According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, some 40,000 new laws took effect across the 50 states Jan. 1.

California leads the nation is passing arguably the most absurd of these laws. The Assembly, State Senate and Gov. Jerry Brown defy comprehension.

Among the thousands of California laws passed in 2011, California leads the pack with its composite head in the toilet mentality. Here are a few of the inane laws which specifically address lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Californians. Disabled are also included in this group, though I am not sure why those who are physically challenged are lumped into a sexual classification.

Here we are starting a brand new year and I know some readers have resolved to make changes in their lives for various reasons. I’d like to share a few true stories, including mine, in hopes that some reader(s) finds support and perhaps even inspiration.

Exactly one year ago today, on Jan. 3, 2011, I began my self-improvement program. I was depressed every time I went to my closet and tried on blouses and jackets that wouldn’t button and pants that felt too tight. My cholesterol had gotten higher and so had my blood pressure. I had turned 60 and was worried about my health. I had a new granddaughter and wanted to be a part of her life and watch her grow up. I told a girlfriend that I really needed to lose 20 pounds.

That old expression, “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” doesn’t necessarily apply to the four weeks of sunshine we enjoyed on the coast while many inland areas experienced Del Norte’s more natural state: fogged up or clouded over.

Most of us instantly appreciated the rareness of the dry streak that began in late November and pretty much ran until Christmas Day. We could pretend we were getting used to it, but all that blue sky was lighting up a North Coast dependent on different weather for its lushness.

Still, this week’s return of soaking rains does make those meteorological memories all the more special. Our beaches are remote even during tourist season, but in late fall they’re downright private. Strolling the consistently sunny sand, it was hard not to muse, “If only the inlanders knew what’s going on here.”

Thompson’s support for Huffman raises suspicion

Mike Thompson seems to be going all out for Jared Huffman in his race for the 2nd Congressional District.

Thompson not only announced his support of Huffman to the media but has now written a long letter in support.

Why? Why has he rounded up others to support Huffman, and why is he pushing so hard? It’s not usual to see someone who is still in office do that. So what’s in it for him?

Professional politicians are not likely to act in that manner without a quid pro quo in mind. Thompson is faced with running on new turf next year, more conservative turf than he’s used to facing. Huffman is, by far, the most conservative Democrat running in the Congressional race. He is what I would call “Republican light.” In these increasingly critical times, he has little to offer. But he could be a great help to Thompson in his upcoming race.

It’s difficult to write a column this week. Actually, it’s difficult to do anything but eat, sleep, belch and scratch. I’ve always felt desperately sorry for those who had to work the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Unfortunately, there are those who must work, like the people who sell us food and all those first responders.

I was blessed with a great supervisor during my last job, and the day the vacation request calendar came out, we were on it like chickens on sowbugs. We arranged for me to have time off from before Christmas until about the third of January. It made a huge difference in the year, that chance to begin it rested.

Editor’s note: The Del Norte 4-H column appears every four weeks. To­day’s column was written by Christine Jones and Valerie Machado.

4-H open house is coming up

Del Norte County 4-H will be holding an open house and enrollment day Jan. 21 in the Arts and Crafts Building at the fairgrounds from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be activities and displays. We will also be taking enrollments for members and leaders. Enrollment is open to youth kindergarten through 18. Come and see what 4-H is all about.

It’s hard to believe we’re closing the chapter on yet another year. I remember my mother lamenting at New Year’s about how fast another year flew by, but it didn’t seem fast as a kid. Now I know exactly what she meant.

Like I usually do at the end of a year, I’ve spent some time revisiting the highlights and lowlights of 2011.  If I were making a personal top 10 list, the memory that rises to the top began the morning of March 10.

When I woke up that morning I made the decision to take my good dog Martha to the vet to be euthanized. Actually, she made the decision for me. She’d gotten to the point where getting up and around became more and more difficult, but she always climbed the stairs to sleep near me. On that morning I found her in the kitchen. She wasn’t able to get up and she wasn’t able to walk.

Yoga Bites appears every four weeks.

You are younger than you think you are.

People tend to think of their body as a fairly continual structure, however the majority of your body’s tissues are in a state of constant renewal, as old cells are discarded and new cells are generated in their place. Each type of tissue has its own rate of turnover, some regenerating in a few days, some over many years.

On present evidence, the only tissues that last a lifetime seem to be the neurons of the cerebral cortex, the inner lens cells of the eyes, and a woman’s oocytes (eggs). The average age of the cells in an adult body may be as young as seven years. The entire human skeleton rebuilds approximately every 10 years.

Obama, Dems and GOP in Congress embrace fascism

I just love it when out-of-touch politicians try to show everybody how in touch they really are.

I hear Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich gave Mitt Romney a hard time for making a $10,000 bet. It would be totally absurd for a rich guy like Mitt Romney to make a $10 bet with a rich guy like Rick Perry.

Are Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich suggesting that Mitt Romney is too poor to risk anything more than $10 on a bet?

Christmas is many things to many people. This year, I find myself one block south and down to ground level from last, yet I still hear my muse of the channel horn barking and feel pressed to write.

The melancholy sadness I have come to associate with the “holidays” began seeping in this afternoon, with thoughts of Mom and Pop’s going across the bar, taking me back in time, many years ago, when I would be driving the 12 hours home from college in Kentucky, through the snow, to find the Christmas lights adorning my home in north New Jersey, with my family and Spike all waiting up after midnight for my arrival. All ghosts, shrouded in misty memory, so long ago, yet yesterday. Seemingly gone forever.