I lost two dear people in the Oakland Hills Fire in 1991-- a friend and a mentor. Numerous friends lost their houses then. My grandparents house burned down in 1961 in a fire in the Santa Monica Mountains. They lost everything, including family photos and heirlooms. Fires are tragic, but an inevitable part of the natural cycle. The best way to prevent them is to recognize that they will happby eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
Burn, baby, burn. We need to get the forests back to a healthy state, and fire is the way to do it. Just clearing the underbrush isn't enough by itself. First of all, the process of clearing is very destructive: temporary roads are blazed, kicking up dust, displacing the top soil and ruining new growth, and the noise and pollution is terrible. Fires not only clear the underbrush, they enrichby eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
I am generally not religious Jobe, but in this case I will pray my heart out that your efforts come to fruition. Were you to catch this individual, whom I believe IS Castro, I would feel safe to return to the springs again. Castro is the only one with the clear motivation to sabotage the cars of people who choose not to park at his "ranch." It also concerns me that he was seen leavinby eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
Count me in as someone who is pissed off, too. I would love nothing more than to catch this individual in the act of vandalism. I have a video camera we could use, if someone wants to volunteer. I live two hours from the springs, so it's hard for me to get up there to do it.by eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
Laughing Bear, your suggestion is just what I was thinking. If someone would be willing to do it, I believe we could capture this "slasher" on film and make it safe to park at Bowen again. Would anyone be willing to volunteer to do this? We might need someone to volunteer a different car than what Wizard drives. I think it's more effective to have a newcomer park there. By the way,by eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
Is it true that rattlesnakes don't like human smell? I've never heard that before.by eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
I agree with Laughing Bear's reluctace to join The Naturist Society. Regardless of TNS's official position, a group like that is associated with nudists, and I think that distracts from the purpose of the DCVs, which is to preserve the environment and access to DCHS. The danger is that an association with a nudist group takes away from that focus and makes people think that the DCVs are essentiby eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
<To Eastbay: I like your use of "we" in your post above. Are you considering joining us, then? I heard we're having a potluck soon and hope we can all be there and get to know each other better. > I have always been part of the group in spirit (well in my own spirit -- probably no one else in the group knew my spirit was there). Unfortunately I live a little too far away from thby eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
I think we should start our own website that's truly open to the public. I don't understand this fascist approach, with log-ins and all posts being "approved." That wigs me out. There are more adult ways of dealing with a difficult poster, such as what was recommended above about establishing community standards and informing someone when they violate those. If this organization wanby eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
The login sucks and is a pain in the butt. I wish it didn't exist because I'm tired of wasting my time logging in to a million different web sites. I personally didn't care about Arizona Mike's postings. I just ignored them. But if the majority feels that should be done here, then what can I do? I just like websites where anyone passing through can ask questions or leave comments without a sby eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
I've been out of the country for 16 of those past 30 days, so I'm not surprised I'm not on there. I too believe in quality over quantity, so I will try to self-censor my remarks to include only my most brilliant and insightful posts on warm water and beautiful scenery.by eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California
I think those 10 posters are the only ones who post anyway.by eastbay - Deep Creek Hot Springs, Apple Valley, California