There’s a lot to learn about Lake County—the clean air, Clear Lake, Mt. Konocti, historic hot springs, resorts, and more. Here’s a few of the fun facts about the area:
- Located midway between the Pacific Coast and the Central Valley, Lake County rarely experiences coastal or valley fog. This translates into lots of sunshine. In fact, Lake County sees, on average, approximately 265 days of clear or partly clear skies, with an approximate annual average of 78% of possible sunshine.
- Lake County has the cleanest air in California as certified by the State’s Air Resource’s Board and an abundance of spring water. There are several bottled water companies in Lake County.
- Clear Lake, estimated at 2.5 million years old, is thought to be the oldest lake in North America—and quite possibly the world.
- Clear Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in California, with 63 square miles of surface area, and more than 100 miles of shoreline.
- Clear Lake has been coined the “Bass Capital of the West” by numerous fishing organizations and pros, and Bassmaster and others have rated Clear Lake as a Top 10 bass fishing lake in the U.S.
- North America’s only species of eagles—bald eagles and golden eagles—come to Lake County to nest each year.
- Clear Lake is a eutrophic, “well-fed” lake. For centuries, it was known as “Lypoyomi”—Pomo for “big water”—until nicknamed “Clear Lake” by European settlers. According to an 1877 article in the San Francisco Post, the lake’s name reflects the region’s clear air—still the cleanest air in the state of California.
- Between 100,000 and 600,000 years ago, Mt. Konocti formed slowly in several eruptive episodes.
- Volcanic ash spewed during an eruption of Mount Konocti has been found and identified nearly 3,000 miles away in the state of New York.
- Mt. Konocti is sacred to local Native American tribes and is visible from almost anywhere on Clear Lake.
Chicken soup’s reputation for curing the common cold goes back thousands of years, and this nourishing food is present in one form or another in just about every part of the world, from the traditional Jewish goldene yoich to Chinese QiguoJi. The earliest reference to chicken soup’s healing properties has been found in a 12th century book On the Cause of Symptoms by author Maimonides. He described chicken broth as a treatment for malnutrition, asthma, and even leprosy.
Most recently, a researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Dr. Stephen Rennard, MD, began to study the effects of chicken soup after a conversation with his grandmother. His findings, reported in 1993, have since been cited in more than 1,200 publications.
Dr. Stephen Rennard found that chicken soup is a veritable “soup” of beneficial ingredients that can help alleviate common cold and flu symptoms, and even help the body fight off the infection itself.
The study began with a focus on possible anti-inflammatory properties present in chicken soup. His studies of white blood cell movement in particular showed that grandma’s chicken soup had the ability to inhibit that movement, which in turn would lead to decreased mucous production and reduced inflammation.
Besides boosting immune system function and helping with sickness symptoms, chicken broth has several other reported health benefits: It is nutritious, boosts liver function, helps build bone and cartilage, and improves digestion.
Despite years of study, scientists have not managed to nail down exactly how chicken soup works the way it does. It has been made clear that gelatin and numerous amino acids may play a large role. In addition, the warm liquid of the broth may be partially responsible for relieving sinus pressure.
In the beginning, this is how it might have gone. “Hon, where are you heading?” “I’m going to play golf,” he replied. “Golf? What is golf?” she questioned.
“Well, it is a sort of ball game. Let’s see. How do I explain it. You play the game with a small, white ball which is 1.68 inches in diameter, and use what is called a ‘club’ to hit the ball. The object is to get the ball from point A (the tee) to point B (a 4.25-inch hole), which is anywhere from 251 to 470 yards away from the tee, and only hit the ball a total of four times. The club is skinny with about a two-inch piece of steel at the end used to strike the ball,” he explained.
“Okay, what’s her name,” she replied. “No, no, really,” he stuttered. “I’m serious. They have been playing the game for years in Scotland, and just recently moved it to the United States. You play on a big parcel of land that is full of green. The part from the tee to the area which houses the hole is covered with grass, but not mowed short. It is called the ‘fairway’. Then, the part which houses the hole is a green lawn that is mowed really short, and it is appropriately called ‘the green’.
“There are areas on either side of the fairway with really tall grass. They are called ‘the rough’. It’s called the rough because it is rough to hit your ball out of the stuff called the rough. In front of the green are areas called ‘sand traps’. I kid you not. These areas are literally sand boxes raked smooth. One of the clubs is called a ’wedge’ and you use it to hit out of the sand trap and hopefully up on the green.
“If you wish”, he added, “you can rent what is called a ’golf cart’ and then hit the ball and ride up to the spot where your ball landed and hit again. I’ll be gone about four hours. It takes that long to play 18 holes which is the amount of holes you need to complete ‘a round of golf’. What are your plans for the day, Sweetheart?”, he inquired.
“Well Honey Love, I’ll be busy placing your clothes in a ‘golf ball bucket’ or two so you can pick them up after your GAME! Golf indeed, Hon!”, she delivers in a high-pitched voice.
