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.”

Occupy Wall Street is about capacity to reach full potential

The Occupy Wall Street movement’s message is “hope.”

These are people are trying to contribute additional constructive solutions to people’s capability to freely realize their own potential. Participants are acting upon an intuitive sense as to what is needed in America (not just for a few, but for many).

These are patriotic people who feel that by creating awareness there will be hope for future results (a useful productive end) such as in areas of a peaceful direction to U.S. foreign policy, health care for all, decent housing and the ability to earn a living wage.

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.

ABOVE: The cascade and pool at Buck Creek on the South Kelsey Trail Photos courtesy of Haven Livingston

The drive to the trailhead begins with a scenic ride along the South Fork of the Smith River off U.S. Highway 199. Where South Fork Road makes a ‘Y’ near Big Flat Campground, it veers to the right, becoming the Gasquet-Orleans Road, or G-O Road. The upper reaches of the G-O Road don’t see much maintenance as it follows Lems Ridge, so drive cautiously to avoid rocks and debris that have fallen into the road from the hillsides. From Lems Ridge, sweeping vistas are worth a stop to look out across the Goose Creek drainage toward Red Mountain and the ocean.

From the pages of the Del Norte Triplicate, October 1964.

City Council members on Monday gave notice of intention to annex another area to Crescent City.

Joe Creisler, county sanitarian, appeared before the council and said, “a definite health problem, which the county can not handle, is occurring just north of city limits.”

Silvey wrongly blamed, but all charges will be cleared

Again, I find myself feeling the need to come to the defense of Eileen Silvey after reading the skewed, poorly investigated facts about what was going on at the Senior Center (“Failing the ‘people in need’: Some who sought assistance with weatherization frustrated,” Oct. 15).

 What I want to know is, how did the people interviewed about weatherization come to the attention of the Triplicate reporter?

Did the reporter attempt to look at the Senior Center’s files to find out if they were noted as to why these people didn’t get the work done that they wanted?  It’s easy to jump on a bandwagon, playing the part of the victim.

A common plea of people made uncomfortable by coverage of criminal allegations is that the newspaper should wait until the matter has been resolved in court.

Otherwise, they say, you’re putting the defendant on trial prematurely and tainting the jury pool.

But there’s truth in the adage, “The wheels of justice move slowly.” Sometimes, cases take years to work their way through the courts. And often, they conclude with plea bargains that involve dismissal of some charges and the lowering of others. A climactic trial before a jury of one’s peers is the exception.

When did “everybody else does it” become an acceptable excuse for unacceptable behavior?

Living alone provides lots of time for thinking, and lately I’ve been thinking about ethics in general and personal responsibility more specifically.

We live in scary times. The rosiest recent studies indicate that over half of high school students cheat on tests. These, our future doctors, teachers and parents, don’t see anything wrong with that. A couple times recently it’s been suggested that I take advantage of a loophole — nothing really illegal, just a shortcut. “Everybody else does it.”

Triplicate columnist Anne Boulley and me at the Chowder House and Fish Market in Bandon. Del Norte Triplicate/Rick Postal

Two years ago I drove through Bandon on my way up to Salem, Ore., for the birth of my granddaughter and happened on a cranberry harvest. I stopped to watch how the cranberries floated to the top when the bog was flooded and found the whole process amazing. I wrote a column about the experience and that’s how I became acquainted with Chelle Webb.

Chelle read my column and sent me an e-mail explaining the history of the bog I had written about. She was very familiar with it because she used to work there. Now, she said, she had her own bogs and invited me to come out for the next harvest.

Kudos to City Manager Eugene Palazzo for coming up with a good suggestion and to Crescent City Council members for approving it.

If county supervisors go along with it as well, any upcoming analysis of solid waste issues will likely occur where it should — in the open.

That wasn’t the case with an ad hoc committee on solid waste appointed by supervisors two years ago, and it might not have been the case with a new ad hoc committee that supervisors recently proposed.

For the most part, Del Norte’s solid waste issues have played out in the open, with opportunity for public comment every step of the way. That included the process of awarding a garbage and recycling collection contract, which was highly competitive. And it included the recent collection price increases that have some people upset now that they’ve seen their bills.