To say that the latter half of 2018 was a busy and eventful period would be an understatement. As I helped put together photos and content for our annual end of the year review edition this past weekend, I could not help looking back at all that has transpired. Like many of you, it has been both rewarding and challenging to be a Lake County resident the last several months, and as is customary this time of year, it is a period for concurrently reflecting on what’s past and for looking forward to the year ahead.
A little more than a year ago I was a Mendocino County resident familiar with the stretch of the 101 Highway which connects the city of Willits with Ukiah, having to travel that route at least several times a week for work related purposes. Since heading east to assume my duties as editor of the Record-Bee, I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting with a number of you at weekly meetings with the public in downtown Lakeport, from county workers to government officials to a small contingency of our elected officials in Congress and the Assembly. I thank you all who have contributed your input, time and your feedback towards improving news delivery through our small hometown local newspaper.
Transitioning from a reporter role to city editor and eventually towards heading the editorial department at the Record-Bee has been a learning curve, not helped by the fact that a mere four days after starting the job, the Pawnee fire which burned close to 15,200 acres and destroyed 22 structures according to Cal Fire’s final official tallies, ravaged through Lake County.
Trial by fire indeed, it would only be a precursor to other emergencies to come. I don’t have to tell you the rest, you all experienced it with me and we all got through it together.
So as I was driven to the airport on my way back from a week in Southern California where I spent some quality time with family and friends, I thought about all the contributors, new friends, well wishers, and residents I have met along my journey and I relish what’s to come, looking forward to a productive and prolific 2019.
This is the time of year which heralds renewal for most people and New Year’s resolution have been made, if not officially, at least formulated in people’s minds. The problem with these is that most people are unable to keep them once the calendar pages have turned like the changing of the seasons. Promises made to lose weight, exercise more, or to put our finances in order get lost in the hustle and bustle of the daily grind and are discarded faster than a politician’s promise on election day.
I recall watching Ellen Degeneres’ TV show during the holidays and she presented a good solution to the problem of unkept new year’s resolutions. Degeneres said instead of making a ton of resolutions we know we are never going to keep, we should restrict ourselves to only making three realistic resolutions, lightening the load and increasing one’s chances of keeping them successfully.
While rummaging in my parent’s house in the garage I found a planner from 10 years ago. In the digital age those have gone the way of the dinosaur, but it was both amusing and discouraging to read through it and to find out about goals I set for myself 10 years ago which were never completed, including completing that screenplay which has been bouncing around in my head and playing more chess for recreational purposes.
Even if you are not one who makes new year’s resolutions I encourage you to at least make an effort to take some time out to spend quality time with friends and loved ones. A friend told me this weekend that no one will probably remember the 50-80 hours a week he would put in at work when he was younger, but they would remember times spent with loved ones and memories with friends and family. So I hope you do at least that Lake County and have a happy, productive and healthy start to 2019.
—Ariel Carmona Jr. is Managing Editor of the Lake County Record-Bee
