Slice of Life - Libraries and History

Yesterday was another day filled with libraries and a bit more.

I started by going to another library in our county that I hadn't ever been too. It was a nice space, but I realized it was near a wine tasting room that has a deli I have heard about. Of course, that's where I headed next. 

I stopped by the deli for lunch and it was such a treat and it got me out of the rain for a bit. The soup and fresh bread was really delicious. I didn't want to do a wine tasting, but they also grow olives and I did my first olive oil tasting. They let you taste four different oils and then a few balsamic vinegars and a honey. Yum. The bottles of olive oil and elderberry balsamic cost more than my lunch, but I know it will be fun to cook with them. The business is owned and operated by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation who have been on this land for thousands of years. 

Next, I headed to another library and a small history museum. I learned a lot about the communities near the city where I live. In one city there had been about 100 families of Japanese descent prior to Executive Order 9066 that resulted in their internment. After that time of incarceration, only six families returned. 

I also found out about a city that no longer exists. There is a dam and lake nearby where a city used to be. The town was dismantled and everything was removed or burnt before they built the dam. It reminded me of the picture book by Loren Long called The Yellow Bus. In part of the book a valley gets flooded. The first time I read it, I wondered about the dam near us and if the land under it had been inhabited before it was built. 

Then, the person who had been sharing about these early communities let me know that there was yet another history museum in another small town nearby and I found out that they had a library there too. Happy day. It was another informative place and had even more information about the Wintun people.

There are so many things to learn about the land that we inhabit and who and what has been here before us. We moved to this area almost three years ago and I feel like there is still so much to learn. As an elementary school teacher it seems like these are really things I ought to know so that's how I've been spending a lot of my spring break days. I'm trying to get to know the backstory of this community and the land around it. Some of the history is good, like the way the local Native nation has found a way to diversify and make an amazing company that creates excellent oils and foods. Other history shows the way that humans have made others suffer. I look forward to meeting more people in the community and learning how to work together towards a future where we value each other and the other living and nonliving things in our community.