Cambrian letters to the editor, Nov. 16, 2017

Power outage ushers in stars

I could not get to sleep the night of Oct. 16, so I was watching TV in bed when the power went out. The first thing I wondered was, “Did I pay PG&E bill?”

I got a flashlight and went to my desk to check on it I didn’t find the unpaid bill, so I guessed that I had taken care of it. Then I went out on my front deck to see if it was just me, or whether others had lost power. Outside, I could see that the whole neighborhood was black. I called 911 and the operator told me a power failure was affecting all of Cambria.

After I got off the phone, I looked up into the sky — lo and behold, there were thousands, literally thousands of stars. I was fascinated, as I don’t normally take the time to gaze at stars. I went into the house, put on my robe and returned to sit out on my deck.

I just star-gazed for about an hour. There was no TV to watch, no radio to listen to. Why not just gaze at the thousands of stars? I spotted them all: Big Dipper, Little Dipper, all the constellations I knew. Now, I go out every night and look to see if I can see the stars, but that night was the best. It was just awesome!

Beautify Cambria Association and the Central Coast Astronomical Society are hosting a stargazing event Saturday, Nov. 18 at Shamel Park from 6 to 9 p.m. Astronomers will enlighten us with a short talk while pointing out the stars, constellations and planets. Telescopes will be available or bring your own. They'll have light food and drink, and raffle off interesting star-related items. All ages welcome. For more information contact Info@ beautifycambria.org.

Thanks for support honoring Taylor

Let us thank our neighbors, friends, Next Door Lodge Hill, Cambria Library, Cayucos Beach Junior Lifeguard Programs, San Luis Obispo County Parks, North Coast Ocean Rescue, and our daughter Shelley Jean’s incomparable friends for your generosity and prayers.

Your kind, supportive notes, lovely food, and sheer hard work for the Oct. 21 celebration and paddle out at San Simeon have literally kept Shelly, Koa, George Thomas and me here and in the “now.”

Liam Alexander Taylor loved life, all people and cultures, and nature. He embraced a global concept of unity saying often, “We are all one.” His design to inspire and help others through meekness, respect, justice, gratitude and selflessness was evident.

Clearly, he was loved by many and leaves a legacy of joy and peace. Thank you again, dear Cambrians. Your constant efforts to comfort have made bidding goodbye to our grandson, Liam Alexander Taylor, nearly bearable.

Help place wreaths on veterans’ graves

Please join us in our mission to place a holiday wreath on all veterans’ graves at both Cambria cemeteries. Operation Holiday Wreath works with Wreaths Across America (WAA), a national program to remember our veterans, honor their families and teach our children about the value of freedom.

Each year, WAA will place more than 250,000 wreaths at every grave marker in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. An addiction 1 million wreaths will be placed in more than 1,000 cemeteries across the United States and overseas, wherever our veterans are buried.

We hope you will be part of this year’s ceremony by sponsoring a wreath with a $15 deductible donation. A service for both the Cambria District Cemetery and the Santa Rosa Cemetery will be held at the Cambria Cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 9 a.m. Following the short ceremony, the public is invited to help place the wreaths in both locations.

Checks, made out to American Legion Post 432, with “Wreath” in the memo section, can be mailed to P.O. Box 697, Cambria 93428. Checks can also be dropped off at the Legion 432 bar. For a specific cemetery or veteran placement, contact Maureen Robles-Wilson at 805-203-5294.

FES to celebrate 20th anniversary

Friends of the Elephant Seal is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3, corporation. Its principal purpose is preservation of the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Colony for ecological, educational, scientific, historic and scenic opportunities.

On Thanksgiving weekend 1997, 13 intrepid volunteers braved the weather to educate visitors about the northern elephant seal colony that had formed eight miles north of San Simeon. Twenty years later, more than 125 trained and dedicated docents educate visitors 365 days a year.

On Thanksgiving weekend 2017, Friends of the Elephant Seal will host a 20-year anniversary open house at the Visitor Center, 250 San Simeon Ave. in the Cavalier Plaza. The open house will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, Nov. 25 and 26. We hope you will invite friends and family to stop by and do some holiday shopping for unique elephant-seal themed items and help us celebrate our 20-year anniversary of service to the community. And of course, you will want to sip on some hot cider while you taste our delicious elephant seal holiday cookies!

The Friends of the Elephant Seal 20^th Anniversary Holiday Open House is co-sponsored by the San Simeon Chamber of Commerce.

San Simeon and Cambria businesses are joining in the celebration with special holiday coupons and offerings. Call 805-942-1628 for information.

Rancor over the flag and opera

A letter to the editor in the Oct. 26 Tribune (Opera SLO — an accusation and a response) is a perfect capture in microcosm of the “roots” of the divide and rancor threatening America today.

Elise Cassel and Juan Hovey of Santa Maria talked about being “... stunned-appalled” to see a character in “Madama Butterfly” drag an American flag across the stage floor.

The writers then castigated Opera SLO for a willingness to “exploit” and “make gratuitous and contemporary political statement.” That’s venomous enough, but they said they would end financial support.

What followed was an eloquent response from Brian Asher Alhadeff of Opera SLO explaining that the scene was part of the story and script dating to 1898 and was how Giacomo Puccini staged it beginning in 1904.

I hope Mr. Alhadeff's detailed analysis and kind and sympathetic response to those who feel aggrieved may assuage their bitterness and hair-trigger response. His letter is an example of how to respond to those who are judgmental, without knowing of what they speak.

Taken in a larger context, that is to include the White House and those who support the present occupant, it is a lesson of how to relate to the self-righteous, narrow-minded and bigoted who are bereft of intelligence, reasoning, knowledge of history or logic.

I hope the writers will reconsider their support for Opera SLO.

Stand up and stop complaining

Have we not all noticed how disenchanted the youth are?

A knee to protest how injust, unfair, awful life is in the United States. As multimillionaire youth complain most, with very little life experience, we see curiously it’s not just the youth but the older as well, all taking a knee.

Suggestion: Stop complaining for one day and dragging the majority of us down and stand up and get on with being something other than typical complainers that are so common.

Those typically taking a knee are those who can’t stay on their feet. Let’s all try to stop complaining as a good start to moving forward.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Cambrian letters to the editor, Nov. 16, 2017."