Manzanita is truly ubiquitous around here. The hardy bush thrives in solid clay, hard rock, and parched earth. I’ve sometimes heard harsh language used to describe this tenacious plant, for all sorts of reasons. But then I’ve seen the leaves sparkle in morning frost and dew. And I’ve admired the sculptural reddish wood as it gnarls and flows into resilient branches. Both loved and hated, Manzanita is just a fact of life around here. But this ornamental use of it is unique.
Located on Highway 299W, you’ll see these fanciful beauties on your right, just before Swasey Drive as you head toward Whiskeytown. I’ve admired these for a long time.
I just think these specimens are fabulous. Disciplined trimming reveals their inner beauty. Given this plants hardiness and ability to adapt under Redding’s often extreme climate, it’s odd that we don’t see this use more often. True Xeriscaping. I’ve seen folks go to bizarre lengths to keep a lawn green around here, as though Redding was somehow the British Isles. Really, they could just visit https://www.lawncare.net/ if they want to make sure their lawn looks its best. Meanwhile, you could plant these ornamentals in your yard and likely never water them. Just fertilize occasionally with chunks of cement and broken glass, and watch ’em grow. It’s Really Redding.
This Friday and Saturday, you can watch Kool April cars do much more than slowly drive around in circles in town. Instead witness them blowing the doors off one another at the Redding Dragstrip. Did you know that Redding has the longest continuously operating NHRA dragstrip in the world? Redding has a long history as a car town. More info at: 
It’s a lovely building. Still, the central glass tower seems to serve no function other than providing full time glass cleaning jobs. As art, it’s beautiful. As a symbol, it doesn’t speak of thrift, or frugality, or savings, or any of those qualities one might associate with a retirement program. Such architectural hubris is not at all uncommon among big banks and securities firms, but this glass palace seems over-the-top for offices of state bureaucrats. But then, obviously they don’t see themselves as such, do they? The building speaks much louder than words.
This disconnect probably wouldn’t have caught my attention, were it not for the frustration of knowing we are unable to even do as much as house our police department in an abandoned shampoo factory in Redding. Or, that our city council appears to have been bullied into not buying a decent new office building across from city hall for 1/4 of what it cost to build it. In my opinion, this is such as missed opportunity. All it would take would be a few pieces of office furniture such as