It was another coastal town, and a new occupation. Actually two new occupations: personal assistant and beach bum.

I think I did OK at the former during the two weeks Laura and I recently spent in Carmel. While she was on window display in one of the town’s many art galleries, oil painting and generally attracting a crowd on the sidewalk, I shot photos to inspire future paintings and made sure she got coffee in the morning and lunch at midday. I even drove to nearby Monterey to procure art supplies.

As for being a beach bum, I showed promise for about a week before washing out. After leaving Laura to her painting, I’d drive the half-dozen or so blocks to the white sand, haul out my beach chair, towel, morning newspaper and book, and set up shop. The unseasonably sunny weather helped with the transition to this new way of life. I was actually shielding myself with sun screen and a giant umbrella as I plied my trade.

Part of the job, I soon discerned, was image magnification. This involved putting down the reading material, picking up the binoculars, and peering in three directions: out to sea, where pelicans dive-bombed for fish while smaller birds by the hundreds formed and reformed flotillas; up the coast, where well-heeled duffers scooted their carts across the fairways of Pebble Beach Golf Course; and down the coast, where there was almost always a volleyball game on the sand and dozens of surfers on the water.

I recall another great newsman, Edward R. Murrow, who shined and then faded in much the same way. He had the tenacity and spleen to hold up the mirror, eventually defeating an American monster named Joseph McCarthy, but he couldn’t halt the invasion of the newsroom by ad/ratings-driven entertainment and sensationalism that, quarterbacked by CBS President William Paley, steamrolled him like Sherman’s march through Atlanta.

So too, Walter Cronkite. Pushed into retirement by Paley at 65, ironically at the height of his popularity, “the most trusted man in America” was forced to give way to a CBS youth movement in the form of Dan Rather.  From my teen years to adulthood, I watched as Mr. Cronkite pulled off both the tough and joyful chronicling of our national experiment and experience — from presidential assassinations to the civil rights movement, convention and campus unrest to a walk on the moon. Only once in memory did he ever allow his emotions to drift into editorialization — briefly describing the insanity of war and a failed military action 10,000 miles around the world, which, given not his popularity, but his ultimate veracity and our belief in it, caused Lyndon Johnson’s decision not to eye a second term, with the fateful words, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” 

Independence Day couldn’t have come along at a better time, and if you’re reading this on the Fourth of July, you’re within range of a great place to celebrate the holiday.

For one day at least, Crescent City’s annual extravaganza of small-town Americana is just the antidote for a citizenry that may be wondering if its politicians, especially those who ply their trade in Sacramento, have what it takes to lead us through tough economic times and a flat-out meltdown in state government.

Wave to your friends and honor the veterans as a noisy, colorful parade proceeds down H Street. Check out the diverse treasures of artists on display in the Cultural Center. Immerse yourself in the daylong cornucopia of vendors and entertainment spread out at Beachfront Park. And cap it all off by finding a good spot to take in a seaside fireworks show tailored to explode mostly beneath any clouds that may come our way.

The Del Norte County Grand Jury’s Final Report issued last week produced good news along with a healthy dollop of constructive, sometimes scathing, criticism about the twisted path Crescent City has taken to expand its wastewater treatment plant.

The first bit of good news is the overall quality of the report. In addition to evaluating facilities and programs such as Pelican Bay State Prison and the county Mental Health Department, jurors completed work begun by the previous Grand Jury to analyze what has happened at City Hall from 2002 to present in regards to the wastewater plant.

Jurors deserve medals for sifting through hundreds of documents and conducting 16 interviews to produce a thorough account of what transpired, lucid analyses and reasonable recommendations that, if followed, would guarantee that the city does a better job of handling major projects in the future.