House Calls runs every other Thursday. Today’s column is written by Christopher B. Cutter, a physician at Sutter Coast Community Clinic.

Few things are as certain as the eventual onset of menopause in a middle-aged woman.

At the average age of 51.2 years, the quarter million primordial eggs that she was born with will be gone. As a result of that, she will abruptly stop producing estradiol and progesterone, whose waxing and waning presence had been in her life since just prior to puberty.

If she is lucky, she may feel just fine. Otherwise, she may join the millions of women who start to suffer with prolonged hot flashes and other body changes that often become a real challenge.

From the pages of the Del Norte Triplicate, November 1963.

Backing for an “Indian Village” in Del Norte came from the Board of Supervisors as it met Tuesday.

J. R Hulbert, chairman of the county Planning Commission, appeared before the board on the idea, advocated as a historical and tourist attraction by Kiwanis clubs of Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

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.

Obesity in Del Norte County not just health problem for children

A front-page story in the Triplicate of Nov. 12, “Bad news on youthful obesity,” reports that a new study shows that 45 percent of children in Del Norte county are seriously obese.

The report carefully and tactfully says nothing about adult obesity in Del Norte, but I suggest you visit your local supermarket, observe the people around you, and make your own estimate. I believe the state of Mississippi still leads the nation in obesity, but Del Norte seems determined to be hot on its heels.

The growing problem of obesity has been known and reported on for years. While the anti-smoking crusaders among us have been wringing their hands about cigarette butts on the beach, apparently the much more serious and widespread problem of obesity has exploded all around them.

Shakespeare was right; all the world’s a stage and all the men and women are players upon that stage. We’re also the writer, the producer and director of our own little comedies and dramas, and we all play lots of different roles.

I began playing the role of object lesson early in life by habitually running full tilt under the kitchen table — and then grew.

Mom said I knocked myself out three times demonstrating how not to get safely from one side of the kitchen to the other. I’m too darned old to play the part of object lesson any longer. At this age, we’re all one bad fall from losing our independence, and having spent last winter holding still and healing, I have no intention of reprising my role as invalid.

Targeting dispensaries wastes tax revenue, law enforcement

With regards to the Nov. 10 article “County may target pot dispensaries,” doesn’t the county have better things to do with its time and money than to go after the dispensaries that are helping people?

They need to do something about the crimes that are happening around town and I am sure they’re not being committed by people that use the dispensaries but by people that are high on meth or taking illegal prescription drugs.

I am a user of the dispensaries and if it were not for them I would not be able to get the medical marijuana that helps me live a productive life. I am a normal, law-abiding 45-year-old mother that owns my own home and I have never been in trouble with the law but I would not be able to grow my own or to help grow in a community garden and I don’t want to break the law and buy it from some stranger on the street so I need the dispensaries to get my medication.

I’ve got a new friend. We just met a couple of weeks ago. He’s older and not really what you’d call handsome until you get to know him. He’s got very kind eyes and a big heart. His name is Rocket.  

I had no business going to the South Coast Humane Society that Saturday afternoon. It was 10 years almost to the day that I adopted my good dog Martha from the same organization. They didn’t have their building on Railroad Avenue then and Martha was in a foster home. Her age and history were unknown. She was found limping along Sporthaven Beach. She had a dislocated hip and some issues that indicated she’d had a rough life up until the moment we met.

Editor’s note: CRDN Report will appear every four weeks.

Steven Bevier

Some of the goings-on at the campus affect the community as a whole, or community members can participate in some of the events.

Before I go any further I would like to take this time to introduce and tell you a little about myself and just what it is that I do at CRDN.

Employment services, RHS doing great job putting people to work

The Rural Human Services Work Force Center has done an incredible job by correlating services to put women and men to work in short notice (known as the Tsunami Work Force Crew) since June to restore our harbor, city and Del Norte County.

Rural Human Services and Redwood Coast Employment Services are professional groups who regard their patrons and employees with the highest respect in a safe, positive manner. Their project managers, assistant project managers, supervisors, safety managers and RHS crew members alike have worked at full force to restore Del Norte County and beat winter’s wrath.

Redwood Coast Employment Services have exceeded any temporary employment services that I have ever worked for in the past. They excel in professionalism and job standards. RHS and Redwood Coast Employment Services educated workers in OSHA safety classes and with CPR classes.