“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” – Joseph Campbell

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Take a walk on the wild side, near any marsh, pond, creek or lake and it won't be long before you spy a dragonfly.

As you wander these special places after a dashing spring rain or two, you are apt to sink into the soft, mushy earth with only matted vegetation beneath, to hold you up.

The wetlands and wet ponds are alive with a myriad of life, shining and sparkling to beckon you further.

Don't get distracted by the bird songs that pulse and invite your inspection now – you are here to view  the ancient order of Odonata, or dragonflies and damselflies today.

To determine the difference between a dragonfly and damselfly, note the wings. The wings of a dragonfly are straight when resting, like airplane wings, while damselflies tuck in their wings to hold them against their bodies.

Dragonflies possess four separate wings. Like modern drones, dragonflies do not flap their wings, but, instead, hover with wings out, flying forward or backward. Dragonflies use their flight muscles, which are connected at the base of their wings, to fly at speeds up to 60 miles per hour! 

As dragonflies hover, then land at an impossible spot at the tip of a reed, you can see just how they have kept their prehistoric demeanor.

Scientists have found insect fossils resembling dragonflies which were determined to be aged at over 300 million years before the present.

If you think today's dragonflies are large for an insect, hold onto your binoculars, because some dragonflies who droned about prior to the time of dinosaurs held a nearly two-and-a-half foot wingspan!

There are more than 60 kinds of these iridescent insects in California. Some are quite brilliant in color, with their dazzling reds, blues and yellow shades, while others are a more sedate brown or black in pigment.

Dragonflies enjoy warm weather, requiring a 63-degree day, or warmer to allow it to start moving.

These insects use their powerful, multifaceted eyesight when hunting their prey, and these incredible insects are carnivorous, consuming other insects, like mosquitoes.

Scientists have found that dragonflies can devour one-fifth their body weight in prey. They, in turn are prey to frogs, water striders and water fowl. Falcons, swallows and flycatchers also consume dragonflies. At certain times of the year dragonflies have been known to swarm.

Some folks have been privy to spy thousands of dragonflies swarming the skies. It is believed that they sometimes hunt in swarms. They can be quite territorial critters, and zoom in on intruders to maintain ownership of their lands.

To various cultures the dramatic dragonfly holds special significance. For example, the Navajo Indians use the symbol of the dragonfly to denote fresh water, and the Zuni portray dragonflies on special pottery.

In some Asian cultures certain dragonfly species have been used in medicines and foods. The Art Nouveau style of art favored by Tiffany Studios in New York featured dragonflies in their glass creations.

The darting dragonfly is an interesting creature to observe.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

This week’s historical highlight marks the first step in setting rules for immigration to the United States of America.

March 26, 1790

For better or worse, the history of laws concerning immigration and citizenship in the United States is one of exclusion.

That America has become a melting pot of different cultures and races is, in many ways, despite these laws, rather than because of them. On the books, we’ve done our best to be monocultural, but humans are often less manageable in reality than they are on paper.

In the 21st century, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services control both immigration and the process of becoming a citizen.

Today, someone can become an American citizen either at birth (by being born in the country or certain territories) or after birth (primarily through naturalization). In both cases, the requirements for immigration and citizenship have developed over the course of decades and represent the culmination of a contentious history.

Immigration and citizenship have always been wrapped up in our national identity, as we as a people grapple with the question of what it means to be an American and the types of people who fit that archetype. At the heart of laws governing citizenship in any country is the unspoken understanding that some people aren’t fit to become one. There is a filtering process.

On this day in 1790, the United States government took the first step towards defining the parameters of our own filter.

The Naturalization Act of 1790 established the first criteria for the process of becoming a naturalized American citizen.

The law itself required an immigrant to have lived within the United States for at least two years and to be a free, white person of good standing. The individual’s citizenship was extended to any children under the age of 21, regardless of their birthplace.

By the wording of this law, the very first of its kind in America, a large swathe of the world was excluded from the possibility of gaining citizenship (Asian, Middle Eastern, Native American, African etc.).

Five years later, the 1790 law was replaced with a new one, which put even stricter constraints on naturalization by extending the minimum number of years in residence from two to five. A few years later, that was extended to 14, only to be reduced once more to five in 1802.

It would only be grudgingly that America expanded the circle of acceptable, potential citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 granted citizenship to people born within the United States and subject to its jurisdiction (including former slaves).

The Naturalization Act of 1870, five years following the end of the Civil War, even extended the naturalization laws to “aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent.”

However, as if to backtrack from the slight expansion created in the 1860s, the next several decades were spent excluding people of Asian descent, with the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

This act itself was the culmination of a decades-long battle over the issue of Chinese immigration and labor in the western United States, a history that played out in bloody riots across the region (hyperlink to former article on Chinese riots).

Even the children of these Chinese aliens were unable to claim American citizenship, until the ruling of a court in the 1890s changed that restriction. The final restrictions on people of Asian descent becoming citizens were finally lifted following the Second World War.

If Africans and Asian immigrants had trouble becoming American citizens, it was downright impossible for Native Americans.

It is somewhat ironic that the one group of people who faced the fiercest battle for citizenship were those whose ancestors have called this land home for millennia – but history is full of such sad ironies.

Throughout most of the 19th century, American Indians were forbidden citizenship, a status that gradually began to break down as the 20th century dawned.

In California, most American Indians were granted citizenship following the 1916 state Supreme Court case involving a Lake County Pomo, Ethan Anderson, and the county recorder, Shaffer Matthews. All American Indians were finally granted full citizenship in 1924.

After hard-won victories, different races were eventually able to carve out their place at the American table, but only after decades of prejudice and countless court cases.

In one form or another, the laws governing the granting of citizenship to immigrants remained prejudicial until the middle of the 20th century.

Finally, in 1952 Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which forbade discrimination during the citizenship process based on race and gender.

As you can see from this litany of laws, acts and amendments, America has always been rather specific in the types of people it has wanted as citizens.

Historically, Lady Liberty’s illuminating lamp was more often used to get a closer look at those huddled masses than as a beacon of welcome to all.

The laws that are created in the coming years will determine if we can break from our history or are irrevocably chained to it.

Antone Pierucci is the former curator of the Lake County Museum and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A team of Lake County gymnasts put on stellar performances at their respective state competitions over the past two weekends, with two of them now heading to a five-state regional event.

Skycatch Gymnastics of Lakeport’s boys’ gymnasts have had another winning year.

Under the direction of gym owner and coach, Roger Devore, himself a former competitive gymnast, the entire team – Philip Sparkes, age 10, level four; Alex Fordham and Trey Broyles, both age 10, level five; and Catch Devore, 14, and Tanner Broyles, 13, level six – qualified for the state finals this year.

After this month’s state competitions, Catch Devore came out with a top statewide finish, getting first-place in the all-around competition for his level.

Philip, who recently started gymnastics but quickly took to it, decided to forgo the state meet on March 12 in Emeryville, however, teammates Alex and Trey made the trip, according to their parents.

Alex had a fifth-place all-around finish. He placed second in the pommel horse, fifth on the high bar, fifth on the parallel bars, sixth on the rings, eighth on the floor exercise and 13th on the vault.

Trey placed 13th all around. He had a third place finish on the floor exercise, seventh on the vault, 10th on the pommel horse, 12th on the rings, 13th on the parallel bars and 13th on the high bar.

Top three finishers in each individual discipline took home a medal, with the top six in the all-around competition also receiving medals.

“Medaling for state is a pretty big deal,” said Annette Broyles, mother of Trey and older brother, Tanner.

Then, it was Tanner and Catch’s turn at their state competition – Level 6, Division 1, for ages 13 and over – held in Oroville on March 19. Close to 100 young athletes competed that day, Broyles said.

Tanner finished 12th all around, with a first place on vault, eighth on pommel, eighth on parallel bars, 14th on rings, 15th on floor and 15th on high bar.

Catch’s performance at the state meet would earn him first-place finishes in the floor, rings and high bar, second on the vault, 11th on the parallel bars and 14th on the pommel horse, for an overall first-place all-around finish.

Broyles said Catch’s floor exercise received more than 11 points, the highest score of the day and a topic of conversation for other athletes throughout the competition. No one thought they could match him on the floor, and it turns out that no one did.

Trey and Alex’s competitive season is now done. For Tanner and Catch, however, there is more ahead: Both qualified for the regional competition in Reno on April 9.

The regional competition covers all of California, as well as Arizona, Hawaii and Nevada, Broyles said.

This is the second time Catch has qualified for regionals, the first time for Tanner, Broyles said.

Because of his finish in the top five, Catch will be part of the Nor Cal All Star Team and will take part in a mini camp this weekend in Elk Grove, Broyles said. Catch also was on last year’s All Star Team.

Amidst their heavy competitive schedule, both Tanner and Catch maintain a 3.6 grade point average. Broyles said Tanner attends Mountain Vista Middle School and Catch is home-schooled.

“It's challenging to maintain that grade point average training four to five days a week, between 12 to 18 hours a week,” Broyles said.

Depending on how it goes on April 9, there could still yet be further competitive opportunities for the boys at the national level.

But Catch’s mom Jerae Devore, who like her husband Roger also was a competitive gymnast, is being guarded in her expectations.

“We’ve never gone that far so we’re taking it one step at a time,” she said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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LUCERNE, Calif. – A Lucerne woman who suffered a medical emergency was seriously injured when she subsequently lost control of her vehicle, leading to a rollover crash on Thursday morning.

Barbara Bautista, 43, suffered major injuries in the solo-vehicle crash, which occurred just after 8 a.m. Thursday on Highway 20 east of Bartlett Springs Road and near Ceago Vinegarden, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP said Bautista was driving a 2004 Nissan westbound on Highway 20 at Third Avenue in Lucerne when she had a medical emergency.

Bautista’s vehicle drifted off the roadway and hit a power pole with a trash can before the Nissan continued westbound for approximately one mile, running off the road to the north of Highway 20, hitting a tree and overturning several times, according to the CHP.

The CHP said Bautista – who was wearing her seat belt – sustained a broken right wrist, bruising and complaints of pain, and was flown by a REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected as factors in the crash, the CHP said.

CHP Officer Shawn Bertram is investigating the crash.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Consider spending your summer in medieval Ireland, living and learning while experiencing an amazing archaeology and cultural program with anthropological field work, course work, group trips, service learning projects and a living history opportunity.

The public is invited to attend a special free program presented by Dr. Samuel Connell, professor of anthropology at Foothill College, to learn about this unique research project that includes archaeological survey and excavation and community development activities. 

The program, sponsored by the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College, Friends of the Lake County Museum, and Mendocino College Lake Center, is on Sunday, March 26, at 2 p.m. in Room 7050 at Mendocino College Lake Center, 2565 Parallel Drive in Lakeport.

The archaeological and anthropological project this year is a student-focused investigation of the ancient and modern medieval Irish landscape.

The archaeology will consist of text excavations within the Ballintober Castle in northwest Ireland coupled with systematic foot survey and geophysical techniques such as ground-penetrating radar.  The anthropology will trace a community’s relationship with castles through time.

Additional time will be spent participating in experimental archaeological research and learning medieval life-ways from experts at living history museums.

The project is entitled, “Castles in Communities in Ireland 2017: Archaeology Stories of the Middle Ages from Beyond the Pale,” in medieval Ireland and the kingdom of Connacht where the last high kings defended their country against invading English nobles.

Whether you’re interested in travel, research, archaeology and anthropology, castles and communities - this presentation will enchant and inform and be of interest to a wide audience.

Dr. Connell’s talk will include photographs of previous field projects where his students have conducted research in Ecuador, Belize and Ireland and here in California.

He is a longtime visitor to Lake County and passionate about discovering and experiencing places you won’t believe exist.

Visit http://www.foothill.edu/anthropology/ireland.php for more information about the Field School.  Program information is available from the Lake Center, 707-263-4944.

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