Chatting with long-time Tassajara Valley rancher Gordon Rasmussen, he was excited about finally getting to export beef to China. The agreement grew out of the summit meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Wilbur Ross, Trump’s Commerce Secretary, told a Wall Street Journal forum that it has taken less than 100 days for the doors to China to open to U.S. beef producers. They had been working on it for 14 years.
That’s great news for Gordon and his fellow California ranchers. This is one time that being located on the Left Coast will be a great advantage. Gordon has worked with Harris Ranch for years.
Watching the Morning News on KTVU, traffic reporter Sal Castaneda was discussing with weatherman Steve Paulson about when the summer was going to take hold and traffic lessen. I attended an 8 a.m. meeting downtown Monday—a time that I can easily wait 10 minutes to get across Sunol Boulevard and there was basically no traffic—it looked like a Friday. It was similar when I was out a bit earlier on Wednesday.
Looking at the traffic maps, Tuesday was much different. What’s interesting is how the shift in school calendars has affected vacation areas. We were in Lake Almanor two years ago in late August and it was amazingly quiet. Families had gone back home to go back to school.
Many moons ago when I was in school, we never started classes before Labor Day. Now most districts have two or three weeks of regular classes before the holiday that traditionally brought summer to an end. For summer-based businesses at resort areas like Lake Tahoe, it has shifted the season earlier, but cost people two to three weeks of ideal weather.
Where once you might stay away until after Labor Day, the last two weeks of August now offer prime weather with fewer people. Given how much snow is still in the high country (20 feet at Mammoth Meadows which plans to stay open for skiing into August; Squaw Valley is planning on July 4th), it may be September before you want to brave Lake Tahoe to swim.
Just how hot is it today. So hot that the Alameda County Fair, for the first time, cancelled its horse racing card to protect the jockeys and the horses.
Out at Callippe Preserve golf course, there were just 52 players by mid-day. A typical weekday seems about 200. Temps near 100 degrees at midday encouraged golfers to stay inside and stay cool.
