Cottonwood Creek wet and dry

A study in contrast. The first image, the Interstate 5 bridge at Cottonwood Creek, when it was running at a pretty good clip in 2006.

Cottonwood Creek wetAnd then below, from yesterday in 2014.

Cottonwood Creek dryI’ve noticed a lot of changes in the local creekbeds since the drought began. Much of lower Churn Creek’s riparian vegetation is dying or in distress. I sure hope we get a wet winter.

The Fantasy Fountain at Kids Kingdom

Imagine this water wonderland from the eyes of a child. Here’s a look at Redding’s Fantasy Fountain at Kids Kingdom park, as seen for the first time by grandson Talon, age 1.

Free Fantasy Fountains for kids. It’s Really Redding.

National Neighborhood Night Out

We attended our neighborhood meeting in observance of National Neighborhood Night Out on Aug 5. Our awesome block captain was host. We had some folks from Shascom, RPD, and a few firemen come by too. And a police helicopter did a fly-by. It was good to see everyone. Crime prevention is always a hot topic.

Neighborhood crime prevention meetings. It’s Really Redding.

Squashghetti -what to do with Summer squash that gets away

We’ve all seen them. Those giant Summer Squash or Zucchini that hide among the leaves in your garden until a few days too late, you notice them. Too big now to become delicate grilled veggies, they are now hulking massive squash.
Or maybe some “generous” neighbor might leave you a bag of them on your porch. By night. So you can’t shoo them away.
Like these big ol’ crooknecks. What to do?
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Well, you can shred them into healthy squash noodles. We use a Kitchen Craft hand powered cutter, one of the more useful devices we have in our kitchen. You should check out Kitchen Craft if you haven’t already.
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Squashghetti3Then, the delightful Karry whipped up a tomato sauce. If you live in Redding and you don’t have a big bush of Rosemary growing somewhere in your yard, you are missing out. Rosemary grows easily here.

Squashghetti4We microwave the “noodles” for a few minutes to take the edge off, but you could just as easily eat them raw.

Squashghetti5A 2010 Zinfindel from Moseley Family Cellars compliments the dish nicely.

Squashghetti6We toss in some green olives from The Olive Pit in Corning, and some parmigiano reggiano to complete the dish. Much better than leaving a bag of them on your neighbor’s porch in the dead of night. Squashghetti, it’s Really Redding.
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Redding is a great place to live

In case you were wondering. Or perhaps you’ve been misled about our quality of life by reading our so called “local” newspaper, or its online spawn redding.com. Replete with recently incessant horror stories about petty crime and homelessness. Pleasurable living doesn’t sell papers or banner ads, evidently.
Meanwhile, a decent lifestyle goes on here.
Huh. Who knew?

Our Italian travel photos in the Record Searchlight

Big fun! Jessica Skropanic featured a couple photos of me and the lovely Karry in Naples in their Sunday Edition. Here’s the link:
RS Travel photoBelow is the actual image I sent her. I thought it funny because we were unwittingly photobombed by the waiter’s buddy at the outdoor cafe. She said they couldn’t run it that way because we didn’t know his name. I explained that I was certain his name was Luigi Bomboni, but she was evidently unconvinced. Here’s the original image:

Skip and the lovely Karry at a street cafe in Naples.
Skip and the lovely Karry at a street cafe in Naples.
Here’s the larger image of Pompeii to go with it.
Skip and the lovely Karry gaze in wonder at PompeiiAnd if you are not completely bored by other people’s travel photos, you can see my images of the Vatican here:
https://reallyredding.com/2014/03/23/my-images-of-the-vatican/
And of Valencia here:
https://reallyredding.com/2014/03/17/a-european-city-with-a-redding-flavor/
I really enjoyed Florence.
I really enjoyed Florence.
Thanks Jessica. Travel, it’s Really Redding.

Floral fireworks

Looking forward to the big display tonight in Redding. This waterlily in my backyard struck me as a firework-like display in itself.
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