I’d like to rewrite that saying to read, “No good fun is free,” because there is balance in the universe, as sure as there are two sides to every coin. And that’s just fine, because the fun was worth the price being paid.

I’ve hopped around our county and a couple of others like a grasshopper all summer, talking with everyone, sliding my hands along the railings everyone else uses, and handling doorknobs to public restrooms. It was probably those activities that caught up with me, rather than clambering around interesting rusty items in the harbor, examining dead birds and grazing on sea lettuce at low tide.

If anybody is keeping track of swine flu cases in Del Norte County, I might have one. Instead of stomach issues, there’s a constant cough. Ordinarily I never cough, and so Shadow won’t even comfort me. He thinks I’m barking at him.

Another Crescent City landmark is feeling the bite of the wrecker’s ball this week. The 36-year-old The­ater Garage, at Third and H streets, is being razed to make way for Fred Endert’s new Rexall Drug Store.    

The old garage, constructed in 1923 by Milton Nielsen, O. R. Ring and Dr. Graham, originally housed one of the first Chrysler automotive dealerships. This was in addition to a service station and automotive repair service.

G. F. Lofvendahl, Eureka contractor, is in charge of leveling the building. Endert’s new store is still on the drawing boards and no definite date for construction has been set.

Deputy returns lost boy

It was fun to watch him start off on a winning note with a 6-0 win over Hidden Valley, Ore. I feel we can look forward to more fun times under Hadfield.

I covered Warrior head football coaches 1 to 10 last week. This week I will cover 11, 12 and 13.

Coach No. 11 was me. This was like a dream come true. I look back to when I played my senior season as a Warrior in 1950, under coach Chuck DeAutermont and assistants Tex Gatlin and Mike Whalen and dreamed of someday being able to patrol the Warrior sidelines, like they did.

In 1980, when I had the chance to return to Del Norte as athletic director, dean of students, and coach football, it was the fulfillment of that dream. Before taking over as head coach, I enjoyed six seasons working as offensive coordinator for coach No. 10, Jerry Smith.

Ellen was the oldest in a large family and knew how to prepare easy, inexpensive meals. She could turn a box of macaroni and cheese into dinner in 8 minutes and she could whip up a mean skillet lasagna using half the recommended amount of hamburger meat. On the weeks when she shopped, we usually got change back from our $5 contribution towards groceries.

Ellen was thrifty and proud of it. She owned an old Opel Kadett and I often bribed her with gas money (not a big deal at 36 cents a gallon) to give me a ride to Petrini’s or Safeway so I wouldn’t have to take the bus. She’d wait in her car while I pushed my cart down the aisles waiting for inspiration. My mother’s cooking revolved around better cuts of beef from the steer we put in the freezer each year and the backyard fryers we butchered as needed. I was accustomed to real milk and potatoes, not the powdered stuff in a box. Inevitably I overspent, exceeding our $25 budget and driving Ellen nuts.

Nearly 30 years ago, Ernie Felio was the officer who investigated my son’s death after a tourist wandered off the road and hit him. Long after his duty hours had ended, Ernie sat in the hospital with my little girl asleep in his lap. For the remaining two months of his life, having lost a son himself, he provided emotional and spiritual support to our family. His death was both unnecessary and devastating.

A few years later I was arrested by a CHP officer, and dumped into a concrete room to have the DTs. Once sober, my behavior horrified me so that I never had another drink. After a month of sobriety, I went to the CHP office to thank the officer for saving my life.

Fast-forward 5 years, and I’m rushing home from a CR class that ended at 10 p.m. When I came to a stop sign and saw nothing moving for blocks, I went right on across. The flashing red and blue lights nearly gave me a heart attack.

After several unsuccessful passes, severe groundswells prevented entry of Joe Sierka’s newly purchased German-built surplus boat into the mouth of the Smith River.

Hundreds of people lined the banks of the Smith and rimmed the shoreline as a small tug maneuvered the 165-foot shell around the river’s mouth until after 4 p.m., when the boat was towed away toward Eureka to wait for the next high tide.

Sierka, owner and operator of Castle Rock Camp, plans to use the boat in connection with his tourist and sportsmen’s camp on the mouth of the Smith River.

Flyers stop off for night

Coach Thunen had just finish his college career playing for the Golden Bears of the University of California Berkeley. He got the program started right as the Warriors defeated Arcata 6-0.

This year the Warriors start their 85th season under new head coach Bob Hadfield tonight. Coach Hadfield is the 14th coach to head the Warrior program. Coach Hadfield brings a strong coaching background to the program, so Warrior fans look forward to another exciting season.

I feel very fortunate to have known personally all 14 of the men that have held this position. Charles Thunen was replaced before the 1926 season by Ed Fraser, who led the Warriors in all sports for the next 20 years.

The oceanside boulevard has been resurfaced, and fresh paint identifies bicycle/pedestrian lanes on both sides from Hemlock Lane to the northern terminus at Washington Boulevard. Unlike the other sections of Pebble Beach Drive, it’s clear where everyone belongs, and there’s elbow room for all.

For safety’s sake, and for tourism’s sake, the rest of the road needs upgrading as well. One remaining section is in the county, the other is in the city. Both have narrow stretches where pedestrians really have nowhere to go when vehicles are passing. It won’t be easy, because widening the road is going to shave the edges off some yards.

Crescent City doesn’t have a lot with signage to direct visitors to Pebble Beach Drive. Thus many Highway 101 sojourners only know about our urban corridor and South Beach. Someday, when the road is safer for all users, that should change.

AN EXCUSE TO PLAY

I had my heart set on canning tomatoes and freezing corn over the weekend and had hit the farmers market early Saturday to buy corn and two boxes of tomatoes. But my plans were put on hold when Rick suggested we cruise the harbor to see if any tuna boats were in.

On A dock we met Matt who was selling tuna he’d just caught off the coast of Gold Beach, Ore. Rick paid him $2 per pound and $3 to clean it. Matt’s partner Lisa carved the fish into perfectly shaped loins that we carried home in a garbage bag.

We consulted Devon Morgante’s recipe for canned tuna that appeared in a prior week’s Triplicate and also read our canning bible, the Ball Blue Book, before starting.