Ad - Wednesday, November 16, 1983 - North Shore News

A columnist finds peace in the valley

IT TOOK THREE connecting flights by United
Airlines to get to Santa Barbara’s quaint adobe-
style airport with Spanish tiles and probably the only

year, the wranglers offer
hosannahs when the sky
thickens with clouds. The last
snow they had was in 1949.

strictly personal

lounge in the universe that is closed for lack of

business.

It’s the laid-back Southern
California lifestyle that is to
blame. Nobody ever makes it
to their flight on schedule
and so they never have time
for a drink.

A van and a hearty young
guy named Dave were
waiting. Off we were whisked
into a wind that shook the
date palms like dustbrooms.
Within less than an hour, we
were settling into huge studio
guest rooms at the = Ahisal
Ranch, an_ 18-square-mile
spread at the foot of the high
hill where Ronald Reagan's
Rancho del Cielo overlooks
the Pacific Ocean.

There were no phones in
the rooms. No radios. No
television sets. Perfect. | was
in love with the Alisal
immediately.

There is something about
the smell of fresh-cut grass
late at night, with a 300-year-
old red oak climbing in its

gnarled tributary fashion
towards the sky and under-
water lights shining up

through the swimming pool
like a giant aquamarine squid
eye staring at space, orange
mercury vapor lamps along
the paths and around the ten-
mis courts, the fragrance of
burning sycamore, the dark
hills rolling away across
America: a sense of benign
isolation that ts presumably
what drew Ronme and Nancy

FOR COMPUTERS

to the area in the first place.
If this be the heart of Repub-
licanism, well, not bad!
You've got to give them
points for taste.

It was my destiny to turn
into a cowpoke for three
days, loping along soft adobe
mud trails, past mottled grey
and white oaks, cotton-
woods, poplars and the
ubiquitous sycamore, there
known by its Spanish name,
alisal. Graceful yellow-billed
magpies flit between torn
mattings of Spanish moss.

Life on the trail was all
very Organic — there was the
vroop-vroop of horses pass-
ing wind and the soft plop of
green loaves biting the dust.
You learned to ignore these
things and concentrate on the
clatter of hooves as we cross-
ed yet another dried-up
streambed which would be
come a ferocious torrent as
soon as any rain fell.

Rain. Now there is the gut
reason for a British Colum-
bian to go to Reagan coun-
try. The Alisal guest ranch is
mainly a place where they
raise cattle, so they actually
PRAY for rain. As we rode
the hills, | noticed there was
Scotch thistle in the ravines
and sage and chaparral that
left a dune color to the land,
touched only lightly by green.
Wh barely 12 inchs of rain a

Squamish happy
to pay increase

To the south, the pale blue
ridge of the Santa Ynez
Valley faded into mystery as
the outer limits of the
chemical stew spreading on
the wind from Los Angeles
reached its apogee. In the
shadow of the President of
the United States’ rancho,
the air was as clean as the
thoughts of a God-fearing
right-winger. As for the
politics of the valley, nobody
could complain because, after
all, Jane Fonda had a ranch
there, too.

It would be safe to call the
Alisal Ranch the heart of
America. Its wrangler
emeritus, a_ silver-haired,

Original Marlboro Country
cigarette commercials. He
didn’t smoke any more
because of an operaton for
throat cancer but he could
still bellow out Mexicali Rose
loud enough to flush the kill-
deer as we rode.

Hey, partner, if you get a
chance, go be a cowboy for a

crag-cheeked, real-life while. [It’s good for what ails
cowpoke by the name of Bill ya. The Alisal. Recom-
Nicholas, had posed for the mended.
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“a iam - lpm Monday - Saturday -
“hag Me Ne ig Mae a eS

by Bob Hunter

“TODAN :
CLEAN OUT /
THIS GRRAGE.

CALL THE NEWS |
CLASSIFIEDS

& SECL
EVERYTHING /
A3o-6222%

RE-ELECT

DAWN :
SIKULA

SCHOOL TRUSTEE
West Vancouver

SQUAMISH TAXPAYERS will foot the bill for a
30 per cent hike in all computer services obtained
from North Vancouver District — and they're hap-
py about the fee increase

By CHARLES MAYER

North Vancouver District
council has accepted a pro
posal fromats finance depart
ment to boost data process
ing costs to Squamish District
by $12,800 a year

“TAS Squamish
(Counc as Comcerned, "said
District Binance Dsrector Mel

far oas

Palmer, “they are entirely
happy with thas arrange
ment |

He explained the fee in

crease brings into line che ser
vices charged by Distirt with

going
Sector

Fates in the private

However, Palmer pointed
out (hat the computer service
Squamish needs ts not readily
avatlable from outside com
puter agencies

A previous five year data
Processing services COMtract
between Squamish and

District expires this year

In 1983 Squamish will pay
District $42,200 in computer
service related costs

\inder the five year
contract, Squamish will face
a cost yump from the current
level to $4848 OOO a year

new

PARTITIPACTION

The | ane@dan mowme;nt tor peroneal ltinean

If you think fitness is
a distant goal,
consider this:

you can walk
all the way.

HMAW OME he CE RMA
a TARA =n Ao tw HMA
+ con .e we “Gaye oe Mut ne

Ce oe er oo opts
Wee &

Park Shore Motors Ltd.

108 Bowser Avenue
North Vancouver
985.9344

Dawn Sikula, when first elected to the
West Vancouver school board in 1981
lopped the polis Since then she has
consistently demonstrated her ability lo
get the job done Stkhula says ‘t duca
hon is important The concern and anger
displayed by parents in this custrct dur
ing the past week $s schoot shutdown in
dik ales how strongly they beleve in then
children’s education Financial limita
tions eoast T want to ensure that we pro
vide our chitdren with the best possible
educational opportuattiies within these
emits Confrontation has proven non
productive” Trustees must work toward
a tational determination of poontes |
behteve | can do that well

Vote tot Dawn Sitkula a
reason a voice of expenence

SCHOOL TRUSTEE £5 0.46) &.%

t ndorsed by West Vancouver Electors Assn

voice of