It looks as if a lot of folks are ignoring the warnings about the drought. You know those warnings. We are out of water and have to save the endangered fish up in the river delta in Northern California. Yes, that warning.

Of course, we’re so worried about water usage and pollution that our friends at Newhall Land are going to add another 20,000 homes to the SCV. Wait until the freeway is built between Porter Ranch and Highway 126. Sure … you betcha. While I’m spreading all those rumors with a few facts, did you hear the one about LAX moving to Lancaster?

How about the news that NASA has a report that civilization is going to end soon? The report listed a whole bunch of sociological reasons for that happening. I never knew NASA was doing reports like that. Isn’t NASA all about space travel and airplanes and such?

Next thing you know, the Army will be building dams and levees. Sorry, they’ve done that for years. Maybe they should have built the St. Francis Dam. It might still be standing, had the Army Corps of Engineers done that job. (And maybe the Marines should run libraries.)

Been holding a yard sale of my stuff and a friend’s stuff at his place in Acton. I have a really nice roll-top desk (oak), a bookcase, file cabinets and other stuff. So folks drive up to the place and want to buy rusted circular saw blades and broken lamps. Lumber used for forms in concrete work is also popular. A coffee can of nails, screws, nuts and pieces of non-treasure sold for $12. We have more of those for sale. Come get them while supplies last.

There are some historical-hysterical artifacts, too. Things like election posters for Howard “Buck” McKeon. Makes me feel good he’ll be getting a retirement check soon for 100 percent of his base pay for the rest of his life. Our military folks got a reduction in retirement benefits this year. “Thank you, Buck.” (Can we find those signs, too?)

I was going to sell my railroad, but we’ve decided to build it on the property where the yard sale is located. I’ll bet we get it built long before the high-speed rail system is complete here in the formerly great state of California. Anyone want in on that action? Didn’t think so. (It is a model railroad named the BFDRR).

Thursday last at Senses on Main, in the recreated Roaring ’20s block party, the band came with flappers and spats and dancers who might have been arrested in our fair town in the 1920s. It was a hoot. And if wild jazz wasn’t your cup of tea (or bathtub gin), there was the Stardust Cowboy Band at the REP. You’ve got to hear them sometime. Loved both bands.

And speaking of Western music, April is nearly upon us, and the tickets for the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival are on sale. You’ve got to come see me on Main Street at Melody Ranch. I’ll be the one with the Stetson and boots, plus my “stinkin’ badge.” Yes, I have one, and I’m not afraid to use it.

I’ve not made it to the west side of the SCV in a while. I’ll have to wander over that way and see how the houses with the various shades of dirt are doing. Just curious. Is there still water flowing down the gutters during the drought?

I think the first casualties in a drought should be lakes, ponds and fountains that were created for landscaping purposes. If it isn’t natural, use that water for existing plants and trees until it is gone. I won’t comment on golf courses except to say water hazards and massive sprinkler systems aren’t exactly helping with the water shortage.

Not many days left until our election arrives. Are you planning to vote? If not, maybe you should plan to keep your mouth shut until you do vote. If you don’t vote, you can’t gripe about the politicians. It is an old rule I just made up. I wish it were a real rule … kinda-sorta.

Just because I told someone I’d write about the following subjects, I shall fulfill that promise now: Billboards, election signs, traffic jams, Scott Wilk’s travel adventures in the state capital, City Council attendees (including council members), and red-light cameras.

There. I’ve mentioned them.

And notice I didn’t say anything about Mentryville. I shall correct that error soon. Very soon.

Until Tuesday next, be well and be good. I’m watching your every move. Never trust a writer. You could become a character in a book who gets killed on page 24 or 25. You just never know.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com and his commentaries, published on Tuesdays and Sundays, are archived at DManzer.com. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].