Somewhere in today’s newspaper are the weekly excerpts from the call logs of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office and the Crescent City Police Department.

You can read them as a litany of community dysfunction, or as informative hints as to where the bad guys operate.

Actually, they’re both.

Go anywhere and read a list of the calls for help and you’ll wonder a bit about the underpinnings of civilization. Domestic violence. Vandalism. Neighborhood disputes. Shoplifters. Out-in-the-open drug sales and use. Indecent exposure. Fights. Break-ins.

I’ve been spending my reading time with George Washington of late, or rather with Ron Chernow’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of the Father of our Country (newly released in col­ossal paperback).

Chernow and before him David McCullough with his biography of John Adams render a service to all Americans with eyes-wide-open assessments of our founding fathers.

This is not the stuff of legends, but painstakingly researched reconstruction of lives as they were really led. Frankly, the accomplishments can be better appreciated when the men behind them are viewed as fully as possible, warts and all.

What is a hero?

It is an American trait to have heroes. Sports heroes, movie heroes, natural disaster heroes, military heroes and personal heroes.

Unfortunately, some heroes fade away and new heroes rise to take their place.

Since we are so close to Veterans Day, our thoughts turn to our military heroes. The definition of hero is often given only to those who have a chest full of medals for outstanding bravery. However, heroes come in many other sizes and shapes.

Kudos to state Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro for continuing to criticize the plan to close 70 state parks.

Del Norters may be paying less attention to this issue after an agreement was achieved with the National Park Service to keep much of Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park open. After all, that was the only local park on the list of 70.

But remember that the state-federal pact to preserve public access to 21 miles of trails and 2,514 acres of old-growth redwoods is a one-year arrangement, with the possibility of an extension.

Eating well isn’t only about what you eat; it’s also about where you live.

Whether you live in fast food central or around the corner from a farmers’ market, near two grocery stores or two liquor stores, your social environment helps dictate your food options.

Over the past year, I have helped coordinate the Community Food Council for Del Norte and Adjacent Tribal Lands. It’s our local version of a food policy council and its mission is to create a vibrant, sustainable local food system for all.

A stark reminder comes along every now and then that I’m not perched on technology’s cutting edge.

Take CD players — if you try to buy one these days you’ll discover that somebody must have taken them.

I wasn’t quick to climb aboard the compact disk bandwagon in the ’80s. My music inventory was tied up in vinyl and cassettes. But it was getting to the point where the record stores (remember them?) were offering practically nothing but CDs, so I acquiesced.

Veterans Day 2011 allows us to once again honor the men and women who currently serve and those who have served and defended our great nation in all branches of the armed forces of the United States of America.

Their sacrifice and service wasn’t initially honored on a universal Veterans Day. 

The first remembrance events began in 1919, the year following the signing of the Armistice that ended the Great War, later called World War I. In 1938, Armistice Day became a formally observed national holiday.

We’ve been enjoying “Chamber of Commerce weather” lately, and the visitors have been flocking — and floating — to Del Norte.

Consider Thursday afternoon on Pebble Beach.

Binoculars were getting a workout in the pull-off parking areas as gray whales spouted frequently. One in particular was a real show-off, keeping much of its bulky body above water even between the blasts of water and air.

Meanwhile, brown pelicans seemed engaged in some kind of Occupy Crescent City operation, mobbing close-in coastal waters by the dozens and staking out perches on the sea stacks. Local gulls, pushed away from their usual haunts by the glut of south-migrating visitors, were probably thinking, “Tourists.”

Del Norte Gardening runs monthly. Paul Madeira and Julie Jo Ayer Williams own Ocean Air Farms in Fort Dick.

We have had beautiful weather this October, and we could have an equally beautiful November.

We are happy to have such a great ending to what was a cool, wet and late-starting summer. Cooler temperatures were common throughout the West this growing season, so a warmer and sunny fall was just what we needed.

Our gardens have held on longer than usual and we are just now saying goodbye to summer squash, cucumbers (not much of a year), and basil to name a few. However, on Wednesday we did feel our first frost of the season in Fort Dick. So, there it is, we could have a mild November, or like nearly every other year, it could get cold and wet real fast.