Growing Up Green: Interviews with Children of Pot Growers

Preschooler with Pot

The controversy over marijuana extends into the family life of the grower.  Are the children safe?  Do they grow up drug addicted menaces to society? Are they traumatized by what they go through?  I recently did an article on this for Grow magazine and the piece just came out (though I haven’t yet been able to buy it locally.) I talked with forty year old women who had pot growing parents.  I spoke with three year old girls who excitedly explained how to tell when the cannabis flower is ready to harvest.

“They get bigger and bigger and then they get purple,” she explained seriously, her large eyes widening and her curls bouncing as she sat on her dad’s lap holding a handful of this year’s crop.

I interviewed older men who grew up in Humboldt and younger ones now raising children here in the business.  There are good memories told and bad.  There is one of each below the fold. And more in the magazine.

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Robin

Robin

Surrounding myself with beauty, cushions me from some of life’s rougher moments.  When I was younger, I memorized poetry–a nickle a line (thank you, Mom).  Now, the words slip out of my mind like pearls from a box–rich and glowing–when life seems lifeless.

One of my favorites is Emily Dickinson’s piece below the fold.  The poem doesn’t explicitly name the bird and I reluctantly allow it could be a chickadee or some other little brown bird but she describes a robin’s actions so accurately (the one I photographed a few mornings ago could have been auditioning to play the leading role in her poem) that I see a robin.

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A Bird came down the Walk –
He did not know I saw –
He bit an Angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,

And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass –
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass –

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad –
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought –
He stirred his Velvet Head

Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home –

Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam –
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.

Inconsistancy

Sunshine on Sugar

When the federal government overrides California’s marijuana laws, many of us rightly see it as interfering.  The whole marijuana culture celebrated when Obama said his administration would respect local laws.

However, many marijuana activists are trying to get California to override county government laws on marijuana.  Does the inconsistency bother anyone else?

Home is Where the Humboldt is

Pledge

Some of us pledge undying love to people and some of us also pledge undying love to a place.

Humboldt is the place my life started, where I took my first breath, lost my first tooth, spoke my first word, got my first kiss, fell in love for the very first time. I’ve lost and gained all those things that make up a childhood in Humboldt, and it will always be my first love. From summer days spend lazing by a murky pond, to winter nights bundled up under the stars, there’s no place I’d rather call home, and though my life may take me away, I will always find comfort in knowing that whenever I choose she’ll be there with arms open waiting to pull me right back into the warm embrace that is knowing where you come from, and where you belong.

A new blog written by “A Humboldt girl away from Humboldt” glows with photos, good writing, and a love of this beautiful place.  Welcome.

Bear Butte with Rising Sun

Like A Volcano

Frequent Photo

Claiming Homeground

Basking in the rising sun,

Bear Butte’s exhaled a banner of fog

Claiming us as minions.

Be Still, Let it Touch Us

Fog Rising

Frequent Photo

Fog–the tangible breath of  streamlet, tree and more

Blurs the stolid forms of motors mountains men.

We blunder through it

Blindly, trying to see.

Be still.

Let it touch us.

Toking Tourists and a Marijuana Museum Here in Humboldt

Bud with Grape Leaf

Frequent Photo

“You can hang a grow light in a SoCali basement as easily as in a Humboldt grow house, but you can’t replicate a redwood forest terroir in a concrete jungle.” HighlikeMe

The excerpt above comes from an excellent post by the new Humboldt blogger Highlikeme.  In it s/he makes the argument that if Humboldt wants to continue as the weed capital of the western world, it needs to differentiate itself from weed elsewhere.  S/he’s right. We need to emulate Napa and the wine industry by making our area THE area for the toking tourist.

With the tsunami of legalization looming over our heads –it might well come in the next two years either through a ballot initiative this fall or through the state legislature–the whole North Coast  is only going to thrive  if it becomes the tourist destination of choice for the cannabis consumer.  What are some ways we can market ourselves now?

Here are my top six ways to promote The North Coast’s Marijuana Culture and bring in tourists–

1) More Festivals--Reggae on the River (and Reggae Rising) already draw in thousands and the audience wants more than the music, they want the weed.  The Emerald Cup in December has the potential to become a huge draw for ganja guys and gals. The Emerald Cup, in a strange turn of events, is a marijuana competition  inspired by the Amsterdam Cannabis Cup which was originally based on the “spectacular California harvest festivals of the ’70s.”

There are already some fine music festivals in the area as well as some good local arts’ events and some that are hard to define–Mushroom Fair, the Hemp Festival, and Godwit days.   The more there are, and the more they are tied to the local marijuana, the better for the local economy.

2)More Places to visit –We do have some wonderful head shops (find your favorite at headshopfinder.com )and glass blowers in the area.  A clothing shop, The Hemp Connection, in Garberville, provides an excellent model for servicing both local residents and tourists ( I recommend reading this review as an example of how meeting the needs of toking tourists can translate into bringing more people into the area.)  However, we need something like a Marijuana museum which focuses on the local history aspect.

Another possible piece of infrastructure that would bring in medical marijuana tourists is if the  Garberville Hospital is converted to a dispensary/hospital–the first in the nation.

An exciting idea would be to have some small 215 grows available for people to visit.  The more places there are, the more likely people are to go out of their way to visit us.  A friend suggests these small farms could be called marijuanaries after the specialty wineries that make up much of Napa and the surrounding areas.

3)More Ads and subtle product placement see Miranda Gardens Resort Blog for an example of how subtle this can be.  In answer to a question about what is fun to do in the area, the responder manages to work in the “marijuana culture.” Of course, a far less subtle example is the movie, Humboldt County, which is one long product placement. Again, the more there are, the better it is for our economy–now and in the future.

4)Connect Napa to Humboldt--Encourage Tourists who are already visiting to Wine country to swing up north to see the marijuana world.  Tours of the Cannabis culture could be combined with tours of wine country both by bus and by bike.  As a bonus, our local breweries and wineries could benefit.

5) A Website –We need one that will promote where to find goods and services that the marijuana industry in the area can provide–take a look at this post on Marijuana.com. As good as some of our local tourist information is, we need one that shines a spotlight on the culture that provides the major stimulus to the local economies. Perhaps something called Smokin’ Places to Visit for the Marijuana Tourist. Or Eat, Drink, Toke: Humboldt County.

6) Focus on growing Unique Weed — see Highlikeme’s post for how many of us are doing it wrong now and how we should do it better.  We need to focus on producing high quality weed that has the unique flavors of the California fog and sunshine woven into its fiber–what we don’t need is more generic buds that can be produced anywhere.  That might mean that indoor growers should begin to work on developing unique outdoor strains at the same time they are still producing the indoor that they are making the most money on now.  (Mind you, I still think growing outdoor is best for the environment and can be nearly as profitable but if other people feel differently, those who can possibly get a small plot should still consider developing killer outdoor strains now to prepare for legalization.  This will be best for their financial future and for the future of the county.)

The more we layer the marijuana experience and conflate it with Humboldt and the North Coast, the more the toking tourist will flock to us to get a real taste of the marijuana world.

After the Storm

After the Storm

Frequent Photo

In the wake of  the storms that have poured much needed water over the North Coast, sunshine is a simple pleasure that I’m reveling in.  In the wake of the Haitian earthquake, one writer/photographer is reveling in a long list of simple pleasures.  AND she’s willing to pay for reading my list. (h/t Daily Vignette.) She’s offering to donate a dollar to Doctors without Borders for every blogger who posts about the “simple things in life that we appreciate.”

Sunshine.  And rain (the way it turns the Humboldt hills into a garden with green lawns and waterfalls in exotic locations).

Warm house and warmer hearth ( and flames flickering on a rainy night.)

Grumpy old men (They can always be counted on to help when a something bad happens.)

Handsome young men (especially my sons)

Broad shoulders

Big hearts

Friends

Chocolate chip cookie dough licked from a little boy’s finger.

Forests breathing out long wisps of fog on rainy days.

My husband.

Weddings and beautiful brides (Sappy, I know, but God, they are both so beautiful and hopeful).

That my son is alive.

One hawk spiraling

Living in the most beautiful place in the world.

Kind people.

My Mother.

Deer dipping dainty hooves into long grass.

Getting paid to write!

People who make me laugh

My Dad.

Good books

Good neighbors (bless the one that chainsawed the tree in the photo)

Good sleep

My sons.

You all.

Thanks for reading.  Add your list of simple things you are grateful for if you like.

Missing Person

Jerry George

Missing Person Report from the Sheriff’s Office

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a McKinleyville man who was reported missing late last week.  Last Friday a woman reported her boyfriend failed to return home.   The man, Jerry George, 29, had gone out to friends’ house the night before but never made it home.  Friends indicated he left their house on Reasor Road, McKinleyville, at about 11:45 p.m. on Thursday night.  Mr. George’s friends told deputies he left on foot and they believed he was going to walk to his residence on Railroad Avenue.  Mr. George has not been seen since.  Friends and family members indicate it is highly unusually for Mr. George to be out of contact with them for this length of time.

Jerry George is a black male adult, 6’ 3” tall, weighing about 250 pounds.  He has a tattoo on his left forearm that reads “Hauna” and one on his neck that reads “Shanda.”  He also has gold teeth.  George was believed to be wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, a brown jacket, and black shoes.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Jerry George should call Detective Cheryl Franco at (707) 268-3644.

Since People couldn’t see the photo (though I could) I borrowed this one from the Humboldt Mirror (thanks, bugs).

Welcome, Stranger: Is Humboldt Hospitable?

When the Back to the Landers showed up in Southern Humboldt thirty years ago, they were met with suspicion and hostility.  Today they are pillars of the community–starting health clinics (Redwoods Rural), gathering places (Mateel Community Center), and businesses (Garden of Beadin).  But some of us the old timers while married to them or good friends with them– deep down,  consider most of them not-quite-us.

And, in turn, the newcomers greet newer-comers with more overt friendliness but some of the same standoffishness. A new blog in Humboldtia describes the stranger’s feelings. He (or possibly she) in a post titled Unwelcome to the Emerald Triangle gives a sample snippet of a speech to show what s/he means. “Did you see that MSNBC video on the Emerald Triangle?  We’ve been overrun since that show aired.  It’s awful.  You want some weed?”

Married to a newcomer and immersed in the new-comer culture for years (which I love), none-the-less I think I know why this latest influx feels excluded and unwelcome and why old-timer and newcomer Humbolters alike don’t seem totally welcoming.  When outsiders come, they want to be appreciated for who they are (not asked to change) and likewise Humboldters of all stripes want the same thing.  However, mixing in new elements means change and, relatively comfortable and happy in their lives, most don’t want change. Change might mean something bad happening.

At least on the Humboldt Blog scene, let’s try to welcome new elements.  Let’s try to incorporate change with an eye to how we can be better for it.  We may not totally succeed but, I’m going to enjoy the effort.

So “Howdy, stranger J2Bad.  Welcome to the Humboldt blog scene.  I’m looking forward to knowing you…Oh, and have some virtual hot chocolate chip cookies.  Let me know what you think of them.”

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Hattip to Highboldtage