Opinion

Dec. 18, 2012 — Christmas time brings many, many emotions. They emerge as we wait for Dec. 25, a day that has become special for millions of people. The season seems to build, much like a great piece of music written for the symphony with Christmas as the crescendo. It is an expectant time; a hopeful time; a joyful time.

As a child I would begin the month lying on my stomach in the middle of the living room, pouring over catalogues mailed by Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. The pages were filled with magnificent possibilities for boxes wrapped and piled under the tree.

Dec. 11, 2012 — Many probably hunkered down in their homes, safe and warm, when a torrential rainstorm pounded Lassen County during a four-day period.

But that was not the case for emergency personnel who were out in the inclement weather, monitoring the situation for flooding and working to get power restored to areas in Lassen County.

Personnel from the Susanville Police Department, Susanville Fire Department and public works kept their eyes for problems in Susanville, particularly at Carroll Street, in the morning of Sunday, Dec. 2.

Dec. 11, 2012 — The problem: How to carry firewood down the steep hill in my backyard without falling.

Before the snow arrived, I carefully sidestepped down the slope toting a canvas carrier filled with split wood.

But now the already slippery slope proved treacherous in the snow. There would be no sidestepping — not even in my snow boots.

I thought about buying some metal cleats or those contraptions that attach like snow chains to the bottoms of shoes, and even briefly contemplated borrowing some golf shoes, but it still seemed dangerous.

Dec. 11, 2012 — With the recent turmoil reemerging between Israel and Palestine, I can’t help but ponder the significance, or lack thereof, of all the fighting.

  The division between the two has gone on since before the formation of Israel in 1948. Jews from Eastern Europe fled to Palestine to escape pogroms. Resistance to the migration was evident then, but picked up mainly during the massive exodus of Jews after World War II.

  The many reasons, claims and justifications of war are too numerous to mention, or even comprehend. Both sides lay justifiable claim to the area, a fact that intensifies the conflict.