I learned of a park yesterday that I walked along a few weeks ago, when I did the car clinic course, but had no awareness of before that, and certainly I had no awareness until yesterday of the monumental effort it took to get it designated and built. Each state park is hard-won. Our state parks are a major reason the tourists come and spend their money here. We cannot let one hard-won park go. By the way, another suggestion yesterday was that we vacation in our own state. Let's support California. It has everything any of us could want. As to the first rural park, yesterday, Candlestick Point Park was well-represented by a contingent of young people who volunteer and are helped there. They brought a plant to each legislator to demonstrate what now grows in an area that was once designated as a slum and not worthy of care. The area and the people were dismissed. Now, the area blossoms and the people speak. You can check the park out at: http://www.calparks.org/programs/resources/candlestick-point.html http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=519 I went to the doctor today and spoke about the parks with the various people I came in contact with, and not one of them knew about the proposed cutbacks and that sixteen beaches in CA that will have no lifeguards this summer if we don't stop the governor's proposed budget. One of the nurses today, who had no awareness, used to work for the state parks in Santa Cruz. We need to not only write, but also to talk to people so they are writing. They handed out buttons yesterday that say Save Your State Parks. Wear a button. The media must not be covering the issue very well, or otherwise people would know. It is up to us to speak. I also thought about Cheney today with his "so" remark and Marie Antoinette's comment which was taken out of context. His has context. He knows it is transmitted. He doesn't care. She was taken as a young girl to France, away from home and family. This is Cheney's home. Sad, isn't it? We can have a revolution like France, or perhaps if we are vocal enough, we can peacefully overturn what the governor is trying to do. The Republicans have signed a pledge not to raise taxes. They unite in that, and curtail the number of solutions. We have to make the parks number one on everyone's list, and then, we go from there.