For the next two years I'll be continuing to represent Sandy Valley on the Sandy Valley Citizens' Advisory Council.

Today marks the end of 2006 and the start of 2007. A calendar sporting a beautiful picture of a snowy wilderness hangs just above the computer. Tomorrow it will no longer have value as a planning tool. I realized a few minutes ago, with a tinge of panic, that I've not purchased any 2007 calendars yet. The new year will come and I'll have no idea what my schedule is.

That's not really the case. I'm sold on Google Calendar. Sure Google is behaving badly in many ways and is out to prove it is little different than many technology companies that have come and gone before. I'm still stuck on the convenience of Google Calendar and it keeps getting easier.

Even with the modern marvel of keeping schedules entirely online I will still get several calendars this year. There have not been stories in the news reporting on the vast decline in calendar sales. Quite the opposite appears to be the case as the isles of the bookstore are filled with any shape calendar one can imagine. From page-a-day to multi-month views it seems whatever one might want to have pictured on them one can get. For those whose tastes aren't satisfied at the local bookstore there are even do-it-yourself options. So even with the blossoming of the online-calendar market it turns out we're still hooked on the good old fashioned paper kind.

A frosty fall morning as autumn prepares to yield to winter. The weekend brought the first snow down to the lower reaches of the high southern desert. Watching sunset through the crystal clear air it becomes apparent there is a connection to the high desert that those who have not been a part of it never fully grasp. There are two ways of looking at the mountains of the basin and range. Some look and see barren bland mountains. Those with the place in their blood see a unique beauty.

We humans like to see ourselves as the king of all the beasts. On this Sunday afternoon as I head off to the office, having spent the morning working at home, I look around and not that there are two cats and two dogs resting quite comfortably. I wonder who the smart ones really are?