WHY HERE? WHY NOW?
Bill Barksdale, Columnist
Sitting here in my comfortable chair on a chilly spring morning as I do virtually every morning, I miss the warming wintertime fire in the fireplace. This day will soon be warm so there’s no reason to heat the morning up only to be too warm in a couple of hours. Our house stays cool on hot days if the windows and doors are open to the nighttime’s coolness. Still, there are few things more comforting than a warm hearth on a chilly day. I’ll have to wait months for that pleasure again. Something to look forward to – the simple pleasures of life.
As I was sitting here writing, which is my habit every morning, I saw a brilliant yellow butterfly skipping from flower to flower outside. It amazes me that these seemingly fragile creatures fly thousands of miles each year to breed in one place, then fly to Willits or some other far off land for the summer. Remarkable.
During my decades as a real estate agent I’ve often asked clients how they ended up in Willits. Sometimes it’s to be near family. Sometimes to follow a dream to live in the country. But why here? I was often surprised when people told me that they had no idea how they ended up moving here. They just did. That was the case with me and my spouse.
We knew nothing about Willits when we followed some kind of feral call, the residue of a dream to live in “the country”. Why Willits? We read a clever ad in the San Francisco Chronicle classifieds. There was no internet to peruse in those days. We were looking for a house to buy in SF when one could buy a great house for less than $200,000.00, then one day on a whim we decided to look in the paper and within three weeks bought a piece of land in the legendary redwoods with nothing but an unfinished cabin, no electricity, no phone, not even windows – a different world only once-upon-a-time, fanaticized about.
During the 70’s many people moved to Mendocino County from places like L.A., S.F. even other states and occasionally Europe. It wasn’t the draw of family, but often friends. Sometimes just an almost mystical attraction. For those who were born and raised here, us “newbies” were often not welcomed, but as decades passed we became part of this place.
When I was in my early 20’s I read books by author Carlos Castaneda about a character named Don Juan, a Yaqui native of South America. I’ve never been certain that Don Juan was an actual person or a creation of Castaneda, but it doesn’t really matter because the mythos, the irresistible story was spellbinding. I recall Don Juan saying that one has to find their spot – their place. I think that for many, Mendocino County was that place. My secondhand copy of Journey to Ixtlan – The Lessons of Don Juan has an inscription on the inside cover page “Alex, It’s about walking in the dark, Love Steve”.
When you think about it, life itself is kind of like walking in the dark. We live moment-to-moment. I don’t have to tell you that life can change in an instant. The events of these days let us know that life literally changes in a moment. Sometimes sending us on a great adventure, sometimes into a nightmare – all of it a new path, each path with its own challenges. We sometimes find ourselves wandering through life with its twists and turns, looking for – what? The meaning of life itself, I guess. I often muse about this.
At different stages of life we need different types of homes. As a child a stable home is desired, but not always had. As we leave our parent’s home, we often have a need for more flexible housing as we explore. Careers and mental health often require more permanent housing. As we get into older age and often the disabilities that accompany older age, we require care and more stable housing. At all stages of life we need affordable health care, and affordable housing. Affordability has become a major element of life now.
My Mother & Stepfather are now over 100 years old. They lived and worked at a time when people got pensions and retirement plans. Even with those, now increasingly rare financial securities, just a place to live and have the care they need takes every bit of their income plus a good part of their savings which will eventually run out. At the extraordinary cost of well over $6,000.00 per month, they are among the few who can afford “old age”, and then for only a limited time.
We have a great need for affordable housing everywhere. For older people who no longer have jobs, there are precious few options. Here in Willits I and many of my aging friends are wondering what will be available to us as places to live. What about those with dementia, a devastating disability that many families are dealing with. I’ve written about this before. We need to find a way to house in a humane way, our older & disabled selves. Where is the “spot” for us and our fellow humans? We’re fortunate that our effective State Senator, Mike McGuire is concerned about this. He’s a good guy.
Have we become a society that has become so frightened about how to just survive day-to-day that we often foolishly elect “leaders” whose priorities are to make the rich richer through a dangerously uncaring and corrupt tax system, in which people in need of the basics of survival are just thrown away like garbage? Are you or someone you love, someone who will be thrown away if you become disabled or outgrow you resources? I am always amazed by voters who vote against their own best interests. Why do they do that? Just stupid? Just used to not thinking for themselves? Are so afraid and angry that they hand their personal power over to power-hungry, greedy lying liars?
We need leaders with vision who see and understand essential needs and find solutions. We need, each of us, to be looking for solutions. The idealism and exploration of youth is wonderful, and necessary. The realities of disability and old age are in many of our faces right now. What makes life worth living? First, a decent place to live, food to eat, good education. Our wonderful Willits has precious few options for the aged & disabled, and that can be said for pretty much every other place in the U.S.
I would say that aged and disabled people ‘fall through the cracks’ but since most of us will experience these challenges – that is not a “crack”, it’s a failure of good government planning. Most ‘developed nations’ do plan for these needs. Some families still step up to help their family members that are in need. That used to be common practice, still is in many places. Not planning to help those in need is just plain poor government. Ask any elderly or disabled homeless person. We must do better, and we must openly discuss this.
We’ve made some piss-pour choices for leaders in this country. If a politician doesn’t have priorities and plans for the basics, they need to be gotten rid of. We are at a time when we need to stand up and say “shut up and get out” to so-called “leaders” that don’t have viable solutions & plans to implement them. Taxing has to be fair and smart about how those tax dollars are spent. We don’t need tax cuts for billionaires or millionaires. They’re not heroes. We need decent quality of life for all. Good education for all. As a viable society, we need solutions – and we need them now.
Bill Barksdale was inducted into the 2016 Realtor® Hall of Fame, and served as Chair of the County of Mendocino Assessment Appeals Board settling property tax disputes between the County Assessor & citizens and businesses. Read more of Bill’s columns on his blog at www.bbarksdale.com
