardless of party orientation. Many of us are known in the community as members of the Democratic Party, so naturally the conversations turned around the upcoming election.  We featured a flyer about the organization on the table.  All of these activities are acceptable at voter registration tables.  Some people at the table gave campaign materials to those who asked for them.  This is also an acceptable activity at a voter registration table.  The only unacceptable activity at a voter registration table is to dissuade someone from registering for the party of their choice, or trying to influence that choice.

Voting is the means that we are given to alter our government when it seems disinclined to protect our life, liberty, or ability to pursue happiness. Imperfect as this process may be, it tends to insure a measure of stability and peace in governing imperfect beings in an imperfect world.  Naturally, anyone would want to help more people participate in shaping the character of their government.  Or so I thought.

A tall elderly man walked up to the table, and asked us if we had read the Declaration of Independence lately.  I allowed as how I had read it a couple of years ago.  He said, well, you Democrats really ought to read it, gave us a nicely ribbon-bound copy and left.  I reread the copy of the Declaration that he had provided, and wondered if he had a point, but did not pursue a dialogue with him. 

He and his family were seated directly in front of our table, which was sited in front of City Hall.  The tall elderly man told many passersby that we were only registering Democrats.  One of the tablers told him that we were registering everyone, but he continued to spread this misinformation.  He was also overheard to make many derogatory comments to passersby and table staff about “you liberals” that had no basis in fact and contained no substantive accusations.

He was a unpleasant soul.  A young couple with a baby in a stroller politely asked him to step aside so that they could pass, and he did so, slowly, and with an expression of disgust.  When the Coastside Land Trust passed by in the parade, he saluted them with an emphatic thumbs down. 

We were also closely attended by a spy.  This man stood on the sidewalk near us, ostensibly watching the parade.  When someone approached the table to register, he stepped back, stood next to us, and closely observed what the person was writing and eavesdropped on our conversations.  After I observed his behavior for about 45 minutes, I walked up to him and introduced myself.  I asked him his name, and he did not respond in kind.  I told him that I had noticed that he was observing our registration process, and told him that if he had any questions, that we would be happy to answer them.  I handed him my business card. 

He said that he liked it here in Half Moon Bay, and was planning to move here from Millbrae or San Mateo.  When the parade ended, the spy left with the tall unpleasant elderly man.  I wondered if they had felt that they had done a good day’s work in protecting the ideals under which the United States of America were established. 

I know the name of the elderly unpleasant man and have his address.  A sister tabler knows him and says that under ordinary circumstances, he is a civil individual.  I wonder if I should stop by sometime and make him a proposition:  If he will stop lying about us, we will stop telling the truth about him. 

Following is an annotated text of the Declaration, obtained from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence