Small town living
Years ago I lived in Petaluma, a small town in Sonoma County I suspect many of you have heard of or been to and when I moved there from Marin, I thought then that life couldn”t get any better but that”s when Petaluma was quaint and lovely, not as it has become, another busy burb between Rohnert Park and Novato that looks more and more like San Jose every day. It was a sweet place then with lots of family owned and run businesses and you had the feeling as they say in that old sitcom Cheers, that “everybody knows your name.”
Since moving to Lake County in 2004, I not only captured the small town feeling I originally had in Petaluma, I bettered it. I have to say that having traveled coast to coast and lived everywhere from New York City to Kansas City to Los Angeles, there simply isn”t any better than we have it here.
I have been love-struck by Lake County and those who I left behind in the San Francisco Bay Area, no matter how I explain it, don”t get the point. They just don”t get how it feels to be sitting outside at Library Park on a Friday evening and be treated to those concerts against the backdrop of the beautiful and majestic Clear Lake. They don”t get the history and they don”t get how I can live so far from a shopping mall.
For those like me who moved here from wherever and never looked back, they understand, and it”s like your favorite music, some may get it and some may not but for those who do, it”s nice to be in their company.
Anyway, this commentary isn”t about that magical rabbit companion of Jimmy Stewart. It”s about a guy who deserves a lot of credit for what he does and what he means to our community. It”s about Harvey, the pharmacist at CVS in Lakeport who when it comes to medication when we need it, is like an angel on our shoulder.
Harvey”s the kind of guy who doesn”t take credit for what he does but none of us who live here take him for granted nonetheless. He”s the guy you talk to when you”re not sure what the doctor ordered for you and you could use some back up and maybe even some fatherly advice. He”s special and there truly is no better word for it that I can think of or sentiment I could express other than to say thank you to him publicly.
I can”t count the number of times I”ve had a question for Harvey and he”s always been there when I needed it as he has for countless others who live here and who know what I mean.
It”s people like Harvey that make our community what it is. They are the heart and soul of our community. They”re not just the druggist at the store; they take a personal interest in our well being.
So when you add it all up at the end of the day, we may not have the big shopping malls but for me, I couldn”t care less. That”s not why I”m here. I”m here because of the beautiful countryside and moreover, the wonderful people who make up our county and who I”m so lucky to call my neighbors.
Howard Glasser, Kelseyville
